Tag Archives: idaho

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, U.S.

Political Incompetence & Corporate Evil: Christian/Mormon Mitt Romney co-founded Bain Capital, which has been destroying jobs since 1984! Destroyed jobs in Chubbuck, Idaho. Demise of KB Toys connected to Toys “R” Us

“Mitt Romney’s history at Bain Capital is not going to help his image as a job creator.  Now, we want to disclose that NBC Universal and Bain Capital are each a part owner of the Weather Channel.  Bain Capital’s main business model is buying companies like American Pad and Paper and restructuring [industry code for ‘slash and burn’] them.  In many instances, Bain turned a profit by strip mining these companies.  American,  AMPAD is what it’s known, the stock was driven down [on purpose by Romney, I explain a little further in the article] and the company went bankrupt.  They fired hundreds of workers along the way.”-Ed Shultz, MSNBC

MSNBC is admitting that a company affiliated with NBC, Bain Capital  co-founded by Mitt Romney, has been destroying jobs, not creating jobs as Romney claims.

In 1984 Romney co-founded Bain Capital, which grew out of Bain & Company.  The soul purpose of the company is to buy out other companies, then gut them and sell them off piece by piece. Of course this means jobs are destroyed.

Interestingly, back in October, MSNBC’s Ed Shultz actually downplayed Romney’s connection to Bain Capital.  He and some of his guests, stated that a photo published in the Boston Globe was fake: “…it’s probablly a joke photo.”

Now Ed Shultz is backpedaling.  He, along with other MSNBC anchors and reporters, are revealing that Bain Capital has been behind many of the job loses in this country since the late 1980s!

The New York Times reported that Romney left Bain Capital in 1999, but, as part of his ‘retirement package’ is making money off their continued slashing and burning of U.S. jobs.  According to the article, Romney, 13 years after leaving Bain Capital, is still making millions of dollars off his retirement package!

old kb toys pine ridge mall

Former location of KB Toys, Pine Ridge Mall, Chubbuck, Idaho

Anybody remember KB Toys? I do. I was an employee of the Chubbuck, Idaho, Pine Ridge Mall at the time they closed down the KB Toys store in that mall. By 2004 KB Toys went bankrupt and 3,400 people lost their jobs! Guess what, one of Bain Capital’s affiliated companies was behind that!!!

pine ridge mall

Fading Pine Ridge Mall, Chubbuck, Idaho

Oh, and what about Romney’s connection to Massachusetts? Romney ‘retired’ from Bain Capital in 1999.  The Bain Capital partnership took over KB Toys in 2000.  KB Toys is headquartered in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Romney became governor of Massachusetts in 2002.  In 2003 the Bain Capital partnership started shutting down KB Toys stores. Mmmm, connection?

Here are some more examples of deals that resulted in job losses at the hands of Romney’s Bain Capital (and affiliated companies like Holson Burnes Group): Clear Channel Communications, 2,500 job cuts.

Photo album factory in South Carolina, 150 jobs lost.

Sensata Technologies, a European company with U.S. operations, several hundred U.S. employees lost their jobs.

American Pad & Paper, or AMPAD, lost 185 jobs.

The case of AMPAD reveals how Romney’s Bain Capital works.  They buy up companies in the same market, then they whittle them down until there is only one or two in the market, who then become big money makers by default.  AMPAD’s competitor was Staples. Romney touts Staples as a good example of his management skills, but what the Boston Globe found out (and reported in a 2007 article) is that Romney simply bought out competitors and shut them down until Staples was just about the only game left in town.

Now how about the KB Toys deal? KB Toys and Toys “R” Us were the top toy stores in the United States.  A company connected to Bain Capital buys out KB Toys and shuts them down.  What about Toys “R” Us? Yes there’s a Bain Capital connection.  In 2005, one year after the KB Toys bankruptcy, Toys “R” Us was taken over by KKR Group, Vornado Realty Trust and Bain Capital for $6.6 billion!  In 2009 Toys “R” Us takes over what is left of KB Toys; website, trademarks, and intellectual property rights.  Mmmm, you seeing the pattern?

