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Verizon Communications Inc., Comcast Corp. and other big telecom companies are lobbying Florida lawmakers to exempt a host of digital items from the state’s communications tax, in an overhaul the industry says is needed to adapt to rapidly evolving technology but which some others warn could eventually rip a huge hole in government finances.

The legislation (HB 809, SB 1060) would prevent state and local governments from charging communications services taxes on “digital goods,” such as downloaded games, software or music, and “digital services,” from online cloud storage to security monitoring.

The industry says the law would prevent cash-strapped governments from using outdated tax laws to make money off new products as telecom companies expand beyond their traditional role providing communication services to consumers.

Philadelphia-based Comcast, for instance, has begun selling home-security services in addition to cable-television, internet and phone service in certain markets around the country, including Jacksonville.

“The reality is Florida has not done a comprehensive examination of the communications services tax in almost 12 years.

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(Financial Times) — Greece’s finance minister angrily rejected a German plan for the eurozone to impose a budget overseer onto Athens in return for a new €130bn bail-out, saying it would improperly force his country to choose between “financial assistance” and “national dignity”.

Evangelos Venizelos said the proposal to create a European Union “budget commissioner” with the power to veto Greek tax and spending decisions, revealed by the FT, “ignores some key historical lessons”. H

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They called her stupid.

Arlie Cobb burst into tears one afternoon last spring when her mother asked about her day at school.

Then in third grade, she had been ridiculed by classmates during her math lesson.

Arlie’s mother, Christine Cobb, knew how her daughter felt. Math hadn’t been her best subject in school, either. But Cobb was determined not to let Arlie struggle.

After checking out her options, Cobb signed Arlie up for after-school math lessons with Mango Math Group in Snohomish.

“She instantly loved it,” Cobb said. “Within three or four weeks, I saw a complete change in her attitude about math.”

Arlie’s teachers noticed, too. They told her mother Arlie’s confidence in math translated to a greater sense of self-esteem in other subjects. Read full post…

Q: This week Gov. Bentley unveiled what is being called Accelerate Alabama, which is a plan to attract business to the state. How successful will this be?

A: The information about Accelerate Alabama on the Alabama Development Office’s website said all the right things. However, most documents of this sort do. Consultants have a knack for making the obvious sound more sophisticated than it really is.

When boiled down, the gist of Accelerate Alabama is simply: “we are going to focus on our established strengths, namely manufacturing and back of fice work.”

There, I just saved you 78 pages of reading. Sure, there is more to it than that, but if you need to know only one thing about the plan, there it is.

Don’t get me wrong; studies like these can be invaluable if for no other reason than to get everyone on the same page, and focused on the same things.

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The chief of Britains second-largest bank declined his $1.5 million bonus yesterday, hours after opposition lawmakers vowed to put it to a vote, reports the Scotsman. The banks board argued that Royal Bank of Scotland CEO Stephen Hesters bonus was reasonable, especially since his base pay of $1.9 million is lower than that of most comparable CEOs. But many lawmakers rejected that logic, saying that since RBS was bailed out heavily in 2008 and is now mostly public-owned, it should focus on paying back British taxpayers.

Pressure increased on Hester over the weekend after it was revealed the the banks chairman waved a $2.2 million signing bonus. “We need a government that will tax bankers’ bonuses and bring responsibility to the boardroom,” said the leader of the Labour Party. T

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Apple reported record quarterly sales and profit, as holiday purchases of the new iPhone helped the company steer clear of the consumer spending slump that has hurt rival technology companies.

Fiscal first-quarter profit more than doubled to $13.1 billion, or $13.87 a share, compared with $6 billion, or $6.43 a share, a year earlier, Apple said today in a statement. Sales rose 73 percent to $46.3 billion. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg on average estimated profit of $10.14 a share on sales of $39 billion.

Apple sold 37 million iPhones, up from the previous record of 20.34 million. Customers snapped up the 4S model that went on sale in October, a week after the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.

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