Cris Arreola

Posted on November 25, 2008 by Jorge Costales

Miami Herald boxing article by Santos Perez on Cris Arreola.
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Arreola: A boxer on rise

Posted on Mon, Nov. 24, 2008

BY SANTOS A. PEREZ

Evander Holyfield and Cris Arreola define the current extremes and wilderness that have become American heavyweight boxing.

One fighter clings to his name and history for one additional payday and championship thrill while the other pushes for a breakthrough and provide the weight class its first established attraction in a decade.

Sadly, American heavyweights have failed to captivate since a younger Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe and Michael Moorer ruled the division.

Similar to an aging golf champion receiving annual invitations to participate in the Masters, Holyfield continues to land title fights. The 46-year-old, four-time heavyweight champion will face World Boxing Association titleholder Nicolay Valuev Dec. 20 in Zurich, Switzerland.

Holyfield has not fought since October 2007, when he lost a lopsided decision against Sultan Ibragimov for the World Boxing Organization belt. Despite Holyfield’s lengthy inactivity and diminished skills, the WBA rewards him with another title bid against the seven-foot Valuev.

The casual fan will likely recognize Holyfield instead of Arreola if both fighters were spotted in public. But Arreola, 27, soon could cure the American heavyweight malaise, considering his convincing rise through formative bouts and now to television performer.

”There are a lot of young heavyweights that are good, but the problem with the division is the matchmaking,” Arreola said Saturday. “Who wants to see Valuev-Holyfield?

“People are trying to live off their names. No offense but [ Hasim] Rahman is still living off his knockout win over Lennox Lewis years ago. More power to him.”

Arreola has won his first 25 fights, 22 by knockout. The Los Angeles native will fight on his second HBO telecast with a scheduled 10-round bout against Travis Walker on Saturday in Ontario, Calif.

A victory over Walker (28-1, 22 KOs) could move Arreola into a line of fights against former champions — the progression fighters usually make before earning the title bout.

ELSEWHERE

Ricky Hatton scored an 11th-round technical knockout over Paulie Malignaggi late Saturday in Las Vegas.

Malignaggi (26-2) stunned Hatton with a right to the head late in the second but could not follow up with telling shots. Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs) recovered and increased punch volume for the remainder of the junior-welterweight bout.

Miami promoter Felix Zabala Jr. will present his final card of the year at Miccosukee Resort and Gaming on Dec. 5.

The eight-bout card will be headlined by a regional super-flyweight title fight between Mexico’s Jesus Jimenez and Colombia’s Luis Melendez.

Miami’s Joey Hernandez remained undefeated with a fourth-round technical knockout victory over Jesse Davis Friday night in Hammond, Ind. A junior-middleweight, Hernandez is now 14-0 with seven knockouts.
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Thomas Friedman on Auto Industry

Posted on November 24, 2008 by Jorge Costales

Thomas Friedman on auto industry.
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November 12, 2008 – Op-Ed Columnist – How to Fix a Flat

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Last September, I was in a hotel room watching CNBC early one morning. They were interviewing Bob Nardelli, the C.E.O. of Chrysler, and he was explaining why the auto industry, at that time, needed $25 billion in loan guarantees. It wasn’t a bailout, he said. It was a way to enable the car companies to retool for innovation. I could not help but shout back at the TV screen: “We have to subsidize Detroit so that it will innovate? What business were you people in other than innovation?” If we give you another $25 billion, will you also do accounting?

How could these companies be so bad for so long? Clearly the combination of a very un-innovative business culture, visionless management and overly generous labor contracts explains a lot of it. It led to a situation whereby General Motors could make money only by selling big, gas-guzzling S.U.V.’s and trucks. Therefore, instead of focusing on making money by innovating around fuel efficiency, productivity and design, G.M. threw way too much energy into lobbying and maneuvering to protect its gas guzzlers.