This goes against the principle of the free hand of capitalist competition.  The jobs lost because companies went out of business were not actually due to any ‘poor’ performance of the employees, or lack of sales, but because the ‘investors’ Romney & Co wanted it that way!

Also, Bain Capital works the same way the rest of Corporate America does, they don’t use their own money to take over companies, they take out huge loans from the too big to fail banks that got taxpayer bailouts!

One report said Romney’s “investments” have resulted in at least 12,000 U.S. jobs lost!  It’s probably more than that, the way Bain Capital and affiliated companies shut down businesses does not result in net jobs gained, but net jobs lost!  Anybody remember Oliver Stone’s 1987 movie Wall Street?

Opinion: MITT ROMNEY CONSTITUTIONALLY INCOMPETENT. RELIGION BASED MARRIAGE LAW WILL VIOLATE CONSTITUTION.

Washington DC BS: MITT’S MYSTERY MONEY NOT EXPLAINED BY LATEST ADMISSIONS

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Health insurance rates in Idaho could go up more than 10%, thank you ObamaCare

Two insurance companies, that are part of Milwaukee based Assurant Health, have notified that Idaho Department of Insurance, that they will jack up rates by more than 10% in 2012.

Those two operations are John Alden Life Insurance and Time Insurance.  They’ve both filed rate increases of 13%!

This is part of the 2010 health care reforms, commonly known as ObamaCare.  Under the reforms an insurance plan that went into effect after September 1, can be subject to such rate increases.

The 2010 reforms actually allow insurance companies to jack up their rates as long as they can make a convincing case.  Some of the many accepted excuses are age and if you smoke.  Now how is that supposed to keep costs to consumers down?

To find out if your insurance plan (if you even have one) is jacking up your rates you can check companyprofiles.healthcare.gov.

 

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/12/29/1932970/2-idaho-health-insurers-file-rate.html#storylink=cpy

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Sears post partial list of store closings. Idaho, Oregon, Colorado & Washington makes the list

It’s only been two days since Sears Holdings announced they were closing up to 120 Sears and Kmart stores, and now they have named 79 of those stores.

I already explained why their Chubbuck and Pocatello, Idaho stores could be closed.

Sears store in Lewiston Center Mall, Lewiston, Idaho, makes this initial list of 79 closings.  The list does not provide details on any timeline for closing.

Some regional media sources have stated that other stores in the area “escaped” the list, however the list is only 79 of as many as 120 total closings (and it could be more).

Other Pacific Northwest Sears stores that made this early list are in Roseburg, Oregon, Longmont, Colorado and Walla Walla, Washington.  Also, the Kmarts in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and Spokane, Washington will be closed.

Also, a Sears store in Denver, Colorado, that was formerly a Kmart store, will be converted back into a Kmart store.

You can find out more by going to www.searsholdings.com and looking under their media tools section.

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? No big Xmas sales for Sears & Kmart, up to 120 stores will be closed, look out Pocatello & Chubbuck

“While our past practice has been to keep marginally performing stores open while we worked to improve their performance, we no longer believe that to be the appropriate action in this environment.”-Lou D’Ambrosio, CEO of Sears Holdings

Sears Holdings, which owns Sears and Kmart stores, said this year’s holiday sales sucked big time!  They’re claiming a big drop in business compared to last year (as much as 5.2%), and they just can’t afford to keep their “marginally performing” stores open.

