Diversions August 15, 2007

Dollar Bill?

They say that money talks – and the US Mint is certainly hoping that is the case, as it “rolls″ out the new Thomas Jefferson $1 coin today.
Reported by
“That’s what’s great about the Presidential $1 Coin Program,” said United States Mint Director Ed Moy in a press release. “This series of circulating coins provides the perfect opportunity for Americans to learn more about our Presidents and the critical role they played in some of our Nation’s historic milestones.”
A survey commissioned by the United States Mint says that less than a third (30%) of Americans knew that Thomas Jefferson was the Nation’s third President, though more than half (57%) were able to recognize his role as a primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Just 35% knew that Jefferson was featured on the nickel, according to the survey conducted by the Gallup Organization.
The Presidential $1 Coin Survey also found that only:
  • 22% of Americans know that there have been 43 U.S. Presidents to date.
  • 21% of Americans know that the faces of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt are carved on Mount Rushmore.
  • 68% knew that George Washington led the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
The United States Mint inaugurated the Presidential $1 Coin series with the George Washington $1 Coin in February 2007. The John Adams $1 Coin followed in May. The public may obtain Thomas Jefferson $1 Coins at most banks and financial institutions throughout the country beginning today. Thomas Jefferson $1 Coins in collector bags and rolls will be available for purchase on the United States Mint’s website, http://www.usmint.gov, at 12:00 noon (ET) on August 16.
Congress authorized and President Bush signed the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005. The Act requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $1 coins honoring the United States Presidents in the order in which they served, with four new designs annually. Each President will be honored with a single Presidential $1 Coin, regardless of the number of consecutive terms he served, except for Grover Cleveland, the only U.S. President to serve non-consecutive terms. He will be honored on two coins. No living, former or current President can be honored on a Presidential $1 Coin.
You can check out the release date(s) HERE
Compliance August 15, 2007

Fee Suit against Lockheed Martin to Move Forward

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois refused to toss out allegations that Lockheed Martin Corporation breached its fiduciary duty by charging its 401(k) plan participants excessive and unreasonable fees.
Reported by

Plaintiffs allege that the fees paid by the Lockheed Martin Corporation Salaried Savings Plan and the Lockheed Martin Corporation Hourly Savings Plan “were unreasonable and excessive; not incurred solely for the benefit of the plans and their participants; and undisclosed to participants.”

The original 40-page complaint against Lockheed also alleges that revenue sharing deals with service providers compromised the assets of the plans.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

Lockheed had asked that the complaint be thrown out on grounds it was a “protracted narrative with convoluted, redundant and unnecessary allegations.” It also asked that the court strike the parts of the complaint that are extraneous. Lockheed said the complaint violates Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), which requires a “short and plain statement of the claim.”

However, the district court disagreed. U.S. District Judge Michael Reagan wrote in the 5-page opinion that the plaintiffs’ pleading “is not necessarily a model of draftsmanship; however, it adequately performs its function of making a “showing’ of entitlement to relief and giving notice to Lockheed of the relevant facts and the legal basis of Plaintiffs’ claims.”

Reagan also rejected Lockheed’s request that the court strike the “redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter” from the complaint, arguing that taking the time to do that would “merely serve to delay this litigation …”

U.S. District Judge John Shabaz of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin was not as forgiving of the presentation of a fee-suit complaint against Deere & Co. and two Fidelity Investment units. Shabaz called the complaint in that case – that also included revenue sharing allegations – a “rambling 38-page collection long on legal argument, public policy rhetoric, and repetition, but vague in its allegations of facts which might be relevant to the claims alleged.” (See Deere and Fidelity Fee Lawsuit Thrown Out).

«