This included striking special deals with Congress that allowed the Detroit automakers to count the mileage of gas guzzlers as being more than they really were — provided they made some cars flex-fuel capable for ethanol. It included special offers of $1.99-a-gallon gasoline for a year to any customer who purchased a gas guzzler. And it included endless lobbying to block Congress from raising the miles-per-gallon requirements. The result was an industry that became brain dead.

Nothing typified this more than statements like those of Bob Lutz, G.M.’s vice chairman. He has been quoted as saying that hybrids like the Toyota Prius “make no economic sense.” And, in February, D Magazine of Dallas quoted him as saying that global warming “is a total crock of [expletive].”

These are the guys taxpayers are being asked to bail out.

And please, spare me the alligator tears about G.M.’s health care costs. Sure, they are outrageous. “But then why did G.M. refuse to lift a finger to support a national health care program when Hillary Clinton was pushing for it?” asks Dan Becker, a top environmental lobbyist.

Not every automaker is at death’s door. Look at this article that ran two weeks ago on autochannel.com: “ALLISTON, Ontario, Canada — Honda of Canada Mfg. officially opened its newest investment in Canada — a state-of-the art $154 million engine plant. The new facility will produce 200,000 fuel-efficient four-cylinder engines annually for Civic production in response to growing North American demand for vehicles that provide excellent fuel economy.”

The blame for this travesty not only belongs to the auto executives, but must be shared equally with the entire Michigan delegation in the House and Senate, virtually all of whom, year after year, voted however the Detroit automakers and unions instructed them to vote. That shielded General Motors, Ford and Chrysler from environmental concerns, mileage concerns and the full impact of global competition that could have forced Detroit to adapt long ago.

Indeed, if and when they do have to bury Detroit, I hope that all the current and past representatives and senators from Michigan have to serve as pallbearers. And no one has earned the “honor” of chief pallbearer more than the Michigan Representative John Dingell, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee who is more responsible for protecting Detroit to death than any single legislator.

O.K., now that I have all that off my chest, what do we do? I am as terrified as anyone of the domino effect on industry and workers if G.M. were to collapse. But if we are going to use taxpayer money to rescue Detroit, then it should be done along the lines proposed in The Wall Street Journal on Monday by Paul Ingrassia, a former Detroit bureau chief for that paper.

“In return for any direct government aid,” he wrote, “the board and the management [of G.M.] should go. Shareholders should lose their paltry remaining equity. And a government-appointed receiver — someone hard-nosed and nonpolitical — should have broad power to revamp G.M. with a viable business plan and return it to a private operation as soon as possible. That will mean tearing up existing contracts with unions, dealers and suppliers, closing some operations and selling others and downsizing the company … Giving G.M. a blank check — which the company and the United Auto Workers union badly want, and which Washington will be tempted to grant — would be an enormous mistake.”

I would add other conditions: Any car company that gets taxpayer money must demonstrate a plan for transforming every vehicle in its fleet to a hybrid-electric engine with flex-fuel capability, so its entire fleet can also run on next generation cellulosic ethanol.

Lastly, somebody ought to call Steve Jobs, who doesn’t need to be bribed to do innovation, and ask him if he’d like to do national service and run a car company for a year. I’d bet it wouldn’t take him much longer than that to come up with the G.M. iCar.

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Amazing Grace

Posted on November 23, 2008 by Jorge Costales

The story of how John Newton came to Christianity is inspiring and instructive. After his conversion had begun, he continued to participate in the slave trade in the 1750’s. By itself, that fact could be a source of criticism of Newton by some. But those critics would likely not include any Christian who has struggled to determine what their faith is calling them to do and then to actually follow through when they finally do realize.

A movie was made in 2006 of Newton’s story.

“Amazing Grace”

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ’d!

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis’d good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.