The cities of Chubbuck and Pocatello, Idaho, are home to such marginally performing stores.

sears chubbuck

Sears at the Pine Ridge Mall in Chubbuck

The Sears is located in the Chubbuck Pine Ridge Mall, and has never done well (I used to work for the mall before it was sold to a company out of Chicago, Illinois).  Two other ‘anchor’ stores, that were doing better than Sears left the mall a few years ago, and many people around here have been wondering why the Sears is still open.  Well, it might finally be curtains.

pocatello fred meyer

Fred Meyer at the former Pocatello Mall location

The Sears in Chubbuck used to be located in the old Pocatello Mall, but that mall went down the toilet in the late 1990s, and has since been torn down and replaced with a Fred Meyer dominated strip mall. Even the new Fred Meyer strip mall suffered the demise of the Gottshalks store a few years ago.

gottschalks pocatello

The vacant Gottschalks, in Pocatello, Idaho

In Pocatello, the Kmart has been struggling for years, the customer foot traffic has never come close to what the Chubbuck WalMart, or the Pocatello Fred Meyer gets.  After Sears and Kmart merged to form Sears Holdings (and the Kmart bankruptcy), the Pocatello Kmart was spared from the many closings of Kmarts around the country.  But this might be the writing on the wall for the Pocatello Kmart.

Kmart Pocatello

Big Kmart, with small sales, in Pocatello

Even though business for Sears and Kmart continues to crash, a recent customer satisfaction survey, by Strategic Resource Group, showed that dedicated Sears/Kmart shoppers were happy with the service.  SRG also thinks most Kmart closings will take place outside the North East/Great Lakes region, and that means Idaho is a target.

Speaking of Target, Target and WalMart are the main reasons why Sears and Kmart are going down; they just can’t compete.  (do the economic analysts ever consider the fact that we “consumers” no longer have the cash or credit to support so many retail businesses?)

For Sears and Kmart stores that will remain open, big time cuts are planned.  Sears Holdings wants to cut $300 million, just in inventory.  They hope to cut another $200 million in ‘fixed’ costs (that’s industry code which includes employees and employee benefits).

Happy New Year!

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, U.S.

Global Food Crisis & What Economic Recovery? Beef production crashing in Idaho

No thanks to the closing of a beef processing plant in Nampa, Idaho’s beef production is down 80% from the year prior!  That’s according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

According to the State stats, and contrary to the stereotype, potatoes are not the number one agriculture product of Idaho!  Dairy products are number one, followed by cattle/beef production, so you can see why it’s so important to Idaho’s economy.

Not only is Idaho’s beef production down from last year, it’s been dropping like a rock, 52%, from January 2011 to November 2011.

The USDA pointed out that overall beef production in the entire United States was down 2% from last year.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Full time employment down In Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Maine and Vermont

A report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that while part time employment is going up, it’s being offset by a drop in full time employment!

The top five states for increased part time work are Montana, Oregon, Maine, Vermont and Idaho.  Montana leads the country with a 39% increase in part time work.

In Idaho there was an average of about 515,000 people with full time jobs in 2007. In 2010 that number dropped to 445,000.  At the same time, in 2010 the number of part time jobs increased 35%. 

As far as full time wages go, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the average full time pay in Idaho, in 2010, was $666 per week.  That’s a piddly 4.6% increase from 2007, and it’s one of the smallest increases in the entire United States!

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

Global Economic War & Corporate Incompetence: Idaho polysilcon producer, Hoku, quietly starts operations, loses CFO, loses millions of dollars again

Pocatello, Idaho’s, polysilcon factory, run by Hoku Materials (which is a subsidary of Chinese owned Hoku Corporation), officially and quietly started operations on December 1st.  That’s according to Chinese media citing Tianwei New Energy Holdings Company Limited, the Chinese company that controls 60% of Hoku Corporation.

Interestingly no mention of the start of operations has come directly from Hoku.  Hoku Corporation did announce the resignation of their CFO, treasurer, and secretary, Darryl Nakamoto.  His resignation will be effective March, 2012.

Another loss, this one missed by local Idaho media, is the fact that Hoku Corporation continues to bleed out money.  Its latest report, ending September 30, 2011, showed Hoku with a net loss of $7.9 million (computed in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles)!

I’ve posted before about the conundrum Hoku is now in, since it is 60% owned by the Chinese: “…Hoku is set up in a bad position; action by the U.S. government could hurt their new plans to sell Chinese PV products, and retaliation by the Chinese government could hurt their pending polysilicon orders.”

