Lawyer Marketing and PR

Dallas based Valero Cheats Workers Out of Wages with Labor Practices

2009-08-10T15:28:00.000-07:00

Weinberg is a renowned class action law firm with offices in Dallas that specializes in employment discrimination, wage and hour, consumer and complex corporate class action litigation and has represented thousands of individuals in some of the major class action cases in the United States. The firm also represents individual clients in employment, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, whistleblower, public accommodations, commercial, medical malpractice, and personal injury matters. Co-counsel Michael Ram and Karl Olson of Ram & Olson (San Francisco) have joined Weinberg in bringing the suit, said Weinberg Law Firm, Labor Lawyer Dallas.

Lohan Gets 1 Day in Jail on Los Angeles DUI Plea

2009-08-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

The judge sentenced Lohan to 96 hours in jail, the mandatory minimum for a second drunken-driving offense. Lohan was given credit for 24 hours already served, and she elected to complete 10 days of community service instead of 48 hours behind bars _ an option available to all two-time DUI offenders. She still must serve the balance of her sentence _ 24 hours _ in city or county jail, Meyers said, said Michael Bialys, Los Angeles DUI lawyer.

Porch catastrophic injury: New York says it's up to you

2009-08-05T10:53:00.000-07:00

Murphy also represents nine families affected by the Lincoln Park collapse in wrongful-death and personal-injury lawsuits against building owner L.G. Properties. The cases are collectively inching toward a settlement.

That tragedy led to the adoption of one of the nation's strictest building codes for newly constructed porches and prompted inspectors and city attorneys to step up scrutiny of building owners who ignored porch hazards for years, said John Q. Kelly, a New York catastrophic injury lawyer.

Planned Parenthood fraud case appealed

2009-08-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

The overbilling reportedly came to light during a state audit of Planned Parenthood several years ago. The PP president, Mark Salo, had notified branches about an audit plan and Martha Swiller of Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles told staff members, "This is bad," the qui tam lawyer Los Angeles said.

Ultimately, audit reports said the abortion business failed to comply with published billing requirements and a state letter set the loss for one situation alone at $5 million plus.

Chicago Business Corus Bankshares Inc. on cusp of crisis

2009-08-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

FDIC may seize 'critically undercapitalized' Chicago-based lender
By Becky Yerak | Tribune reporter
August 2, 2009

Corus, owed $108.2 million for that 2006 loan and bogged down by other condominium construction and conversion credits gone bad, has told investors that its auditor has warned that the bank could fail. A June 18 deadline imposed by regulators for Corus to raise capital has long passed, and many believe it's only a matter of time before the Chicago business attorney seizes the lender, which on Friday warned that it was "critically undercapitalized."

But a major hurdle for the federal regulator is that $7.07 billion-asset Corus, with only 14 offices in the Chicago area, has operated more like a real estate investment company than a traditional bank.

Turnpike crash victim was facing DUI trial

2009-08-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

Her son, who was strapped in a safety seat, suffered only minor injuries. He was alert and speaking with police at the scene during the rescue before he and his mother were taken to Forbes Regional.

The boy was transferred by helicopter to Pittsburgh DUI Children's Hospital and later discharged, said a hospital spokeswoman.

The eastbound lanes of the Pennsylvania Turnpike were closed Tuesday night near the Monroeville exit until about 5 a.m. yesterday, police said.

According to county court records, Ms. Baker was arrested twice this year -- in May and June -- on charges of driving under the influence of psychotropic prescription drugs.

She had been free on her own recognizance of DUI, pending trial.

Records also show she was arrested in April 2007 in Springdale Township, and in November 2005 in York, Pa., on similar counts.

Charges were dismissed in both cases by magisterial district judges, according to court records.

On Tuesday night, Ms. Baker drove head-on into the path of an eastbound tractor-trailer truck driven in the left-hand lane by Patrick H. Miller, 63, of South Euclid, Ohio.

Mr. Miller, who was transporting furniture to Maryland while DUI, said a pickup truck that was driving ahead of him swerved suddenly to the right lane, revealing Ms. Baker's car. He said he was unable to move out of the car's way because an 18-wheeler was to his right and the concrete divider was to his left.

"There was nothing I can do," he said.

Ms. Baker's car careened into the path of a second truck, driven in the right-hand lane by James A. Balmer, 60, of Port Orange, Fla.

Neither truck driver was injured by the DUI crash, police said.

"It's very difficult to figure out what this woman did to get on the wrong side," said Bill Capone, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.

