Free Republic

The notion that the pain of Obamacare would not really be felt for a few years has always been silly. It won't be fully felt, but he economy is dynamic. Corporations have to plan today for the conditions of tomorrow. More to the point, public corporations with disclosure obligations under the securities laws have to disclose today when developments change their outlook for tomorrow. Hence, AT&T's announcement that Obamacare will force it to take a $1 billion dollar charge — the most alarming (but entirely predictable) bad news in a parade that, the Wall Street Journal's editors note, "includes Deere...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT - News), the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, reported its first quarterly loss in 17 years on Tuesday, pulled into the red by more than half a billion dollars in charges from its wave of recession-triggered layoffs. The company also slashed its full-year earnings and sales forecast, sending its shares lower in early trading.

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=87873&ran=174189 Search for "methodist" if the link doesn't work. Here is the full text: Methodists may support Palestinians by divesting By STEVEN G. VEGH , The Virginian-Pilot © June 16, 2005 HAMPTON — Representatives for Virginia’s more than 340,000 United Methodists called Wednesday for their denomination to consider divesting stock in companies whose dealings with Israel facilitate the seizure of Palestinian land or the destruction of Palestinian homes. The resolution was approved during the annual meeting of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, which ended Wednesday at the Hampton Coliseum. The denomination has 1,211 congregations in Virginia. The...