Category Archives: Economy

Economy, International, Politics, The Media

FORBES ARTICLE GOT IT ALL WRONG ABOUT THE PHILIPPINES’ BUDGET DEFICIT, AQUINO GOVERNMENT INSISTS

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10710969_10203518050845530_5362568196257307442_nManila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The Aquino government blasted a recent article in Forbes magazine claiming that the Philippines’ economic boom is a bubble waiting to burst.

The article was authored by economic analyst Jesse Colombo who writes that the Philippines’ economic progress and status as an emerging market  —  often touted by President Aquino in his state of the nation address and speeches abroad — is deceiving. Colombo points to the continued disparity between the few rich people and the rest of the population and that investors’ insatiable hunger for emerging market debt has caused the Philippines’ external debt to spike in recent years.

Specifically, Aquino’s Budget Secretary Florencio Abad challenged the claim by Colombo that the Philippine government has been running a budget deficit since 1999, which includes the last 5 years of the Aquino administration.

Pointing to the graph showing the deficit years, Abad said Forbes magazine seems to have inverted the graph, and that the bars showing the deficit should be pointing upwards instead of downwards.  He said this is how the graph should look like:

inverted

It appears that Abad failed to  recognize the source of the graphic — the Aquino administration’s own Department of Finance.

 

Economy, Law Enforcement, Politics

MICHELE BACHMANN PROPOSES TO CREATE 51ST U.S. STATE FOR AMERICAN EXPATRIATES

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germany-usWashington, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles) – There are approximately 7.6 Million Americans living overseas, and if they were to become a separate state of the U.S., they would constitute the 13th largest population, next only to the state of Virginia.

That is exactly what Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) is proposing in a new bill she filed today in the House of Representatives.

Bachmann filed H.R. 707 creating the 51st state of the U.S. and is calling it the “At-Large State.”  All Americans living abroad would automatically become voting citizens of the new state and they will be able to vote by absentee ballot for their representatives to Washington, D.C.  Currently, expatriates don’t have a voice in Congress, especially when it comes to taxation.

Michele Bachmann
Michele Bachmann

High taxes have become a hot button issue among American expatriates. The number of Americans giving up their citizenship mainly because of tax issues surged to 3,000 in 2013 – three times more than the previous year.(This is not to mention U.S.-based corporations moving their headquarters abroad to significantly reduce their tax liability).

Another point of contention among expatriates is a federal law called the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act or FATCO which compels foreign banks and other financial institutions to provide information to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service about Americans holding accounts. It is meant to catch American expatriates who don’t pay enough taxes, or not pay at all.

Bachmann’s bill is brilliantly crafted.  The senator had previously announced that she would not be seeking reelection to her Congressional seat in 2014.  Sources say she plans to move to Istanbul after her current term expires.  If her bill becomes law, she would automatically become a citizen of the 51st At-Large State and would be eligible to run for a seat in the House of Representatives or the Senate.

It would be the best of two worlds for Bachmann.

Economy, International, Politics

PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT AQUINO TOUTS ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN A SPEECH IN MADRID, CITES WORSENING TRAFFIC

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imageMadrid, Spain (The Adobo Chronicles) – Philippine President NoyNoy Aquino, who is visiting Spain, took time to speak before the Filipino community in Madrid, touting the accomplishments of his administration.

Aquino took credit for his country’s improved economy, the successful war against government corruption, massive upgrading of airports, and even the impressive showing of the Philippine basketball team at the ongoing World Cup.

“We have also seen a change in the nightmarish traffic situation in Metro Manila and other urban cities,” Aquino said, “it has gotten worse.”  Aquino received a standing ovation after he made this statement.

Meanwhile, hours after boasting of the country’s economy, the Philippine peso lost 0.5 percent at 44.130 pesos to the U.S. dollar, the weakest rate since August 8.

Back in the Philippines, Aquino’s critics said the president needs a new eyeglass prescription. “His bifocals seem to let him see two different things at any given time: his imaginary reality and the real plight of the country outside of the presidential palace,” they said.