John New­ton, Ol­ney Hymns (Lon­don: W. Ol­i­ver, 1779)

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An Attack on Reasonableness

Posted on November 22, 2008 by Jorge Costales

I love arguing [talking] about politics. In the good old days, people staked out a position on the right or left and went at it. However, lately I have been encountering a particularly vicious strain of pseudo-impartiality that is sweeping across Cuban-American circles. The reasonable, open-minded, just weighing all the facts person, who miraculously always ends up opposing conservative positions. They are ‘the reasonable guy or gal’ [RG].

In the good old days, this person would have constituted a liberal in good-standing. But since Liberalism has fallen into such ill-repute–even Barack Obama can not afford to be seen with her–they pretend not to recognize familiar views. Too bad, some things are worth being mocked about, as young conservatives or old conservatives with bad memories will learn. Apparently having a consistent political philosophy is too ’20th century’ for these cutting-edge, new-age firecrackers. You can almost feel their desire to have an original political thought, or at least one not recently spewed out on the CNN, MSNBC and Fox meat grinders of political discourse, they’re so … common.

RG’s will always eventually oppose whatever they sense to be prevailing view among their tribe, it’s a way of differentiating themselves. The impartiality dance is their way of holding out for the intellectual version of dinner and a movie. In effect, those of up front about our ideologies are the intellectual version of ‘hey, just no motels OK.’ For me there are 3 political points of view, the honorable left, the honorable right and the gutless pretenders mucking up punching lanes like some drunk Richard Steele wannabees.

You’re So Reasonable – The Musical

You walked into a room designed for spin
Like you were undecided on the day of a caucus
Your vote strategically hidden behind a Baldwin
If you switch, it could really focus [last word to be pronounced as if an elderly Cuban guy was speaking]
You think this post is about you, don’t you

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Bolt, The First Presidential Target?

Posted on November 21, 2008 by Jorge Costales

Washington D.C. — January 20th 2009:

[AP-BHO Newswire] At his 2nd press conference, President-elect Obama today surprised many by issuing a threat against Disney Studios. He stated that unless they agreed to remake its most recent animated movie, Bolt, he would request a review of all existing contractual agreements with the entertainment conglomerate to determine improprieties, real or otherwise.

Bolt’s plot is based on the adventures of a white German Shepherd. President Obama stated that, given the Olympic record-setting performance of the Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt, he considered it ‘unacceptable’ for Disney to have released a movie bearing his name, while failing to capitalize on the natural tie-in promotions. While there were no explicit charges of racism, the implication was inescapable. Excerpts from the President’s comments:

It’s not just that — that — that the dog is uh, er, uh, white. The fact that uh, er, uh, breed is German, certainly poses, I think, an unnecessary uh, er, uh, challenge to our Jewish friends. I have contacted the New York Times, MSNBC and uh, er, uh, Ms Winfrey and ask that they take no immediate retribution, but everyone has their uh, er, uh, limits. I have also spoken with uh, er, uh, director Spike Lee, and he assured me that he stands ready to help in uh, er, uh, by whatever means necessary that the right thing uh, er, uh, be done, uh, here.

Disney sought to assure all that they meant no offense. The studio, whose animated projects are typically in development for years, assured the White House–or ‘Primera Casa’ as it is referred to by many of the President-elect’s staff to avoid the wrath of the First Lady in-waiting, who intensely dislikes what the use of the word ‘white’ may subliminally denote to some–that the only white character currently in development involved a polar bear.

Top White House officials suggested that the polar bear’s appearance could easily be altered by an oil spill, which would bring with it a bonus synergy of calling attention to the dangers of drilling for oil [i.e. alternative energies]. Disney was urged to focus on other similar potential upsides to Obama’s Bolt-vision, drawing parallels with Coca Cola’s initial missteps with Coke Classic.

Some cynics, probably racists, ridiculed the move as a ‘reverse bolt of lightening.’ Defending the president’s forays into what might be considered unusual areas, one top official noted, ‘Ancient Jews did not reject manna from heaven just because they did not understand from whence it came. We urge small-minded Americans not to try his patience.’