"There's no physical barrier to stop people from crossing over at the interchange," he said.

The area remains free of barriers because motorists and police frequently use the interchange area as a turn-around.

Mr. Capone said signs are posted in a number of places at the interchanges to guide motorists to safe, proper routes.

Hire a DUI Lawyer Pittsburgh

LA Personal Injury Lawyers Ringler Kearney Alvarez LLP

2009-07-31T11:46:00.000-07:00

LA personal injury law firm Ringler Kearney Alavarez LLP have established themselves as a premier law firm by providing clients with consistently excellent service. They pride themselves on their intellect, creativity and tenacity.

These LA train accident attorneys have achieved victories in over 100 trials with total verdicts in excess of $250 million.

Ringler Kearney Alvarez LLP achieves their verdicts by utilizing their substantial financial resources to obtain the best result possible for each of their clients. This LA class action specialist law firm fights tirelessly for their clients, no matter the foe.

Wrongful Death Attorney John Q. Kelly

2009-01-08T14:34:00.001-08:00

New York Wrongful Death Attorney John Q. Kelly is pleased to announce the launch of his new website for The Kelly Group P.C.

The website can be viewed at http://www.kellygrouppc.com and features notable cases and clients of Mr. Kelly.

About John Q. Kelly
One of the most renowned litigators in the country, Mr. Kelly has a proven track record in complex civil and corporate litigation nationwide.

His clients include some of the most widely publicized victims in recent times, including:

- Estate of Nicole Brown Simpson
- Parents of Natalee Holloway
- Estate of Kathleen Savio, ex-wife of Drew Peterson
- Estate of Heiress Anne Scripps Douglas
- Former Yankee great Joe Pepitone

Another Wreck from Metrolink

2008-09-19T15:51:00.000-07:00

Metrolink worker sued Burlington Northern Santa Fe, saying his alcoholism returned after the fatal 2002 Placentia collision.

A metrolink conductor who said his drinking problems resumed after the Placentia train crash in 2002 will receive $8.5 million to settle his lawsuit against one of the nations largest railroads.

Patrick Phillips of Riverside agreed Tuesday to settle his suit against Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. The case was set to go to trial next week in Orange County Superior Court.

Phillips, now 52, suffered minor head injuries the morning of April 23, 2002 when a Burlington Northern Freight train crashed into a Metrolink commuter train in Placentia. Three people died and more than 260 were injured in the early morning crash.

Though his injuries were slight, the conductor alleged that the trauma was serious enough to trigger a resurgence of his severe alcoholism, which he said he had controlled since rehabilitation in the early 1990's.

"I have never seen a case like this in 30 years, yet it is indeed what happened here," said Jerome L. Ringler, Phillips' attorney.

"We had extensive medical evaluations by a variety of neurological specialists. All were in accord that his injury, although minor, changed his behavior."

After the train crash, Phillips was hospitalized for evaluation but released about two hours later, Ringler said. In the months after the crash, however, Phillips allegedly resumed his alcohol abuse, resulting in at least two other hospitalizations.

Ringler said his client was finally diagnosed with alcohol-related dementia, a sever mental deficiency.

Phillips, who is now disabled after working 12 years for Metrolink, was unavailable for comment. He is living with a sister in Riverside.

Under terms of the settlement, Phillips will receive $8.5 million, including interest, paid out over 20 years. The amount is worth about $4.5 million in today's dollars.
Officials for Burlington Northern Santa Fe, one of the nations four largest railroads, confirmed the settlement but declined to discuss the case.

Phillips' lawsuit is one of more than 100 Civil cases stemming from the Placentia crash, which federal investigators said was caused by an inattentive Burlington Norther crew that missed a warning signal.

The lawsuits allege the collision could have been prevented by an automatic braking system, long sought by the federal National Transportation Safety Board.
They also contend that the freight train crew was fatigued by overwork and that the Burlington Northern conductor had a history of losing track of signals.

In December, an Orange County jury awarded Pamela Macek, 53, also of Riverside, about $9 million in damages for psychological and physical injuries suffered in the crash. Her case was the first to go to trial.

Chatsworth Train Crash - Jerome Ringler

2008-09-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

www.rkallp.com

William Mitchell Names New Marketing Leader

2008-05-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Louise Copeland has been named director of marketing and alumni relations for William Mitchell College of Law effective May 20, 2008. Copeland comes to William Mitchell from the University of Minnesota, where she has been director of marketing services for the Carlson School of Management.

