I’ve written previously on why I believe that Google gets it. I use several Google products myself, including Gmail and Reader because I’ve found that these are best in class apps that literally blow everything else out of the water.

Google Maps has been a work in process for me. I do use it whenever I need to find a business or a phone number but that was because it was linked from my personalized homepage more than anything else. Google’s tool to allow you to make free long distance calls from Maps was a step in the right direction, but it still wasn’t a killer app.

For me, Google Maps has now gone killer app for me. I just upgraded my phone to the sexay T-Mobile Dash and am on T-Mobile’s $5.99/mo internet plan. It’s enough for me to check my Gmail and Reader on the road or while I am waiting in a doctor’s office but I had heard that T-Mobile blocked a lot of ports to try and get people to upgrade to the $29.99/mo internet plan. I’ve found I can use AvantGo and Handango on the handheld, so I decided to try and download Google’s new Maps for Mobile program.

Oh. My. God. I had been using the Java app with some success, but it wasn’t that great. It threw out all kinds of nasty errors that had to be clicked through in order to get to the application. It was buried in my Java menu so it was rather difficult for me to find.

Site Map The downloaded version has a shortcut in my Start menu, which makes it easier to find for a newbie. I also don’t get any of the Java errors and warnings that I received earlier. Not only can I get up to the minute traffic information, but the app integrates itself with your contacts. This is the true killer app for me. Need directions to Aunt Mabel’s house? Pull up her contact in your phone and click “find with Google Maps”. Find a business and want to add to your contacts? Click “Add to Contacts” from Google Maps. While the integration from Maps to your Contacts isn’t perfect, it’s a whole heck of a lot easier than manually inputting from two screens.

Right now, Gmail is in a similar state with the Java application. I get the same errors, even though it does work (as does the browser version but the Java version has several enhancements). If anyone at Google is listening, I would love to see Gmail get a similar treatment with a download app. Integration with my calendar, contacts, and Maps similar to the online version would be wonderful as well, but I’d just take a download app at this point.

I still wouldn’t buy its stock, but Google gets it and gets it faster than anyone else. That’s why I will continue to use Google and be an evangelist for its services.

I wish I had this onesie when my baby was a baby.

Photo copyright and courtesy of Christine and Jeff Estilo

Original

The IRS is getting a late start on the Tax Season calculators due to the law changes Congress made in December. They’ve been too busy updating their systems for early filers, but have not gotten around to putting calculators and guides on their website.

The first is the Sales Tax Deduction calculator. This will take your zip code, number of exemptions, and some basic information from the 1040 and calculate the standard Sales Tax deduction for you.

The second is their guide to deducting travel, entertainment, and gift expenses. The IRS has made available one guide per month in an attempt to educate taxpayers on what is and what is not deductible on several common items. The entire list can be found here.

Performancing, which has had it’s own problems lately, has an excellent post on the Snap Preview function (that annoying popup used to serve ads linked to words on many large blogs) and how it is ruining blogs left and right (he does drop the f-bomb, for those at work). 

I won’t ruin the surprise, but if you’ve ever had to deal with the popups when trying to click on link, or even reading an article, you will love this article.

Last year, the IRS provided an automated AMT Assistant to help individuals slog through the worksheet to see if you need to file Form 6251 (AMT) with your Form 1040 (see coverage here). The IRS has updated the assistant for the 2006 filing season.

To use the tool, you will have to have a completed draft 1040 through Line 44 (the place where you determine AMT on the paper worksheet). All entries are anonymous and the tool takes about 10 minutes to complete (per the IRS release).

If you are in the targets of the AMT (high income tax state, many dependants, making more than $75,000 per year) use the assistant just to make sure you aren’t snagged by the “alternative” tax.

IR 2007-18

A new regular feature will focus on articles that I want to comment on but simply don’t have the time to post on each one. It will be run on Saturday with articles I add throughout the week.

This week’s installment:

Diebold posts picture of keys to voting machines, keys copied at home- Engadget

Breaking Views questions corporate governance at Caremark RX- STL Today (related to my post on the same issue here)

Make your iTunes library mobile- TechCrunch

Bush Health Care Plan would reach less than half of uninsured - The Tax Foundation (not a liberal group)

Tax return procrastinators will have not one, but two extra days this year! Because of an arcane Federal law, the IRS has to allow you until April 17th to file your return because DC created a new holiday on April 16th.

Since the 15th is on a Sunday it defaults to the next business day (the 16th). Well, a decades old Federal law that even the IRS didn’t know about requires the IRS to move tax deadlines if a holiday is declared for DC on a due date. Previously, only taxpayers in several Northeastern states had until the 17th because of Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts. Now everybody can wait the extra day to make the mad dash to the Postal Office of their choice.

That’s what we’re looking at if a story in the NY Times today comes to fruition. Basically, four very large states (California, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey) are likely moving their primaries to a single, early date. That date would be February 5th in 2008. That would essentially eliminate any smaller campaigns and require that campaigners be well funded up front.

