Category Archives: Bankruptcy

Manhattan luxury home retailer Gracious Home, which entered Chapter 11 at the end of last year for the second time in a six-year period, has found someone to bring it back to life.

Tom Sullivan, the founder and former chairman of Lumber Liquidators, a specialty retailer of hardwood flooring, has been approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New Yorkto buy the company.The $4 million deal is being finalized as of late-afternoon today, Gracious Home Chief Executive Officer Rob Morrison told Commercial Observer.

Sullivan, also the founder of furniture retail store chainCabinets to Go and clean energy business Proton OnSite, worked withMorrisonat Lumber Liquidators, when they built the brand and took it public.Thats why hes here, Morrison said.

Morrison and Sullivan plan to now deploy a Warby Parker strategyto open a handful of retail stores in very select markets across the U.S., but meaningfully drive sales via the web, a company spokeswoman sent in an email.

As CO previously reported, at the end of January Gracious Home obtained $3 million of debtor-in-possession financing from JMB Capital Partners, and sought someone to buy it out of bankruptcy.The JMB financing comes due today meaning the sale has to close today, Morrison explained. According to court documents,because Gracious Home accepted Sullivans bid, which was the only one submitted, the company no longer had to consider an auction.

The company had four Manhattan stores, which it shuttered, and the staff worked to reduce inventory in preparation for a reopening of a new scaled-down store at one of the locations. InMay, Gracious Home opened the doors to a 3,000-square-foot store (plus 1,800 square feet below grade for offices) at 1210 Third Avenue at the corner of East 70th Street, a fraction of the 55,000 square feet it leased at the location, Morrison told CO at the time. And the company relaunched its website.

The website has been very solid, well above our expectations, Morrison said.

Update: This story has been edited to include the investment sum and comments from Rob Morrison.

Read the rest here:

Gracious Home Exiting Bankruptcy With $4M Sale [Updated] - Commercial Observer

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

In an interview with Brian Burnsed ofSports Illustratedon Wednesday, former NFL running back Clinton Portis recounted considering murder as a means of revenge for going bankrupt.

According to Burnsed, nearly all of the money Portis handed over to a group of men to manage and make safe investments with in 2013 disappeared, which resulted in his contemplating murder.

"It wasn't no beat up," Portis said."It waskill."

Portis discussed sitting in his car outside aWashington, D.C., office building with a pistol in his possession in hopes of confronting one of the investors who squandered his money.

A trio of financial advisersJeff Rubin,Jinesh Brahmbhatt andFuad Ahmedallegedly steered Portis toward faulty investments that resulted in millions lost for the former running back.

In his 2015 bankruptcy filings, Portis made potential claims of $11 million against them, but he believes it is unlikely he will recover anything close to that number.

Along with investment issues, Burnsed wrote in detail about Portis' lavish spending on cars, houses, clothing and trips, all of which contributed to his eventual bankruptcy.

Despite the losses, Portis told Burnsed he believes he can earn much of it back through a broadcasting career and appearance fees.

Portis also told Burnsed that he sustained more than 10 concussions during his career and is eligible to receive compensation as part of theNFL's $1 billion concussion settlement if he displays the requisite symptoms.

Rather than attempting to collect, however, Portis said he'd rather not know if there's anything seriously wrong with him:"F--k that concussion money. I'm scared. I'm really scared of the results."

The 35-year-old Portis played nine NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos and Washington Redskins and was named to two Pro Bowls.

He topped 1,000 rushing yards in a season on six occasions, including three campaigns of 1,500 or more yards in his first four NFL seasons.

Portis last played during the 2010 season and retired having earned$43.1 million, per Burnsed.

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Clinton Portis Talks Urge to Commit Murder, Bankruptcy in SI ... - Bleacher Report

Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

Updated: Premier Marine files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal Premier Marine was founded in 1992 with a focus on luxury pontoons. Pictured is the 2016 more. Robert Pearl Photography for Premier Marine Inc. A year after announcing plan to build a new manufacturing plant, the Wyoming, Minnesota-based pontoon ...