“Louise brings many years of marketing experience in higher education and business, including leading successful advertising and marketing campaigns at one of the preeminent business schools in the nation,” said Linda Keillor Berg, vice president of Institutional Advancement for Mitchell. “Her talents will help engage our extensive network of alumni and communicate Mitchell’s strong brand of practical legal education that has trained so many leaders in the legal community.”

Prior to joining the Carlson School, Copeland worked as a marketing consultant, and as a marketing manager for Land O’Lakes, Inc. She earned her bachelor of science degree from Seton Hall University and master of business administration degree from Carlson School of Management.

Williams Mullen Hires New Marketing Coordinator

2008-05-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Williams Mullen is pleased to announce that Jennifer S. Griffin has joined the firm as Marketing Coordinator for the Raleigh, Research Triangle Park and Wilmington offices.

Jennifer holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public and Interpersonal Communication from North Carolina State University and specializes in Social Media. Ms. Griffin is an active member of the Triangle chapter of the American Marketing Association.

About Williams Mullen
Williams Mullen provides comprehensive legal services to regional, national and international clients. With 325 attorneys and offices in North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and London, we deliver innovative solutions to support our clients’ diverse business activities. Close working relationships with clients have been the foundation of Williams Mullen’s progressive approach to law practice since the firm was founded nearly 100 years ago.

6 Steps to a Successful Direct Mail Program - Jill Eastman

2008-05-15T10:23:00.001-07:00

When developing or managing a direct mail program, there are practical strategies you can implement to streamline the process. Incorporate a D.I.R.E.C.T. approach to your direct mail program by following these steps:

Develop Your Tools

Take time to lay the foundation of your direct mail program by developing planning tools. Examples of useful tools include:

* Campaign Summary Form: Design a form that summarizes the campaign goals and includes information such as: the target geographic market, target industries, titles of decision makers, timing, and possible mailings to present to the audience.

* Campaign Folder: Each time a new project is undertaken, create a project folder that contains everything relevant to the project. Include all documentation, such as the creative brief, text, graphics, printing and mailing information.

* Routing Checklist: You should attach a routing checklist to the outside of the folder. Use it to track each element of the campaign as it works its way through the entire process. If you cannot check something on schedule, you have identified a bottle-neck in your campaign and know where to take action.

Initiate The Right Piece

Figure out what type of direct mail piece will deliver the right message to the right prospects at the right time. Start by asking yourself what your objective is.

Is your goal to announce a new service offering? Send a brochure that shows your firm has a tradition of successful new service launches.

Or, do you want to communicate industry competence? Send a quarterly newsletter or industry trend alert. These build trust and establish your firm as an industry leader with your targets.

Whatever you choose, keep in mind that direct mail works better as part of an integrated marketing strategy. Consider how you might compliment your direct mail efforts with other elements, such as PR, e-mail blasts, online events, etc.

Realistic Expectations

Misguided expectations can break any direct mail campaign. Set expectation too high and you and/or your stakeholders will be disappointed, regardless of the campaign's result.

Avoid this and set realistic expectations from the start. Have a campaign planning session with your stakeholders to discuss expectation for such things as timing, costs, partner involvement, end results and response rate.

Also, make sure everyone in the process understands the impact of meeting their individual deadlines. By establishing these expectations early, you can leave your initial planning meeting with everyone on the same page. You can then use your routing checklist to monitor the process.

Energize Yourself And Keep Momentum

Always update your routing checklist. It tracks your project's success and marks each small victory. That will keep you energized and the project's momentum going.

It also helps to know you are effectively managing the various parts of your campaign.

Champion Your Project

Be your own cheerleader! One of the most important yet overlooked steps is promoting direct mail pieces within the company.

Informing everyone in the company of marketing efforts, direct mail or any other, has the benefit of marketing the marketing department's efforts. Ultimately, everyone from the CEO to the front desk should know what was delivered and when.

Direct mail also reaches your partners' clients and prospects, which makes it especially important for them to know what is being sent.

You can do all this by making the information available on the firm's intranet. Include the piece, mail date and description of the mail list.

Track Your ROI

One of the biggest challenges in marketing is the age old issue of measuring and tracking results.

A one-to-two percent response rate for a mass mailing is considered successful. Two-to-three percent is excellent, and anything above that is exceptional.

Besides receiving phone calls in response to a direct mail campaign, there are other means of measuring the success. For instance, add a Web site address specific to each campaign so that they can go directly to that dedicated landing page. Utilize Web services such as Google Analytics and you can quantify the number of hits your Web site received through the duration of the campaign.