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Tony Roman Win

Posted on November 21, 2008 by Jorge Costales

Miami Herald boxing article by Santos Perez on Tony Roman.

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Miami’s Tony Roman still undefeated

Posted on Thu, Nov. 20, 2008

BY SANTOS A. PEREZ

The pounding on the canvas to signal the final 10 seconds of his fight allowed Tony Roman for a brief celebratory shuffle.

Roman had reason to celebrate. This Dominican Republic native and Miami resident won a unanimous decision over Alexis Division in the main event of Wednesday night’s card at the Mahi Temple Shrine Auditorium.

The victory earned Roman, in his first year of professional boxing, a regional junior-middleweight title. ”It is a great feeling. I worked very hard for this victory,” said Roman, who improved to 8-0.

Roman solidified the victory when he dropped Division with a short right to the head late in the sixth round for the fight’s only knockdown. ”I thought I had him finished at that point, but the bell was able to save him,” Roman said.

After an uneventful first round, as both fighters looked for openings, the pace intensified in the second. Roman scored with left jabs to the head and rights to the body.

Despite a height and reach advantage, Division could not offset Roman with distance-maintaining jabs. Instead, Roman connected frequently with left jabs to the head.

Earlier, Boca Raton resident Eric Leander barely broke a sweat with a 31-second, first-round knockout over Derek Walker.

Leander (5-0, 4 KOs) charged at Walker immediately after the opening bell and pressed the action. As soon as he found his opening, Leander knocked Walker out cold with a straight right and a left hook to the head.

In other bouts: Featherweight Daniel Lorenzana won by unanimous decision over Kato Ferguson; junior-middleweight Jean Carlos Prada won by split decision over Akilles Adnan; middleweights Omar Coffi and Angel Martinez fought to a draw.
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I know Mil Mascaras, but whose the Kid?

Posted on November 20, 2008 by Jorge Costales

I want to take you back to a different time.  To the evening of March 5th 1977, where something odd and magical was happening in Miami. Elsewhere in America, Kiss was playing at the Rupp Arena and Wally Szczerbiak was being born, so not all was right. But Miami was different.  In Miami, Ela and Adolfo Costales were celebrating their 22nd wedding anniversary and Championship Wrestling had come to town.

They arrived at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami. They being professional wrestlers. The thought of them either brings a smile or a smirk. For you smirkers, take your politically-correct, oh-so-sophisticated-practically-effete sensibilities back to watching Oprah or MSNBC, talking about defining elections and speculating about the ‘best restaurant in town.’ This blog post ain’t for you’se. Perhaps, you would be more comfortable with a more delicate subject.

This tale is retold for anyone who appreciated that wrestlers had jobs–we speak now of the pre-Vince McMahon, pre-WWF era. Their jobs involved athleticism and showmanship. In that way they remind me of Melville’s great reflection in Moby Dick about those of us with jobs:

“What of it, if some old hunks of a sea-captain orders me to get a broom and sweep down the decks? What does that indignity amount to, weighed, I mean, in the scales of the New Testament? Do you think the archangel Gabriel thinks anything the less of me, because I promptly and respectfully obey that old hunks in that particular instance? Who ain’t a slave? Tell me that.”

That December evening, after their jobs were done, the guys of the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling sat around having a few beers, the finished bottles referred to as dead soldiers.When in through the door walks the tall scrawny kid who had been taking photographs. Everyone assumed someone else had asked him to do that. But no one had and it didn’t matter. The kid was accepted as one of the guys that night. The kid would never forget it.

Mil Mascaras, Thunderbolt Patterson, Johnny Weaver and the Deleon kid with the camera were all part of the show that night. The wrestling worker bees didn’t ‘take’ their act on the road, their act was always on the road. You get the sense that they loved what they got to do and constantly wondered how long they would get to do it. Maybe that’s why they seem to appreciate all who helped them along the way, even unofficial kid photographers. That makes them very unlike our ‘performers’ today. I went a few times, dragging my Dad along and praying that the darn Commie–Boris [The Great] Malenko–wasn’t on the card that night.

