Karmanos Unplugged - Latest Comments

Re: A New Day at Compuware – the Proof Will Be in Performance and Paychecks

BATMAN33 — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 10:16:27 -0000

Peter, What is going on with the companies stock price? You can talk all you want about the recession, but some of your competitors like IBM have weathered the storm and bounced back to numbers of years ago. Compuware has continued to flatline for about the past 7 years and if you look to the future many don't see the stock as going any higher than $10-$11. It seems like it takes years for the stock to raise a couple of dollars only to continuely plummet when the company can't meet analyst expectations. When is Compuware going to put some emphasis on their miserable stock performance?

Re: Who Put the Bork in the National Debate?

david — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:20:20 -0000

Sadly, politics in the UK changed at around the same time: If you couldn't argue with the policy, attack the character of the individual. It is made worse by sensationalist media. We have far too many "professional" politicians whose one aim is to attain and remain in power by whatever means.
Etymology of the word 'politics' - poly meaning many; ticks meaning blood-sucking insects.

Re: Hiking Tax on Rich Could Hurt Philanthropy

Jasper De Keijzer — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:49:02 -0000

Would a rich man pay for the roads or the railway? Of course not, it is not sexy to spent you money on these type of things. And I think that is the main problem with the philanthropy in the US. With the right government with the people you can trust, budgets can be defined for all items in the country and not only the ones which are in the picture and gives the philanthropist / company big exposure.

Re: Hiking Tax on Rich Could Hurt Philanthropy

Pieter van Dijk — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:19:37 -0000

A trustworthy government depends on a political system that has sufficient mechanisms to check on actions of politicians. Individual politicians should not have the power to decide on spending money to their favourite causes as indeed, this is not for the greater good. Politicians are answerable for their actions. Of course this is a utopia for certain countries, but it can work like that.

People still have their own responsibility in matters of contributing to charity, but it is only fair for a society that people contribute to the general cause depending on their strength.

Re: Hiking Tax on Rich Could Hurt Philanthropy

Tomasz Szulist — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:31:58 -0000

Hiking tax on rich results in salary reduction and/or inflation. It is certainly not the rich who pay taxes, at least not in (relatively) significant amount.

Re: Hiking Tax on Rich Could Hurt Philanthropy

Dean Politis — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:15:54 -0000

The problem with your statement is that governments cannot be trusted. Influential politicians often steer money to those causes they support (not necessarily those for the greater good). Besides, if someone earned the money, shouldn't they get to decide what causes they support?

Re: Hiking Tax on Rich Could Hurt Philanthropy

Rodders — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:05:34 -0000

Here's an article that may interest all...

http://www.businessinsider....

Re: Hiking Tax on Rich Could Hurt Philanthropy

CalHaddad — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:48:03 -0000

I am NOT in favor of sending more $$ to Washington for the purpose of redistrubing $$ for charitable orgnaizations. I think there are enough conservative, moderate and liberal philanthropists to balance their charitable giving to a varity of worthy organizations throughout our country and the world.

I don't know answer to solving our country's financial situation but I don't think it makes sense to try and fix part of the problem on the backs of the most wealthy Americans solely. I talked about our nation's financial situation with a Canadian I met recently. He indicated that the average tax rate (may not be the exact right term) for Canadians is 31%. He said that the average tax rate for Americans is 21%, the lowest of all industrialized countries. He indicated, based on a study that our financial situaiton could be resolved simply if we all shared an increased tax burden (to something between 21 and 31%) - assuming that we could not reduce what we spend as a nation tomatch our "revenue" level.

Re: Hiking Tax on Rich Could Hurt Philanthropy

SteveSeligson — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:48:09 -0000

Since 1979 the top tax rate has dropped from 42.9% to 31.5% or just over 11% (middle income tax bracket dropped 4% over the same period). During that same time charitable contributions have dropped 13.8%. There does not seem to be any correlation between the highest income tax bracket and the contributions from tax payers. It does appear that if the rate were raised maybe the contributions to charities would increase also.

Re: Hiking Tax on Rich Could Hurt Philanthropy

rog_contact — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 11:10:19 -0000

People are either too simple, or too stuborn, to put aside subjective
benifits for objective ones.

Taxing the rich is one of the worst moves this nation can do. The non-sense
about the rich not paying a fair share of taxes is simply not true. Spreading
the wealth out to more people would actually decrease revenue from taxes, as the
money would then be taxed at a lower rate.

Increasing taxes on capital gains would have the affect of investors looking
for alternative returns, as this particular area would be affected with a lower
return due to taxes. I have no problem allowing long term capital gains to be at
a low rate. You just have to think about it for longer than your feeling would
like, and you will see the following:
1) Long term capital gains cannot be made without first having capital to
invest. That capital (at some point or another) was made through income, which
has ALREADY been paid income tax for.
2) I would rather that capital go into investing in job creation and economy
expansion, than to be waisted in consumption. The top earners in the country
have a much higher amount of their net worth in investments than the rest. If
this were to shift, we would see a lot less invested capital in the market. This
is bad, very bad.
3) Don't forget the baby boomers. I am convinced, that if a topic about
economy is to be discussed at this time in our history, you can never leave the
baby boomers out of the conversation. A lot of the problems we face, and will
face in the near future, will be because of an un-equal distribution of
demographics, more spacifically age. As the baby boomers retire or prepare to
retire, they will shift their savings from high-risk investments to low risk,
such as money markets. Pushing a higher captical gains tax right now would, IMO,
have devistating affects on the markets, as this would persuade billions, if not
trillions, of dollars saved by the baby boomers to be moved out of stocks and
into safer venues, before the tax hike kicks in.