The problem with being well funded up front is that you already have to be a known national quantity. That could eliminate a lot of state governors that would otherwise have a chance to run in the more drawn out process. Three of the last four Presidents came from state government positions and Clinton was a relative unknown. The Clintons and the McCains will obviously benefit from their national exposure while the Vilsacks and the Romneys will have to fight hard to even get recognized and will have a lot of trouble with early fundraising.

These changes will lead to one of two scenarios. One is that both nominees are decided in early February and the Presidential campaign becomes a nine month affair. The other is that two or three national candidates split the vote on the new Super Tuesday and essentially leave the race deadlocked in a West Wing-ish tragic comedy.

I think they are pluses and minuses to one major primary for each party. One in each category is that no-names can’t get nominated. It’s kind of like having a laptop for work, you can take work home and you can take work home. Some no-names go on to be President (Clinton), some go on to be punchlines (Kucinich) but both Clinton and Kucinich had an impact on the race (I voted for Kucinich). Both would likely be eliminated in the future scenario for safer candidates that can raise a hell of a lot of money and put their own fortunes to work in the campaign.

And that is bad for the country as the little guy with big ideas is shut out of the race for the big guy with little ideas. This will further make politics an aristocracy rather than a meritocracy and may lead to really smart people with world-changing ideas being shut out of the process entirely.

And that’s definitely a bad thing.

The agency dilemma is an often studied issue in management classes. Basically, the dilemma states that an agent will do what is in their best interest more times than they will do what is in the best interests of the principal if the principal is not watching them like a hawk. In a stock market context, management are the agents of the shareholder principals and their job is to do what is in the best interest of shareholders.

This has failed again and again as management has gorged themselves on rich pay packages while the Board of Directors (the shareholders’ representatives) have been asleep at the wheel. Backdated stock options are another symptom of this broken system that rewards agents at the expense of the principal.

I’ve previously blogged on another large section of the principal-agent problem in response to a Ben Stein article. He’s back with another excellent article on how management has completely turned the buyout process on its head to enrich themselves at the expense of shareholders.

There is no better example than the current battle over Caremark RX. Caremark is the largest pharmaceutical benefits manager, which if you have prescriptions filled via mail you know what they are. It’s a big local story because the spurned suitor is one of the largest companies in St. Louis. Basically, Caremark’s CEO shopped his company to suitors that met two conditions. The first was that he would keep his job. The second is that the company would personally indemnify him from any suits due to backdated options that enriched Mr. Crawford, his son, and other executives to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

CVS, the drugstore chain, who desperately wanted to get Caremark’s mail-in order business to help compete with Walgreens which started their own PBM. They agreed to Mr. Crawford’s conditions and set the price of the merger at $48.50/share. They also gave huge change of control agreements to most of Caremark’s executives so that if they lost their jobs in the merger they would be taken care of to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. Oh, and for negotiating the deal Mr. Crawford would receive $50 million.

Seems pretty sweet, huh? Well, if you are a Caremark executive it is. Shareholders got hosed in the deal. The price of $48.50/share was 21.6% below where the stock traded a month prior to the deal. It also banned Caremark from seeking higher offers and included a $650 million penalty if the deal did not go through.

Enter Express Scripts, who offered 25% more than CVS. The Caremark board refused to even listen to the offer. They cited the breakup fee and the fact that the deal was already done in refusing Express Scripts’ offer. What they didn’t cite was more telling. Express Scripts refused to include large payments to Caremark’s executives or offer golden parachutes. They refused to indemnify Mr. Crawford for the sins under his watch (which makes me wonder if this is the primary motive for the deal?). They made an offer that was better for the shareholders but worse for management. And management stuck its fingers in its ears and hummed.

The classic principal-agent dilemma personified. This is what happens when shareholders (and their “representatives”, the Board) are asleep at the wheel. Unfortunately, most large shareholders, the mutual fund companies, don’t want to upset the apple cart and go along with management as well so the individual shareholder is left out to dry.

Unfortunately, there is no real fix in the era of mega-global corporations. Congress has trotted out fixes but they won’t work. Giving massive equity to management didn’t work either and led directly to the stock option scandal. It seems that as smart people come out with ways to fix the current system, smart people on the other side come up with ways to exploit that system. Wall Street is (and always has been) a chummy atmosphere, which is why the Fidelitys of the world don’t want to upset the apple cart because it is their friends that they would be outing.

I don’t know what the solution is other than to have shareholders take back the companies from executives. But that ain’t gonna happen any time soon. And the Crawford’s of the world will continue to get their windfalls from the skins of the shareholders they are supposed to be representing.

The 84th Carnival of Personal Finance is being hosted by Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

The Carnival has been posted and can be found here.

I contributed my recent article on rebalancing my retirement portfolio. Go and check out all of the 75 entrants this week.