We don’t know what became of the kid with the camera. He might be pushing up daises or just pushing bromeliads, but we are pretty certain that he got to pay forward the kind and classy way that professional wrestlers treated him on that night.

Everything you ever wanted to know about 1970’s Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling is copied in full at end of this post.

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Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling Roster

Comprehensive lists of the wrestlers and other personnel that appeared for Crockett Promotions during the 1st quarter of 1977, broken down by the main eventers, mid-carders & under-carders, big-name visitors, plus a list of those who entered and exited the area during the time period.

(N) denotes newcomer to area. (D) denotes departure from area. (R) denotes returnee to area.

MAIN EVENT

(Faces) Dino Bravo, Mighty Igor, Paul Jones (D), Rufus R. Jones, Wahoo McDaniel, “Mr. Wrestling” Tim Woods (D)

(Heels) Kim Duk, Ric Flair, Blackjack Mulligan, Masked Superstar, Greg Valentine

MID-CARD

(Faces) Tony Atlas (D), Red Bastien, Tiger Conway, “Cowboy” Frankie Lane, Ricky Steamboat (N), Johnny Weaver (R)

(Heels) Brute Bernard, Jerry Blackwell, Jerry Brown (Hollywood Blondes) (N), Sgt. Jacques Goulet, Lanny Poffo, Randy Poffo, Buddy Roberts (Hollywood Blondes) (N)

LOWER CARD

(Faces) Klondike Bill, Steve Bolus (D), Dan Burdick (N), “Big” Bill Dromo (N), Johnny Eagle, Francisco Flores, Keith Franks, Dr. Fujinami (D), Herb Gallant, Rick McGraw (N), Danny Miller, Vic Rosetani (D), Joey Rossi (D), Ron Starr

(Heels) Dennis Condry (N), Jack Evans (D), Ricky Ferrara (R), George “Two Ton” Harris, Scott Irwin (N), Butch Malone (N), Angelo Poffo (D), Tony Russo Larry Sharpe (R) Blue Scorpion, Doug Sommers, Bill White, Mr. X (N)

MANAGERS

“Professor” Boris [Great – JC] Malenko (Kim Duk & Masked Superstar), Ivan Kamikoff (Mighty Igor)

WOMEN – None

MIDGETS – None [these were the dark times – JC]

GUEST SHOTS

Gene Anderson (Georgia), Ole Anderson (Georgia), Andre The Giant, Giant Baba (All Japan), Dory Funk, Jr. (Florida/Texas), Gladiators, Superstar Billy Graham (WWF), “Professor” Boris Malenko (wrestled infrequently), Mil Mascaras (WWF/Mexico), Ken Patera (WWF), Thunderbolt Patterson (Georgia), Harley Race (NWA Champion), Dusty Rhodes (Florida), Tenriu (All Japan), Jumbo Tsuruta (All Japan), Baron Von Raschke (AWA)

REFEREES

Sonny Fargo, Zack Murray, Tommy Young

TV ANNOUNCERS

Ed Capral (Wide World Wrestling), Bob Caudle & David Crockett (Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling)

TV RING ANNOUNCERS

Carl Murnick, Elliott Murnick, Joe Murnick

PROMO ANNOUNCERS

Ed Capral, Les Thatcher

CUMULATIVE RANKINGS

SINGLES

1. Wahoo McDaniel (2)

2. Blackjack Mulligan (4)

3. Masked Superstar (5)

4. Dino Bravo (10)

5. Rufus R. Jones (6)

6. Greg Valentine (7)

7. Mighty Igor (NR)

8. Kim Duk (NR)

9. Paul Jones (3)

10. Ric Flair (1)

TAG TEAMS

1. Ric Flair & Greg Valentine (2)

2. The Hollywood Blondes (NR)

3. Wahoo McDaniel & Rufus R. Jones (NR)

4. Dino Bravo & Tiger Conway, Jr. (NR)

5. Dino Bravo & “Mr. Wrestling” Tim Woods (3)
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Tony Roman

Posted on November 20, 2008 by Jorge Costales

Miami Herald boxing article by Santos Perez on Tony Roman.