Shrink government, free markets. That is the basics that work.

Re: Hiking Tax on Rich Could Hurt Philanthropy

Pieter van Dijk — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:16:33 -0000

This may be a European point of view, but the problem with a system where people decide whether to contribute to charity is that this leads to arbitrariness. Even if (rich) people decide to contribute, it is probably the 'the hospital in their home town' that profits from it, while other hospitals or other institutions may be in the same or even greater need for money. In general it is a good idea to let a government that has the broad picture distribute the money and spend it where it is most needed - assuming there is a trustworthy government. This may mean less charity, but what is called (arbitrary) charity in one model, is (balanced) funding in the other.

Re: Hiking Tax on Rich Could Hurt Philanthropy

Joel Hawkins — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:04:24 -0000

Considering that the top 1% in this country control 43% of the financial wealth (http://sociology.ucsc.edu/w... and given the steep drop-off in income distribution in this country, these numbers would argue that the rich are less inclined towards philanthropy than the average american, particularly when the marginal utility of that extra couple of thousand dollars is taken into account. The argument that philanthropy will suffer if any money is taken away from the rich strikes me as supremely unconvincing.

Re: Kid Rock Raises Money and Eyebrows at KCI

MicheleJ007 — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:18:14 -0000

Thanks to you, Mr Karmanos, for the immeasurable difference you have made in metro Detroit. I am so proud to work for Compuware and for a person that I admire so much for all that you give back and your vision. Thank you for all YOU have done to make Karmanos Cancer Institute the blessing that it is as it gives help, hope and life to individuals in its care and for those that love them.

Re: Kid Rock Raises Money and Eyebrows at KCI

Angel Bryant — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:04:44 -0000

Thanks Kid Rock for all your hard work and sense of community.

Re: Kid Rock Raises Money and Eyebrows at KCI

Chrissie Moylan Skynar — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:45:01 -0000

I am a cancer survivor and was provided terrific care by the Karmanos Cancer Institute. A mere "thank you" cannot express how grateful I am.

Re: Kid Rock Raises Money and Eyebrows at KCI

Roland Jerald Kinsman — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:10:02 -0000

Nice. Makes me feel good this morning.

Re: Kid Rock Raises Money and Eyebrows at KCI

redmond1645 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 11:33:39 -0000

I think it is great that so many people can be counted on to support the eradication of cancer.
Kid Rock's feeling toward cancer as shown on his tee shirt is dramatic but in this case it is warranted.
However, at my age, my expression toward cancer is better expressed with the Compuware tee distributed for the RACE For The CURE event. Thus, I prefer Compuware sticking with it's current slogan: Supporting the Cure.
Congrats of great effort!

Re: Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Entrepreneurs

Jane104 — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:59:23 -0000

Illegal immigration “system” is racist as it favours Mexicans and Latinos in general. What about Europeans, such as Greeks? How can they slip through the border? Answer: They can’t.
Illegal immigrants do not go through criminal check; we don’t know who is here. Secondly, the system leaves them open to human trafficking abuse. Our bordellos and strip clubs are populated by women who were smuggled here.
Jane
Website: http://d-t-m.net/

Re: Maker Faire Was A Moment to Get Our Geek On

Nicholas Evered — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 22:40:16 -0000

I just moved apartments and while unpacking various boxes I found my "pocket" circular slide rule that I had in school that I kept all these years. It took me quite a while to remember how to use the damn thing!

Re: A Tale of Two Ideas

Peter Karmanos, Jr. — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 10:32:40 -0000

When I wrote that the investment in iRule won’t affect Compuware’s results anytime
soon, that means positively or negatively. The amount of money we’ve invested is negligible for a company our size. Small businesses, which create most of the jobs in our economy, can grow quickly to be big ones. If we’d like to own a stake in the next eBay or Facebook or Groupon we have to keep our eyes open for opportunities when the cost of investment is low.

Re: A Tale of Two Ideas

2ruleathome2 — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:17:01 -0000

Detroit is becoming a serious hub for entrepreneurs. There is a great deal of talent in the area in engineering, software development, manufacturing, etc. Real estate is quite reasonable, even in some rather nice neighborhoods. Not to mention, if Compuware invites you to the table, just say "yes".

Re: A Tale of Two Ideas

JeffSmith48197 — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 05:19:52 -0000

As a mobile developer, I find this really interesting. However, as a stockholder, when I read things like "We don’t expect iRule to influence the results of Compuware anytime soon, if ever..." it makes me wonder if being a good Detroit business is coming at the cost of the owner's of the company.

Management certainly knows more than I. But I hope that future investments in companies are for the right reasons for all invested, not just for being good Detroit corporate citizens.

Re: In and Out of the Executive Pinata

Toddbur — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:07:57 -0000

Nobody now what's it like, until you walk a mile in there shoes.
Pete keep walking.

Re: Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Entrepreneurs

Leo,Liu — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 22:32:05 -0000

Hope we can see more working opportunity in compuware in Detroit.

Re: This is What We Don’t Do Enough

rob b — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:17:03 -0000

The Motor City - roooaaaarrrrrsssssss on! 2 Bad 4 U - chicago, ny and all others