Our good friends up north are constantly being bashed for one reason or another ... but now it's time to celebrate something Canadian - their low tax rates. Okay, maybe not 'low' ... but if you are rich in America you may soon be envying their top-end taxes. Let's compare:

CANADA

We hear about a possible 'jobless recovery' ... we may be in one already.   Here's a chart comparing GDP gains with unemployment. And remember the scary stat I posted yesterday .. for the first time ever more than 10,000,000 people are collecting some form of unemployment insurance now.   We have to get those people back to work. read more

GDP last quarter grew 3.5%, more than the consensus estimate of economists.   That's good.    Any positive GDP print is better than a continued drop in the economy. Before we break out the party hats, keep in mind a few key points that may make that 3.5% gain much less than the headlines suggest: 1. Dollar-for-dollar we're losing money.  Instead of thinking in percentage terms, think ... read more

From Dow Jones... The government's "Cash for Clunkers" program may have only added 125,000 vehicle sales, according to Edmunds.com, which said the rest of the units sold would have happened regardless of the program. In total, the car-shopping Web site said about 690,000 vehicles were sold during the program. Edmunds.com said that based on the actual sales gained from the program, the Cash ... read more

As the noise over the debate over health care (er, health insurance) debate reaches ear-splitting levels, two things seem clear: First, 'winning' the health care debate is impossible because the end results will vary different for each household.   Second, regardless of which side feels as if they have 'won,' health care, like most aspects of our lives, will evolve to meet the needs of any new ... read more

Goes to the GMAC story today about a possible third round of bailouts for the company... Illinois Republican Mark Kirk and 19 colleagues in the House just sent the following letter to the President about GM and the use of taxpayer money: Kirk: Sunshine on the GM "Bridge Loan to Nowhere" Taxpayers loaned General Motors $49 billion Ex-“Car Czar” estimates taxpayer loss at approximately ... read more

Received this email from a venture capitalist who has financed existing solar-power startups and would like to do more.   He is frustrated that despite all the talk from Washington about alternative energy being our economic future, projects are slow to develop because of economic and credit hurdles put in place by the Department of Energy and other government agencies. It may explain why ... read more

What I'm reading this Wednesday: Wall Street Journal on former AMD CEO Ruiz being implicated in the Galleon case Kiplinger asks 6 big names where we are headed MarketWatch says that LA is choosing Google over Microsoft Smart Money on 3 stocks that should benefit from a weaker dollar MarketWatch on the 7 best hidden economic indicators GlassDoor on the lowest rated CEOs according ... read more

Stories I'm reading this Tuesday: Grantham says it's time to sell stocks Home prices rise on a monthly basis Goldman & Merrill have very different views on housing NY Times: How health care reform may leave many worse who need it most (from Sunday) Wealthy New Yorkers fleeing the state America, read more

A group of protestors is gathered in Chicago to show their anger over bank bailouts. The SEIU is calling it the "showdown in Chicago" and says it is "a little meet and greet between the people who created the financial crisis (and got rich from it) and the people who paid the price for Wall Street's greed -- and footed the bill to bail the banks out." "People who created the financial ... read more