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Updated: Premier Marine files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

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MG?"?Vuj; Y_qrnNKLO7]]5{w-3[(;5y9Ogsg[$4P/zC5G|29hKcwZ_;#5F*u3;v_&fg_G|x;wj}$Ye?wjw#VSmt;P72~$3>x jFX`"`?,0i?Z^![mplM67)S &K$NLfA=Pwt#w#CdN+(|wZuZpcio4,69Zu^~kc], X]7MZHeA=k:fj3Lt#6;9^2c{OWQSz>t$SUiHS~Lnkmx{N7A~XkspE.ES V.ike;}VIWjl{rQ{n+PF_|ikU+^XuJXqI.|Q[9s ^1'SYz)CS}Z#fy'6 J%VZm_vGqv78"PRi;YV';IYTLw@xmSve]lplJBgX>=H0}wEZK5n Z U=rVx[v/g"q]"4~D=YYRx]ib;k)7Q%Oo PV7 I;NHT'}``]BvK2w)v_7IQ|JmJ[W.`&%W[+SN _rTVcaPVdt=A-567c5TAv|zaDu][~1yh&U|-rvW14z.xl Zr}hLzGe/R*yWlu~>1:bZ1r{= c[z$Bl80/wEwLq.%sHR.#TU?ji;j.FEAB8:!U#,X`81t8!bV",g_|`Z*III]&'$`w{GD@]pE?Tk9q$N1EIE`&Sk[$x_`dEQLIr;;(]Lcl}Ui-}fVh~AVISr&] }NP N|&[A} y>+9Bpz/$Ui%l4dxLc_Qoq_m6O#TNv_9C9fa;6$;e``(o.Ng1?#|)zpIj:$l(c9]g}`l;WwX^9PhgbICy#_eJ% 1qV:$YS-e;hlyt]MH5p#u@Z3!N;(IC8~@97'49 ixB4{8ow MS8"n i {??pQ_1T,3 +{Y CUkdsR18DNhwG"WGq4y4 y81i kbg}gW5=g} 4 6M4j/Sg+-}nh7@}?qhFp-&WC{%I9/?th3oe`Fk!E86fowE}hoa~ yb}Atvq yc!G6~{AUE(g],*?6E }/B0.3=a'jkOl0=$*{=IvChqZqZ :_r1yIE_t4EG=!4$BDuh'~j1K,% IK7@Y7Uq'W2$%9MY}WLZ5WtWY@xT% mL!2I[/?dz?kXm|4d2XtBXhxM"EbOh!|A1e?D'c?.GbLX_iE_KCYjN8c6ds=h# y]KfC![ XdOU[2*W{du66C/`o}.# 'O~5ad}*)L8>&h]IG=vm? nF.?.b1B_h}}F{Q%o cJbu[3*98#o!&,M:,Gwwb1}-(bTSQo[.`sz9}!dy/?GpRF5Cw-x|OfODvNp0XApK3EP/r9b7Q~u)D- {u++@#0G#0?S1r_[`A=f]}w3.997po0mYQ&s`g57;hl~:WGdGj.f*D^J"N2s+^IpsX81yLWeoXN.ekWHN{mVtgXKDS m[p17m[riD%]Q`8T0@bv E{?[,X#1/1:wGt{47>pCz!v/7_;Gjy(=qlpm> o.'=KtF"=hc-X^3G^~+iFHx>NM744E[ :0C` R9}5Xkc|ZG}D8g84XKYCWw'(H{KC7fG'8 :I:D"U+z,'O&FLh!V;$({hq=V|S,:d{fxSA[ h/PZd38"m=Xw{}6oiDpC?sy-9jh 4b(67(b4R '!UvoPH.T )=7A_cn'_L_v93?KxJ #b`ed ~tgTudq4YqIBT4?oe'8kN!Z]3g#^Tt(jY( _^"bge wRtsCIB3=gA&1/;B;-T1JAj9 .O^ nnbcQ9OFA{N7;q3Bx-pd(kN w%y9V}jq,lB`K| @ZVgWk=$?JkyJ&QA,>tNihLPPhgC$sX&yu36>`yv3WQ^ge^y0 b`" %)tcYBh71LaXVaw}_:dG|v0Ond-Ti]z= mKJ.%ca#R4BV%S91tEL$a;#GI2"Hr+ jC

