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Accounting News Roundup: Navistar Sues Deloitte; Taxes Take Center Stage in Deficit Debate; Dealing with Your Jobless Friend | 04.27.11

House G.O.P. Members Face Voter Anger Over Budget [NYT]
After 10 days of trying to sell constituents on their plan to overhaul Medicare, House Republicans in multiple districts appear to be increasingly on the defensive, facing worried and angry questions from voters and a barrage of new attacks from Democrats and their allies. The proposed new approach to Medicare — a centerpiece of a budget that Republican leaders have hailed as a courageous effort to address the nation’s long-term fiscal problems — has been a constant topic at town-hall-style sessions and other public gatherings during a two-week Congressional recess that provided the first chance for lawmakers to gauge reaction to the plan.

Navistar Sues Its Former Auditor Deloitte & Touche [Bloomberg]
Navistar International Corp. (NAV), a maker of medium- and heavy-duty trucks, accused its former auditor Deloitte & Touche LLP of professional malpractice in a lawsuit seeking $500 million in damages. Navistar claimed shoddy work by Deloitte & Touche accountants from 2002 to 2005 forced the company to revise its financial statements, according to a 134-page complaint filed today in Illinois state court in Chicago. “Deloitte lied to Navistar and, on information and belief, to Deloitte’s other audit clients, as to the competency of its audit and accounting services,” the Warrenville, Illinois-based truckmaker alleged in its complaint.

H&R Block names former eBay exec as CEO [KCS]
William Cobb takes over for Alan Bennett.

Congress Wrangles With Taxman’s Take in U.S. Deficit Reduction Talks [Bloomberg]
Many Republicans, determined to prevent tax increases, say federal revenues shouldn’t exceed 18 or 19 percent of gross domestic product, the nation’s total output. Senate Republicans have offered a constitutional amendment that would cap the federal take below 17 percent of GDP. President Barack Obama, meanwhile, has proposed a budget that would push revenue to 20 percent of GDP by the end of the decade and announced a proposal April 13 that would raise that number even higher.

Litigation Piling Up At Ernst & Young [Forbes]
Keeping the lawyers in business.

Warner Says Gang of Six Debt Plan Weighs $3 in Cuts to $1 in Taxes Raised [Bloomberg]
While the emerging proposal by the so-called Gang of Six won’t increase tax rates, the Virginia Democrat said it will include scrapping some tax breaks and limiting others, such as shrinking to $500,000 from $1 million the size of mortgages on which interest payments can be written off or scaling back deductions for charitable giving.


Understanding Your Unemployed Friend [The Awl]
Stop saying “funemployment”; it’s really not.

Ex-Facebook CFO, Khosla VC Gideon Yu Goes To…The San Francisco 49ers [BI]
Yu’s résumé also includes a stint as YouTube’s CFO.

Yelp Plans To Go Public, Despite Booming Private Market [WSJ]
Yelp Inc., the consumer-reviews website, is declining to seek another round of financing and instead has its sights set on going public, the start-up’s chief executive officer, Jeremy Stoppelman, said in an interview. “An IPO is back on the table for us,” Mr. Stoppelman said. He declined to say exactly when the company would look to go public, but did say “the process hasn’t officially started yet.” The seven-year-old start-up is actively looking to hire a new chief financial officer with public company experience to guide it through the process, Mr. Stoppelman confirmed.

Posted in ANR