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Middleweight Roman rises quickly, gets title shot

Posted on Wed, Nov. 19, 2008

BY SANTOS A. PEREZ

Tony Roman began the year without a professional fight on his record but with abundant aspirations.

In 10 months, Roman has built a professional résumé, and on Wednesday night he will fight for a regional middleweight title.

Roman (7-0) will face Alexis Divison in the main event of a nine-bout card at the Mahi Temple Shrine Auditorium.

Roman, 27, credits his new management and promotional team for his lofty opportunity in such an abbreviated time. A native of the Dominican Republic, Roman moved to Miami late last year and has fought all his bouts in local promoter Henry Rivalta’s shows.

”When I began my career I thought this process would take a bit longer,” Roman said in Spanish after a workout Monday. “Other people were guiding me, and things didn’t turn out the way I expected.

“Luckily, I was presented this new offer by a new group, and things have worked out for the better.”

For Roman, departure from his native country came with personal and professional hardship. Roman left behind his wife, 5-year-old daughter and parents, as well as a steady job. While a member of the police force, Roman also represented the unit in amateur contests.

”Opportunities in professional boxing are few over there,” Roman said. “There are many who want to become professional fighters, but few get a chance.

“I had offers to turn professional in the Dominican Republic, but I didn’t accept them because things just didn’t appear right. I decided that if I wanted to make it as a professional fighter it would be in the United States.”

Roman acknowledges adjustment to the professional circuit proved difficult at first, considering the majority of his 212-bout amateur career consisted of three-round matches. Wednesday night’s fight against Divison will be his first scheduled for 10 rounds.

”I have increased the number of rounds I am sparring to prepare me for this fight,” said Roman, who has won four of his fights by knockout. “I am not worried about being overtrained. It’s better to get tired in the gym than the actual fight.”

As he spends countless hours in the gym, Roman can’t help but think of his family back home. To help cope with the separation, Roman has made visits to the Dominican Republic between fights.

”There are difficult days because they support me tremendously,” Roman said.

“But the reason I am here fighting hard is to help my family.”
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Feds Rethink Rules on Retirement Savings

Posted on November 19, 2008 by Jorge Costales

WSJ Tax article
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Feds Rethink Rules on Retirement Savings

NOVEMBER 19, 2008

By TOM HERMAN

Amid growing concern over the stock market’s severe drop, government officials are considering last-minute relief from rules requiring millions of Americans who are 70½ or older to withdraw money from their retirement accounts.
[Feds Rethink Retirement Savings]

Among the possible changes: allowing taxpayers to delay taking required withdrawals from their individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans and other similar accounts this year — or at least reducing the amount that must be withdrawn. Also under consideration are various ways to provide tax relief for people who already have made their required withdrawals for this year.

Some lawmakers and advocacy groups are urging Congress to pass legislation soon that includes temporary changes in the minimum-distribution rules. Meanwhile, Treasury Department officials are studying whether they can make certain changes on their own by tweaking the regulations.

While it’s by no means certain that Congress or the Treasury will act this year, the message for investors is clear: If you haven’t already taken your required minimum distribution this year, consider waiting a while longer, says Clint Stretch, managing principal for tax policy at Deloitte & Touche LLP in Washington.

At issue are complex requirements that force millions of people age 70½ or older to withdraw minimum amounts of money from retirement-savings accounts each year. The amount of the distribution is based on the market value of the taxpayer’s account as of the last day of the previous year.