Other ROI measurements include the costs of the campaign and total number of active leads and fees (both year one and annuity) of new engagements. You may have a harder time measuring other important things such as brand awareness and name recognition.

It is also important to review the process for each campaign at the end. Determine what worked well and what improvements could be made.

Jill Eastman is a Marketing Communications Manager with Weaver and Tidwell, L.L.P. Her background is in integrated marketing communications, including direct marketing, niche building, design, electronic media and research. Jill is also a member of the Association for Accounting Marketing ("AAM") and a contributor to the AAM's bi-monthly newsletter MarkeTrends. You can reach Jill at jaeastman@weaverandtidwell.com.

This article courtesy of www.raintoday.com

Don't Lower Your Prices....No Matter What!

2008-05-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

RainToday.com recently published its Fees and Pricing Benchmark Report: Consulting Industry 2008 in which they analyzed a ton of data from 645 consultants. There were six price-related topics, all of which are interesting. But one in particular caught my eye: the analysis on discounting.

As the authors point out, discounting is Ground Zero for hypocrisy in pricing. Everyone decries it, yet everyone, (actually, 65%), does it. It reminds me of dieting: "I know I shouldn't, but this one little brownie won't hurt. And I'll get back on the wagon again tomorrow."

Couched this way, the problem of discounting sounds like one of willpower: we all know we should stick to standards and principles, yet we are morally weak at the moment of truth.

I don't think that discounting is a moral problem, however. Instead, it is one of bad thinking. And it centers around two false beliefs:

1. The belief that certain customers are inherently "price buyers"

2. The belief that feeding the price beast will make it go away.

Technically, price is a set amount of money given in exchange for various benefits. But in truth price has no inherent or default meaning. It is a proxy for several different fundamental buyer concerns that are very much tied up with the psychology of the buyer.

What Clients Mean by Price Objections

It seems obvious. A client expresses an objection to a price. They say they want a lower price. Clearly they are concerned about money, value and price. Right? So the only question is, shall we discount, and by how much. Right?

No, and no. Here are four distinct things that buyers are saying when they say they want a lower price. And not one is really about price.

1. Mismatch with expectations: Only experienced buyers do a good job of guesstimating price quotes from professional services firms. They tend to focus on a basic mental model of time vs. rate, and naturally under-estimate each.

(Recall your own shock at first finding out your billing rate as a newcomer; and the shock of industry hires when they first see time estimates for what they thought was just a request for a data-dump from an expert).

Bottom Line: This "objection" isn't an objection at all. It's just the natural human expression of surprise and dismay when we find out our expectations didn't match reality. Discounting just confuses them more, and rewards their delusions for the future.

2. Mismatch with budget: Sometimes buyers just have a limited budget. They feel trapped, and often a little embarrassed that they have asked you to quote into a situation in which they under-budgeted or over which they have no real control. Their natural reaction is to push back, in hopes that you can solve their problem without their having to confess their embarrassing ignorance, or go back to their boss for more money.

Bottom Line: This too is best not seen as an "objection;" it is a simple constraint of the world – budget vs. cost. Again, discounting just confuses the matter, and reinforces the idea that the client can afford to not be open and transparent with you.

3. Mismatch with competitors: Frequently clients faced with competitive bid situations will say, "Company X is cheaper than you by 25% – you need to discount to stay in the game."

Let's assume the claim is true on the face of it. There are two reasons for one firm pricing 20% below another; one is intentionally buying the business, with the intent to raise price later. The other, and most common, is that the client is comparing apples to oranges.

The solution to the first is easy: explain to the client why your competitor's cost structure is virtually identical to yours, and why a 25% discount is inherently unsustainable, thereby showing the client is facing a relationship vs. transaction issue.

If they choose transaction, then be glad your competitor just trashed their bottom line to buy a price-shopping client. They'll eventually be back.

The solution to the second is to have the client carefully compare, component by component, the features of your bid to the features of the competitor's bid.

Most likely, you'll be offering a value-added service that the competitor isn't, and then the client can then pay the higher price for that service or have you drop it from your proposal - have the courage to give your client the data to do the comparison.

Bottom Line: Competitive mismatches aren't really price objections; they are fundamentally rooted in a misunderstanding of either industry economics or project design economics. The answer is not discounting, but education.

4. Mismatch with motivation: Professional services firms suffer disproportionately from the delusion that clients make decisions on purely rational, monetary, statistical criteria. Clients, like everyone (including ourselves) make our decisions with the heart, and justify (rationalize) them with the brain.

