Is Obama Willing To Lead Off The Fiscal Cliff?

Article:  Is Obama Willing To Lead Off The Fiscal Cliff? Let's Hope So
Author: John Cassidy
The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2012/11/obama-tax-hikes-and-fiscal-cliff.html


In the article, "Is Obama Willing To Lead Off The Fiscal Cliff?", written by John Cassidy, he discusses President Obama's approach to the fiscal cliff dilemma. Going off the fiscal cliff will result in tax hikes and cuts to government spending that will be active on January 1st, 2013. Obama say's that he plans to restore the tax rates for the wealthy Americans back to the pre-2001 levels before former president Bush took office. During the 2010 fiscal cliff talks, Obama decided not to go off the cliff because the U.S economy was still in the growth recovery phase but now he says he will avoid tax relief for the wealthy at all costs. He plans to raise taxes for American earning $250,000 or more from 35% to 39.6% and extend the tax cuts for those earning less. Cassidy states how Bush's 2001 tax cuts for the wealthy American's income, dividend tax rates, and capital gains did not add to job growth as Bush said it would do. None of that happened.
President Obama has to show that he is ready to leap off the fiscal cliff in order to get the Republicans to consider negotiations prior December 31st, 2012. The G.O.P has not agreed to a tax hike in more than two decades which shows that the Republicans may sit back and watch like Obama and as a result, we will leap off the cliff. Leaping off the cliff will not only affect the wealthy, but the upper and middle class and the lower class earners.

This article caught my eye because I heard about the "fiscal cliff" but never read about it. In the months approaching the 2012 Presidential election, I either heard or seen an article title about the fiscal cliff everyday. I never put attention to it because I didn't think it would be a big issue and I thought that Obama and the Republicans would have it resolved by then. As election day approached, many investors kept the fiscal cliff in mind and put their money in safer investments which affected stock prices so I knew it was an actual issue. The day of the election Wall Street anticipated a Romney win, but when Obama was reelected, there was a massive sell off for nearly two weeks then the reality and seriousness of the fiscal cliff hit me. I hope that Obama and the Republicans can to an agreement before the year end so that the tax rates will not rise for the lower and middle class and hopefully will not harm small business corporations. Obama and the G.O.P need to work together to compromise rather than wait and see who is bluffing.


Word Count: 448

Apple Gave Few Phones To Other Retailers

Article: Apple Gave Few Phones To Other Retailers
Author: Ian Sherr & Ann Zimmerman
Date: 09-24-2012
Source: Wall Street Journal

In the article, "Apple Gave Few Phones to Other Retailers", Ian Sherr and Ann Zimmerman discuss the uneven distribution of the new Apple iPhone 5 to retailers. Customers in search of the new iPhone 5 raced to stores to purchase their own as was released last Friday September 21st. Many iPhone 5 buyers did not have luck in purchasing the phone because stores did not receive enough phones to match the demand. Some Best Buy stores in the Silicon Valley received as low as ten iPhone 5 devices for pre-orders, while others received 40 devices. Best Buy had to act quickly to inform customers via email who attempted to pre-order the iPhone that they have ran out due to low inventory, stating that it may take up to 28 days for them to find the phone they want. A Target store in San Francisco received only eight phones while pre-orders were above 30. They had to turn down the iPhone buyers and could not provide them with an answer to when they will receive a new shipment.At the same time, Apple stores had thousands of the iPhone 5 devices in stock while retailers failed to receive at least 50.

Apple sold more than two million iPhone's on pre-orders the first day it was available. They are now producing an estimated 550,000 devices a day for the rest of the year and about one third of them will be shipped to the U.S. Sixty percent of them will go to retailers and the rest will be for Apple stores.

Apple's iPhone devices have seen increasing demand every year since the first iPhone debuted. I believe with increasing demand of the iPhone, that Apple should produce an amount that can fulfill more pre-order sales. I am not an iPhone fan and do not plan on owning one in the future, but I believe that Apple should more evenly distribute and allocate its iPhones throughout its retail partners. This way Apple can increase revenue and help out saller retail stores. As a manager of a small business, I know how important it is for businesses to have the opportunity to receive a decent amount of a high demand product such as the iPhone for sale. Maybe Apple may review how the devices were distributed this time and improve it for the next time they release the next iPhone model if they produce it.


Word Count: 400