XL>AxrOwYnYFaN`F;?`F#:-Hg[z!'QU9#aF@!|/P}iZ|G !Ck%j}47E`.X]HouDn^yG4d d@HlFi+_j,N$8&>}o$-E7bktmzbu3u-zAm@ixV6Zi]o}3 ji(V-Bu/R8(A;;j2-150OYhp[ff]J~n,47`Hzrmd3e,lXsOydoU["~}t`KN)vO_9$7%4oBEffn|w;%FI,%y+-ok%`*4(EHN6p{,Kxo4z,%dP AXS_I6^01f8UA(HVoz|`.*1nqc8`?Tr:n-;w^+H3n~tDQKOc3!a v~oxBN.@up[ :l-W%wZ+[%hCF9g(= 4*qzaF+=cIC{em#8'yL[+VWY[E:Q_8{G UU7; pw'e/m>qm][>J$r)-X{N)N9O4Q5-rMeNZZ /55kPs*cF9?8@sDw *@Go>kKS0Y3:XI`gj ?"5)Xk|TZ,@kwSV !;2@=:_~7~vlWGG#{RSB,)Zvomas1/J9zfn/S8EmN? Q#}aj[P_N>7^EH'P! Ho@6oXhh9GwK*xHpn]2&[0W[-n"NzNx!pA-W 7wo;U 1tag[dY+DYUTX$GB^]/ _f6dxM^`XO$Y^4u?qmr2,0(A'd:a":Y&tsz.pZ5w$!A|gFSmc;{yc W8?Weq{IlgBxNA?+_3#d5:qa~qs6F'8k"[xUYuSa#Fqp3Fw.Nj~Q;OwNcX+llE%s%y`oYjuUs0e-p+K!9o

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Takata's bankruptcy is a result of familiar failings - The Economist

DOVER, Del. (AP) A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday granted several preliminary orders allowing Japanese auto parts supplier Takata to move forward with its reorganization plan, which includes the sale of most of its assets to a Chinese-owned rival for $1.6 billion.

Takata was forced into bankruptcy this week amid lawsuits, multimillion-dollar fines and crushing costs related to the recall and replacement of tens of millions of lethally defective air bag inflators.

At a first-day hearing, Judge Brendan Shannon granted various motions allowing Takata to continue paying its bills and working with suppliers and customers.

Shannons rulings include approval of a key agreement between Takata and major automobile manufacturers, who are both the companys largest customers and largest creditor group, that Takata hopes will provide sufficient near-term liquidity as it moves through the bankruptcy and sale process.

In providing liquidity to Takata, the automakers have agreed to forego certain rights, including exercising setoffs against their existing accounts payable to Takata. Takata, in exchange, has agreed to continue to manufacture and supply parts and replacement kits during the bankruptcy and to offer the carmakers certain protections, including replacement liens and super-priority claims.

An attorney representing the U.S. Virgin Islands, which has sued Takata and Honda over the faulty airbags, expressed concern Tuesday that the bankruptcy case seems to have been set primarily for the benefit of the automakers, adding that its not clear whether their purported setoff rights have been properly established. He also objected to Takatas request for confirmation of an automatic stay, a routine bankruptcy provision that halts litigation or enforcement of judgments against a debtor during its bankruptcy.