A basic human need is to make sure we didn't get a "bad deal." You can give all the "value" data you want, but unless a client feels you are being straight with them and/or they're getting the best possible "deal," they will remain suspicious. When suspicious, our innate tendency is to bargain, to determine some subtle psychological resistance point, just as we would at a bazaar or yard sale.

This behavior has nothing to do with price per se, and everything to do with transparency of your economics and the prices others have gotten from you.

Bottom Line: Not paying attention to motivations leads to discounting, which has the perverse effect of convincing buyers that – aha! – you really were holding out on them! Which leads them not only to haggle again the next time, but to fundamentally mistrust you because you quoted them a price that was an attempt to "get by."

So what's to be done? We all know the answer – don't discount – but we think it's a moral weakness, a failure of principles. It's not. It's a failure of understanding the reason for price objections.

Armed with the truth – that it's not about price, and it never is about price – we can do the right thing: be curious, probe and sensitively get one level deeper when presented with price objections.

Back to RainToday's research report. Why do 65% of consulting firms discount, even when, as the authors point out, the average 11% reductions could go straight to the bottom line?

It is simply fear, fear of losing the deal. Rather than asking curiously, "Please, help me know what's behind that?" we fearfully back off in the face of the client's aggressive tone…and start discounting.

The only reason to discount is to buy your way into a strategically new piece of business. And be careful when you do so, because only certain clients buy that way.

The most tragic result of discounting is not even the lost profit; it is that we confirm the client's suspicion that we are untrustworthy. It leaves the client thinking, like Sir Winston Churchill's apocryphal line, "We have now established what you are. We are merely haggling about the price."

IRS announces new guidance for deductions

2006-12-27T17:30:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced new guidance today to help tax filers in 2007 claim the extended deductions and other tax advantages in the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 signed into law this week.
The start of the 2007 filing season will begin on time. However, the recent changes in the law mean the IRS will not be able to process a small percentage of individual tax returns until early February, primarily involving three tax deductions – the state and local sales tax, higher education tuition and fees, and educator expenses.
“The IRS is taking a number of steps to ensure taxpayers have the correct information on these deductions when they prepare and file their tax returns,” IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson said.
Among the ways taxpayers can get information:
Taxpayers will be able to visit IRS.gov for updated information on the late legislation.
The IRS will conduct a special mailing of Publication 600, which will include the state and local sales tax tables and instructions for claiming the sales tax deduction on Schedule A (Form 1040), to 6 million taxpayers. Publication 600, State and Local General Sales Taxes, will be sent to taxpayers who will receive the 2006 Form 1040 package in early January. Publication 600 was posted to IRS.gov today, with the special mailing for taxpayers arriving in mid-January.
For people using IRS e-file or Free File, tax software will be updated to include the three key tax provisions. E-file gets refunds to taxpayers faster than paper returns.
The IRS urged taxpayers to use e-file instead of the paper forms to minimize confusion over the late changes and reduce the chance of making extender-related errors on their returns.
“As we always do, we encourage taxpayers who think they may claim these deductions to file electronically,” Everson said. “They will get their refunds faster through e-file. Even more importantly, e-file will greatly reduce the chances for making an error compared to claiming the deductions on the paper 1040.”
This new legislation affects a number of areas of tax law, but the most significant effect on individual taxpayers involves the deductions for state and local sales tax, higher education tuition and fees, and educator expenses. The sales tax deduction was claimed on approximately 11.2 million tax returns filed in 2006 for Tax Year 2005. The tuition and fees deduction was claimed on about 4.7 million returns and the educator expense deduction was claimed on 3.5 million returns.
The IRS will not be able to process tax returns claiming these extender-related deductions until early February. Based on filings earlier this year, only about 930,000 tax returns claimed any of the three extenders provisions by Feb. 1. This year, the IRS expects to receive about 136 million tax returns.
Form 1040 Changes
The IRS also announced details today on how taxpayers can use existing lines on the current Form 1040 and other tax documents to claim the three major extenders provisions. The key forms (Forms 1040, 1040A, Schedule A&B, and instructions) went to print in early November and reflected the law in effect at that time. The instructions contain a cautionary note to taxpayers that the legislation was pending at the time of printing.
The majority of taxpayers file electronically, but taxpayers using a paper Form 1040 will have to follow special instructions if they are claiming any of the three deductions. Form 1040 will not be updated. Instead, taxpayers should follow these steps:
State and Local General Sales Tax Deduction:
The deduction for state and local general sales taxes will be claimed on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 5, “State and local income taxes.” Enter "ST" on the dotted line to the left of line 5 to indicate you are claiming the general sales tax deduction instead of the deduction for state and local income tax.
The IRS also will issue Publication 600 for 2006, which includes the state and local sales tax tables, a worksheet and instructions for figuring the deduction.
This option is available to all taxpayers regardless of where they live, though it’s primarily designed to benefit residents of the eight states without state and local income taxes.
Higher Education Tuition and Fees Deduction:
Taxpayers must file Form 1040 to take this deduction for up to $4,000 of tuition and fees paid to a post-secondary institution. It cannot be claimed on Form 1040A.
The deduction for tuition and fees will be claimed on Form 1040, line 35, “Domestic production activities deduction.” Enter "T" on the dotted line to the left of that line entry if claiming the tuition and fees deduction, or "B" if claiming both a deduction for domestic production activities and the deduction for tuition and fees. For those entering "B," taxpayers must attach a breakdown showing the amounts claimed for each deduction.
Educator Expense Adjustment to Income:
Educators must file Form 1040 in order to take the deduction for up to $250 of out-of-pocket classroom expenses. It cannot be claimed on Form 1040A.
The deduction for educator expenses will be claimed on Form 1040, line 23, “Archer MSA Deduction.” Enter "E" on the dotted line to the left of that line entry if claiming educator expenses, or "B" if claiming both an Archer MSA deduction and the deduction for educator expenses on Form 1040. If entering "B," taxpayers must attach a breakdown showing the amounts claimed for each deduction.
The new law also affects an even smaller number of business taxpayers who don’t use the Form 1040 series. There could be minimal processing delays for some of these business filers in January and early February.
January is the slowest part of the filing season for the IRS, with less than 6 percent of all individual returns coming in during the agency’s first two weeks of processing. Typically, early returns are from taxpayers with simpler refund returns who do not claim the extender provisions. Earlier this year, the IRS had less than 2.5 million returns filed by Jan. 20. An additional 4.2 million returns came in by Jan. 27.