I wonder why Hoku is keeping so quiet about their operations start up in Idaho, while it’s making front page news in China?

GLOBAL ECONOMIC WAR: IDAHO’S HOKU SILICON FACTORY MAY BE ENDED BEFORE IT STARTS. CITY OF POCATELLO GUILTY

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Idaho’s Micron loses big time, again. Many Idahoans still think Micron is Idaho’s major employer

Computer chip maker Micron reported another quarterly loss;  U.S.$187 million! This follows a $135 million loss the previous quarter.

It was hoped the end of a lawsuit, in Micron’s favor, would be a sign of better times to come, but not so.

A west Idaho newspaper reported that many Idahoans think of Micron as the Boise’s biggest private employer. Back in October I posted how real estate web sites, and even Wikipedia, incorrectly report Micron as the biggest employer in Boise.

With Micron’s continued loses it’s possible that they now employ less than the 5,000 people reported at the end of 2009.

 

 

Fukushima, Idaho

Government Incompetence: 14,000 U.S. deaths directly linked to Fukushima nuclear disaster! Idaho hit with highest reported radiation. Infants suffered most.

“Based on our continuing research, the actual death count here may be as high as 18,000, with influenza and pneumonia, which were up five fold in the period in question as a cause of death. Deaths are seen across all ages, but we continue to find that infants are hardest hit because their tissues are rapidly multiplying, they have undeveloped immune systems, and the doses of radioisotopes are proportionally greater than for adults.”-Janette Sherman, MD  toxicologist

According to the December 2011 edition of the International Journal of Health Services, an estimated 14,000 deaths in the United States can be connected to the ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan!

The peer reviewed report also points out that within 17 weeks following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster 16,500 people in the U.S. died.

The report says one week after the explosions at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a toxic cloud was detected over the west coast of the United States. I had posted several times how most EPA RadNet sites were not working.

The EPA did report radiation detected in water, milk and other agricultural products, but it was downplayed and the U.S. neo-conservative controlled mainstream media went along with it!  What was reported by the EPA showed that Idaho had the highest Iodine 131 readings; 390 picocuries per liter of water (2 picocuries of I-131 per liter of water is considered normal)!

Interestingly this was claimed to be in Boise, Idaho, which is on the western side of the state. The only RadNet site in Idaho is in Idaho Falls, on the eastern side of the state.

The report says there were at least 14,000 unexplained deaths in the United States within the first 14 weeks of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster (that’s 1,000 per week, and the nuclear disaster is ongoing).  They also noted a sudden 1.8% jump in infant deaths compared to the same time the previous year.  They claim there is enough evidence for scientists to suspect radiation contamination, and they’re asking for more studies to be done.

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Earthquake Alert? Continued mine collaspe could be due to increased seismic activity in Idaho. Federal government closes mine

“We’ve issued a closure order so the entire mine is shut down. We will conduct a thorough investigation and we will not allow it to reopen until we are sure it is safe.”-Amy Louviere, U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration

On December 14, another rock burst struck the unlucky Lucky Friday silver mine in northern Idaho.  This time no one was killed.  Just last month, November, a miner was killed trying to free a stuck rock bin.  In April, a rock burst killed one miner.

Officials are concerned with the sudden occurrence of rock bursts in the mine.  For the past 25 years there had been no reported fatal accidents at the Lucky Friday mine.  Also of interest, there was no mining activity taking place 24 hours prior to the December 14 rock burst, that could have caused such a collapse.

There is now speculation that what is happening is the result of increased seismic activity in the northern part of Idaho.  (anyone remember the movie Dante’s Peak?)

Regarding the death in April, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration blamed the mine’s owners, Helca Mining Company, for lax safety standards.  However, December 14’s rock burst took place while miners were trying to install a safety net designed to protect miners from such rock bursts.

Federal officials don’t know how long their investigation will take place.  At least 300 people in the small community of Mullen, Idaho, rely on the mine for high paying jobs.