Shannon overruled the objection, suggesting that the automatic stay is aimed primarily at private parties and foreign entities, and that the interests of the Virgin Islands would be sufficiently protected.

It is meaningfully different when a United States government entity seeks to move forward, the judge said.

Takata has acknowledged that a chemical used in the air bag inflators, ammonium nitrate, can degrade over time, especially in hot, humid climates. The defect can cause the inflators to rupture, spewing deadly shrapnel inside a vehicle. The problem has been blamed for scores of injuries and at least 16 deaths.

Takata deeply regrets that this has occurred and regrets the harm that has been done to injured parties and the pain suffered by families who have lost loved ones, Marcia Goldstein, an attorney representing Takata, said Tuesday.

The next hearing in the bankruptcy case is scheduled for July 26.

In the meantime, the U.S. bankruptcy trustee has scheduled a creditor committee formation meeting for July 6.

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Judge approves initial motions in Takata bankruptcy - The Seattle Times

Critics of the troubled Plant Vogtle nuclear project say state regulators are ignoring the $8 billion elephant in the room, and want the agency to hold public hearings on the projects growing price tag and delays after a key contractors bankruptcy.

Last week, Nuclear Watch South, an environmental advocacy group, filed a legal motion aimed at pushing the Georgia Public Service Commission to hold an emergency hearing on the Vogtle project following the March bankruptcy of Westinghouse Electric.

The public hearing is needed in light of the PSCs lack of response to the extraordinary circumstances clouding the future viability of the Vogtle 3 & 4 construction project, the group said. Nuclear Watch South is very concerned about the many millions of dollars that are extracted from the public each and every month and transferred to Georgia Power as real profit.

Thursday, the PSC will hold one of its periodic hearings on the half-built projects ongoing costs to finance and build two new nuclear reactors at the power plant near Augusta.

But the PSC so far hasnt delved into the effects of Westinghouses bankruptcy on the Vogtle expansions future, saying it is waiting for Georgia Power to complete its analysis of future options for the project, including continuing construction, converting it to natural gas plants or shutting it down.

Earlier this month, consultants for the PSCs Public Interest Advocacy staff suggested the Westinghouse bankruptcy could bump Georgia Powers share of Vogtles price tag to more than $8 billion and add three more years of delays.

The consultants also said the project likely no longer makes sense economically, compared to cheaper alternatives like natural gas-fired power plants.

In their analysis, Philip Hayet and Lane Kollen, with the Roswell firm J. Kennedy and Associates, assumed disruptions caused by Westinghouses bankruptcy could add another $3 billion in costs and three years of delays. They said the projections are hypothetical but consistent with providing the (PSC) a complete and accurate picture of the projects future outcome.

The extra delays, according to the consultants, could push the completion date out to mid-2022 for one reactor and mid-2023 for the second unit, and boost Georgia Powers share of costs from $5.4 billion up to $8.4 billion, not including billions in additional financing costs.

In such a scenario, it would be uneconomic to complete the Vogtle project, the consultants concluded, even if Westinghouses parent company, Toshiba Corp., makes good on billions of dollars of guarantees it has promised.

A Georgia Power spokesman said the consultants provided their analysis to the PSC before Georgia Power reached a deal with Toshiba setting a payment schedule for $3.7 billion in financial guarantees.

We are reviewing (the consultants testimony) and will discuss (it) with the Georgia PSC and all parties as part of the open (hearing) process, said Georgia Power spokesman Jacob Hawkins in a recent statement.

Meanwhile, Georgia Power, the PSC, and critics of the company and the commission are arguing over what testimony will be allowed at Thursdays hearing.

Tuesday, Georgia Power filed a motion asking the PSC to strike parts of testimony by two advocacy groups before Thursdays hearing. Georgia Power argued that some of the testimony is irrelevant, and that the parties cant both testify and cross-examine other witnesses in the hearings, such as Georgia Power executives.