Therein lies one of the major problems. This year’s distributions are based on Dec. 31, 2007, levels — a time when market prices generally were far above today’s deeply depressed values. As a result, “millions of Americans are forced to withdraw larger-than-anticipated amounts from already-depleted retirement funds,” says David Certner, legislative policy director at AARP, an advocacy group that represents nearly 40 million older Americans.

One of the big questions is how much authority the Treasury has to take action on its own. During the presidential campaign, then-Sen. Barack Obama said the Treasury has the authority to “temporarily suspend” required withdrawals this year, and he urged Treasury officials to do so speedily. The Obama campaign said the explicit requirement that withdrawals must continue on an annual basis — and the requirement that withdrawals must be based on the much-higher 2007 year-end asset values — is based on Treasury regulations, not the law itself, and thus could be changed administratively.

In addition, because lower-income seniors “may have no choice but to take withdrawals” this year and next year, the Obama campaign endorsed the idea of exempting from tax any withdrawals made up to the required minimum amount. This would “give seniors the flexibility they deserve — to forgo withdrawals if they choose or take those withdrawals tax-free if they need those resources to pay their bills,” a campaign statement said.

In late October, Treasury spokesman Andrew DeSouza declined to comment on “any proposals made by either presidential campaign.” This week, he said: “We’re certainly aware of the issue and we’re looking into it.” He declined to elaborate. A Treasury official recently wrote lawmakers to say “we share your concern that because of the required minimum distribution rules in the Internal Revenue Code and the Treasury regulations, many Americans are required to withdraw a higher percentage of their savings than expected.”

That letter noted that many investors’ account balances are “significantly lower” now than they were on last Dec. 31.

Among the private-sector groups calling for major changes is AARP. Recently, Bill Novelli, AARP’s chief executive, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson urging him to take immediate action to temporarily freeze mandatory retirement-account withdrawals. This week, Mr. Novelli sent a letter to House and Senate leaders urging them to pass a new economic-stimulus package that would include retirement-savings changes.

AARP also called for relief for retirees who have already taken their minimum distributions this year, as well as those who don’t have the choice of delaying withdrawals and need to yank money from their accounts to pay bills. “We believe that fairness dictates that we provide relief for individuals who have no other recourse than to use their greatly diminished retirement savings to meet current living expenses,” Mr. Novelli said.

“Retirement-savings losses over the past 12 months have been staggering,” he said. “Older individuals have disproportionately experienced these losses, and many do not have the luxury to wait for a market rebound.”

So what’s likely to happen?

“I think they [Treasury officials] have the authority to lessen the amount of the required minimum distribution, but I’d find it hard to think they have the authority to eliminate it completely,” says Bill Sweetnam, an attorney at the Groom Law Group in Washington and formerly the benefits tax counsel at the Treasury Department.

“Although it is still possible that Congress could act this week” to provide relief from the minimum-distribution rules, “that hope seems to be fading,” says Deloitte’s Mr. Stretch. But if Congress doesn’t act, “Treasury seems ready to make regulatory changes that would help out taxpayers.”

For example, Mr. Stretch says the Treasury could “delay the date” by which minimum distributions must be made in order to “provide the new Congress with time to act.” In addition, the Treasury could change how the distributions must be calculated. “Treasury could allow the use of the lower of the value at the end of the prior year or at the end of the current year,” he says.

Congress has several options that it could consider right away or next year, Mr. Stretch says. Whatever the case, “the mood on the Hill is very sympathetic, but it may take time for the politics to work themselves out. In the meantime, taxpayers may wish to wait for a couple more weeks to see what relief Treasury can provide by regulation.”

Most married couples file jointly, according to the IRS.

For 2006, the Internal Revenue Service received more than 138 million individual income-tax returns. Of those, more than 53 million returns represented married couples filing jointly.