Minimum Wage Increase?

2006-12-27T17:28:00.000-08:00

Bush Wants Minimum Wage Boost Linked To Business Tax Cuts, by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York 27 December 2006

While President George W. Bush has expressed support for a Democrat proposal to increase the minimum wage, he said last week that new legislation in this area should also contain tax breaks to help businesses offset the higher cost of hiring workers.
"I don't expect Democratic leaders to compromise on their principles, and they don't expect me to compromise on mine, but the American people do expect us to compromise on legislation that will benefit the country," Bush told a news conference last week.
"I believe we should do it in a way that does not punish the millions of small businesses that are creating most of the new jobs in our country," he said. "I support pairing it with targeted tax and regulatory relief to help these small businesses stay competitive and to help keep our economy growing."
The $5.15 per hour federal minimum wage has not been increased since 1997, and the Democrats have made a phased increase to $7.25 per hour one of their top legislative priorities for the new Congress, when they will hold a majority in both chambers.
However, an attempt to pair new minimum wage legislation with a cut in estate tax and extension of other tax breaks failed to pass in the most recent Republican-controlled Congress.
Responding to Bush's comments, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D - Mass), who is the lead voice behind the proposed Fair Minimum Wage Act, said the mid-term elections showed that "the American people spoke loud and clear in favor of raising the minimum wage."
"I'm glad that President Bush has endorsed my plan to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 to help millions of hardworking Americans lift themselves out of poverty. But we can't slow down this important legislation with other proposals that should stand or fall on their own merit," he stated.
"Minimum wage workers have waited almost 10 long years for an increase- we need to pass a clean bill giving them the raise they deserve as quickly as possible," he added.
According to Kennedy, a recent Gallup poll found that 86% of small business owners do not think that the minimum wage affects their business, and three out of four small businesses said that a 10% increase in the minimum wage would have no effect on their company. The poll also showed that nearly half of small business owners think that the minimum wage should be increased, and only 16% of owners think the minimum wage should be reduced or eliminated entirely.
Under Kennedy's proposals, the minimum wage would increase to: $5.85 sixty days after enactment; $6.55 one year later; and $7.25 after a further year.

Interesting Tax Information

2006-12-27T17:13:00.000-08:00

I have been looking for a tax website out there that you can trust, someone to actually handle your tax problems and do it in a timely fashion.

Here is the link if you want to check it out:

www.progressivetaxgroup.com