The Commission should not allow Nuclear Watch South and the Concerned Ratepayers of Georgia to knowingly and willingly offer testimony that is clearly outside the scope of the hearings rules on such matters, Georgia Power said in its filing to the PSC.

PSC Chairman Stan Wise weighed in with an order reminding parties to follow the PSCs rules to preserve strict order during this proceeding, and to ensure fairness and the development of the record.

In a public comment period at the beginning of the hearings, for a few minutes each, several members of the public usually air their opposition or support for the Plant Vogtle expansion before the five-member commission.

A few advocacy groups usually also testify or question company or staff witnesses during the hearings. Often, they face a barrage of objections from Georgia Power lawyers and stern commands from PSC board members to limit the scope of their questions and avoid injecting their opinions when cross-examining witnesses.

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Plant Vogtle: Critics want emergency public hearing on bankruptcy - Atlanta Journal Constitution

DOVER, Del. (AP) A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday granted several preliminary orders allowing Japanese auto parts supplier Takata to move forward with its reorganization plan, which includes the sale of most of its assets to a Chinese-owned rival for $1.6 billion.

Takata was forced into bankruptcy this week amid lawsuits, multimillion-dollar fines and crushing costs related to the recall and replacement of tens of millions of lethally defective air bag inflators.

At a first-day hearing, Judge Brendan Shannon granted various motions allowing Takata to continue paying its bills and working with suppliers and customers.

Shannon's rulings include approval of a key agreement between Takata and major automobile manufacturers, who are both the company's largest customers and largest creditor group, that Takata hopes will provide sufficient near-term liquidity as it moves through the bankruptcy and sale process.

In providing liquidity to Takata, the automakers have agreed to forego certain rights, including exercising setoffs against their existing accounts payable to Takata. Takata, in exchange, has agreed to continue to manufacture and supply parts and replacement kits during the bankruptcy and to offer the carmakers certain protections, including replacement liens and super-priority claims.

An attorney representing the U.S. Virgin Islands, which has sued Takata and Honda over the faulty airbags, expressed concern Tuesday that the bankruptcy case seems to have been set primarily for the benefit of the automakers, adding that it's not clear whether their purported setoff rights have been properly established. He also objected to Takata's request for confirmation of an automatic stay, a routine bankruptcy provision that halts litigation or enforcement of judgments against a debtor during its bankruptcy.

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Shannon overruled the objection, suggesting that the automatic stay is aimed primarily at private parties and foreign entities, and that the interests of the Virgin Islands would be sufficiently protected.

"It is meaningfully different when a United States government entity seeks to move forward," the judge said.

Takata has acknowledged that a chemical used in the air bag inflators, ammonium nitrate, can degrade over time, especially in hot, humid climates. The defect can cause the inflators to rupture, spewing deadly shrapnel inside a vehicle. The problem has been blamed for scores of injuries and at least 16 deaths.

"Takata deeply regrets that this has occurred and regrets the harm that has been done to injured parties and the pain suffered by families who have lost loved ones," Marcia Goldstein, an attorney representing Takata, said Tuesday.

The next hearing in the bankruptcy case is scheduled for July 26.

In the meantime, the U.S. bankruptcy trustee has scheduled a creditor committee formation meeting for July 6.

View original post here:

Judge approves initial motions in Takata bankruptcy - Fox Business

ByDavid Brancaccio

June 27, 2017 | 10:22 AM

Does the world of finance and markets needs a good infusion of humanity? One book examines how how a wider reading of the humanities can help you understand finance and at the same time how finance can help you understand the human condition. Its by economist and Harvard Business School professor Mihir Desai.

He joined Marketplace Morning Report host David Brancaccio to discuss his latest book,"The Wisdom of Finance: Discovering Humanity in the World of Risk and Return." Below is an edited transcript of their conversation. Click the audio player above to hear an extended version of their interview.

