Friday, May 24, 2013

WSJ Links, Friday

Section M (Mansion): I generally don't read

Section D (Arena):
Section C (Money & Investing):
Section B (Marketplace):
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP's 277,000 barrel-a-day Freedom pipeline, proposed in April, would be the first to bring light, sweet oil produced in Texas's Permian Basin to the fuel-hungry Los Angeles market.
That would give refiners in California, which now partly complement the state's declining oil production with expensive crude imports from Alaska, Ecuador and other far-flung nations, a direct shot at the relatively cheap crude squeezed out of shale formations through hydraulic fracturing. Access to that bountiful crude has already boosted the profits of Midwestern and even some Gulf Coast refiners.
An AT&T spokeswoman stressed the similar practices of other carriers, noting that customers were given 30 days notice about the fee and its details are included on every bill. The fee covers "certain expenses, such as interconnection and cell-site rents and maintenance."
The new AT&T fee goes on top of a "regulatory cost recovery charge" that averages about 50 cents per line at the carrier, in order to cover the expense of complying with government regulations. AT&T began adding that to its bill "approximately 10 years ago," it said.
Section A:
Minnesota's move to raise $2.1 billion in new taxes, largely from the wealthy, to fund government programs puts it among a handful of states controlled by Democrats that are adopting more liberal fiscal policies at a time when many Republican-dominated statehouses are pushing to cut taxes.
The Minnesota tax package, which Gov. Mark Dayton signed into law Thursday, aims to raise the revenue largely for expanding early-childhood education programs and freezing tuitions at state universities, as well as closing the state's budget deficit and funding some jobs initiatives and property-tax refunds. 
What little I saw of it, I thought was great: have the wealthy pay more for more state spending and cut property taxes. What's not to like. Meanwhile, North Dakota is open for business.

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