Only about 2.5 million returns came from married people filing separately from their spouse, the IRS said.
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What’s a Demogogue To Do

Posted on November 19, 2008 by Jorge Costales

Poor Oscar Arias. What were the odds? Seriously, what were the odds that this gas bag would be exposed in such an obvious manner in his farewell tour in Costa Rica. A sampling of the drivel that poured forth from the mouth of the Latin King of Benefiting from Political Correctness and Western Guilt–another gang of sorts–whose honors include a Nobel prize and a highfalutin UN post a while back:

“I believe that feelings of frustration, of loss of hope are normal. But I also continue to believe that one person can make a difference.”

“It is necessary to have values, to have principle, to have ideals and to want to fight for them.”

“I believe that everyone can do something to better the quality of their brothers and sisters throughout the planet.”

Mr Arias recently dumped a democratic ally and long-time friend, Taiwan, for Chinese yuan’s. Which, it can be argued, makes sense for Costa Rica’s economy. But whenever moral rectometers like Arias, who spent much of his time at the UN criticizing the US, are exposed as hack pols, it deserves attention. This from the article:

Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, said the two leaders had not touched on China’s widely criticized human rights record.

“I used the opportunity to speak of things that are important and urgent for Costa Rica,” Arias said.

Wow. No word if Mr Arias developed vertigo upon rising from his knees.

The article referenced is copied in full at end of post.

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China’s Hu launches free trade talks in Costa Rica

by Sophie Nicholson Sophie Nicholson Mon Nov 17, 5:03 pm ET

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AFP) – Chinese President Hu Jintao began a Latin America tour with the launch of free trade talks with Costa Rica on Monday, just over a year after the country gave up six decades of ties with Taiwan.

Hu’s stopover was the highest-level visit by a Chinese official to Costa Rica and came as China expands its diplomacy and investment on the whole continent, with an eye on natural resources and developing markets for manufactured goods and even weapons.

Hu arrived in San Jose Sunday, from a G20 summit in Washington, and headed Monday for his second visit to communist ally Cuba, before attending an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru on November 22.

“The development of cooperation and friendship between China and Costa Rica meets the fundamental interests of our people and will also support different sectors of our societies,” Hu said after announcing the free trade deal with President Oscar Arias.

Talks were due to start January 19, 2009, in San Jose and end before Arias leaves office in May 2010.

Hu and Arias, who visited China last year, oversaw the signing of 11 cooperation deals, from setting up a Chinese language institute to opening a line of 40 million dollars in credit from China.

They agreed to set up a joint venture including China’s National Petroleum Corporation to help modernize Costa Rica’s state-owned oil refinery, with an investment of up to 1.2 billion dollars.

Hu’s symbolic visit made the point that Central America was no longer a Taiwanese stronghold, after Costa Rica became the first country in the region to establish diplomatic ties with China on June 1, 2007.

Both Taiwan — a democratic self-ruled island that Beijing considers part of its territory awaiting reunification — and China have been accused of using so-called “dollar diplomacy” to get nations to ally with them.

But Taiwan has lost allies in recent years.

Part of China’s incentives for Costa Rica’s recognition came from its enormous foreign exchange reserves with an offer to buy 300 million dollars in bonds. It also donated more than 100 million dollars to build a new national stadium.

Costa Rica is only the third Latin American country to negotiate a free trade deal with China, after Chile and Peru, which may conclude its accord during Hu’s visit later this month.

A major exporter of computer components, Costa Rica has dismissed fears of an invasion of Chinese products into the country as it seeks to diversify ties amid worldwide financial woes.

Its main trade partner is the United States.

Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, said the two leaders had not touched on China’s widely criticized human rights record.

“I used the opportunity to speak of things that are important and urgent for Costa Rica,” Arias said.

Hu headed to Cuba late Monday, less than two weeks before the arrival of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

China offered key support to former Cuban leader Fidel Castro when Cuba fell into dire economic straits after the 1991 breakup of the former Soviet Union, forging a divide with Russia.

China was Cuba’s second business partner, after Venezuela, in 2007.
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