Brancaccio: So the humanities can be a teaching tool for understanding things that might seem boring but actually guide our lives at different levels. I'm thinking, reading the book, "Insurance. Really, insurance?"

Desai: Yeah. I mean, insurance is the most mundane thing for most people in the world. What's wonderful about insurance, as I was writing the book, I came to realize that, you know, risk and insurance are the core of finance. And it turns out that risk and insurance are the core of a lot of people's lives. And in fact, the story I tell is the story of Charles Peirce who's this remarkable philosopher and the founder of pragmatism who ends up at the end of his life going around the country saying, "We are all insurance companies," which is very jarring to everybody and they think he's crazy.

Brancaccio: I know he gives a lecture at Harvard, and people were, like, "Oh, this guy's lost it."

Desai: And then Peirce shows up, he gives this lecture, and he's driving the first-order conditions for pricing insurance policies, and everybody thinks he's completely crazy. But what he understood is that the problem of an insurance company is the problem of a human being, which is there's chaos and there's randomness in the world, and you've to figure out how to navigate it. And pragmatism is the philosophy which says go out and sample, get experience, don't introspect. And that is exactly what insurance companies do. So that's the sense in which he meant it as we are all insurance companies.

Brancaccio: This really surprised me: The study of bankruptcy, you argue in the book, is clearly about how to deal with failure. But it's also about resolving, you say, conflicting commitments that we made.

Desai: I told a story of American Airlines, which was the last airline to go bankrupt. The first CEO said for a long time he'll never go bankrupt, because it was his duty to make sure every obligation gets paid off. Of course, he gets dragged into bankruptcy at the very end, they switch the CEO. The second CEO comes in, restructures all the obligations, guts the pensions. But American Airlines goes on to live another day. So the idea there is, you know, who's the hero of that story? Is it the guy who said, "I have to stand by all my obligations," but took the company down? Or the guy who said, "I actually got to manage these conflicting obligations"? I traced that and I make a correspondence between that and, you know, Martha Nussbaum's really remarkable work, "The Fragility of Goodness," where she looks at all the Greek tragedies and she says, "Fundamentally, this is about undercutting the idea that you have to follow duty." Most Greek tragedies are about people who have these conflicting obligations, and it's a mess, and you have to navigate them. And she says that's a good life. If you don't have conflicting obligations, you're doing something wrong. So that's the sense in which bankruptcies are really illustrative, I think.

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What corporate bankruptcy can teach us about morality - Marketplace.org

It hasnt been a good week for Jewish feminists.

Yesterday, Israel squashed its plan to equalize the architecture for egalitarian prayer at the revered Western Wall in Jerusalem. And on Saturday, hostility toward Jews by leftist feminists crystallized when Jewish lesbians sporting flags containing both rainbows and stars of David were booted from the Dyke March in Chicago for supposedly making Palestinian marchers feel unsafe.

These developments are not unrelated. They are symptoms of a Jewish feminism that has somehow found itself both increasingly strident and increasingly feckless. Historically, Judaism has been a pioneer in protecting and respecting women; and in the 20th century American Jewish women paved the way for a society in which women could feel good about themselves, join the workforce, and engineer their own futures without restrictions by men.

But thats not todays Jewish feminism, with its far-left politics and hostility toward Judaism itself at least as historically defined and currently lived by its most faithful practitioners.

In the case of the Kotel, feminists of mostly North American origin, including many who arent Israeli at all, have used the Israeli political system the courts, the Jewish Agency, the prime ministers office to try to force changes to the architecture of the Kotel (Hebrew for Western Wall) to make it appear that the site (and thus Judaism) is indifferent whether prayer is traditional or egalitarian. But its not indifferent. Liberal Jews have pioneered several innovations in Jewish liturgy and synagogue practice and good for them but they shouldnt impose their heterodox practices on a site whose prayer system has always been traditional, and whose regular worshippers cannot be expected to adjust.

Liberal Jews are thus demanding the Kotel they rarely pray at look like the temples and synagogues at home they rarely pray at. They want to push their values on the Orthodox Jews who are there day in, day out. Sure, they claim the mantle of religious freedom. But in this conflict (though not every conflict) the civil rights side is that of the Orthodox.

Lets face it: the Kotel demands are about Jewish identity politics (were just as Jewish as the Orthodox), and thats not a good enough reason to change religious policy. One way you know the issue isnt really egalitarian prayer is that the feminists never talk about, well, egalitarian prayer. Think about it: real egalitarian prayer concerns non-sexist liturgy as well as equitable images of femininity and masculinity in the Divine and the Jewish self. You never hear about any of that from Kotel activists, though. Its all protests and resistance and compromise and mutual antagonism with haredim (one of Israels Orthodox groups).

Mainstream feminisms increasing rejection of Zionist and even Jewish identity is alarming and ominous and telling. Advocacy for Palestinians has become increasingly central to the mission of American feminism, so much so that Linda Sarsour, perhaps the most prominent Palestinian in America, feminist or otherwise, declared earlier this year that one cannot be both a feminist and a Zionist.

The gap is spreading. Feminist pioneer Phyllis Chesler has movingly described her alienation from other feminists over her belief that Israel has a right to exist. And the increasing anti-Zionism among feminists frequently spills over into anti-Semitism, as happened at Saturdays Dyke March where the women booted had said nothing about Israel whatsoever.

While Jewish feminists caught between their ideology and their movement deserve sympathy, they also deserve some of the blame. Since American Jewish women (largely) founded second-wave feminism in the early 1960s, the movement has adopted other causes not strictly about womens equality. In some cases most prominently civil rights for blacks the causes were natural allies. But increasingly becoming a feminist meant signing up for a whole host of dubious left-wing causes.

For example, in just the last few months the Jewish feminist herald Lilith Magazine has published articles about how immigration, climate change, and labor activism are feminist issues. Historically aware Jewish feminists know that extremist movements tend to turn against the Jews eventually. As such, they erred in allowing feminism to stray so far from advocacy for women because now that leftism increasingly denounces Israel, theyre being forced to literally watch the parade from the sidelines.

Its possible to advocate for Jewish women and women in general without antagonizing traditional Jews, and without pleading for acceptance from a movement so far off the rails it attacks the only Middle Eastern country where feminism is being actualized. Jewish feminists should declare bankruptcy and reboot, getting back to the business of equal rights.

David Benkof is a columnist for The Daily Caller. Follow him on Twitter (@DavidBenkof) and Muckrack.com/DavidBenkof, or E-mail him at [emailprotected].

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Jewish Feminism Should Declare Bankruptcy - The Daily Caller

The U.S. is on a path to bankruptcy with government debt at $20 trillion and long-term obligations exceeding $200 trillion. Our government spending is unsustainable.

In an effort to bring fiscal responsibility back to Washington, Trump proposed cutting Amtrak by $630 million. Environmentalists and train enthusiasts are vocally opposed to the cut and are holding protest rallies around the country. Senator Leahy vigorously opposes this cut, indicating rail lines bind our communities together and are crucial to our economy. However, in Vermont Amtrak service costs taxpayers $58 per passenger in subsidies, which is unaffordable to the state.

Nationally, around 60 percent of the gas tax dollar is used to fund our roads and bridges, and the rest is spent on non-road programs like Amtrak. Also, 65 percent of Washington spending goes to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and defense. Congress should spend their time reprioritizing and reforming programs to reduce our debt, and the public should rally and support those efforts instead.

If politicians dont realize the seriousness of our fiscal challenge and stop promising everything to win votes, we need to rally for term limits to bring in new leaders to focus on more responsible spending policies that wont accelerate Americas demise and burden our grandchildren for bailouts.

FRANK MAZUR

South Burlington

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US on path to bankruptcy - Rutland Herald