NBC newsman Tim Russert died suddenly today of a heart attack. Russert, who was 58, hosted Meet the Press since 1991. He was known as a dogged interviewer and a well-sourced Washington insider. Under his leadership, the show became an essential stop for politicians and officials at the highest levels.He rests in peace, his loved ones in solice.
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Friday, June 13, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Terms of Understanding for this Election Cycle
Words for the Day--provided mostly by Wikipedia.org
These terms are necessary to know if you plan on listening to presidential speeches--especially those of you who vote or declare yourselves Republican.
One would gather true Republicans would have these terms down pat already but there are segments of the American population that will declare themselves Republican for reasons that are unclear to me. Some of those people--I know--don't quite understand what all the flap is about over taxes and taxation.
Republicans won't bother to explain these terms to you. Anyone making more money that you won't explain these terms either so don't look for organized news groups to tell you. (They make wayyyyy more than you)
Capital Gains, Dividend, and Corporate Taxes, etc.
Capital Gains Tax: is a tax you pay on gains arising on the disposal of assets. Any form of property including an interest in property (eg a lease) is an asset for CGT purposes.
Dividend Tax: is an income tax on dividend payments to the stockholders (shareholders) of a company.Some jurisdictions apply a withholding tax to ensure collection of the dividend tax.
Explanation of the argument:
Those who want to get rid of the tax argue that a dividend tax amounts to unfair "double taxation", in the sense that the company has already paid a corporation tax on these profits, which means that the shareholders, as part owners, have likewise been taxed already.
Those who want to keep the dividend tax as it is, claim it is unfair to tax income generated through active work at a higher rate than income generated through less active means or that companies may not have paid their full share of income tax.
Their argument is that such a taxation can help the wealthiest of individuals who can afford to buy large quantities of stock as they could feasibly live off the dividend payments without any income tax on their earnings.
Corporate tax (varies)
Corporate tax refers to a tax levied by various jurisdictions on the profits made by companies or associations.Corporate tax in the United States is a tax on the taxable income of a C corporation or an entity taxed as a C corporation. The corporate tax is the default tax levied on a business entity unless the entity qualifies to be taxed under different tax rules such as those for non-profit organizations and S corporations. See table
An excess profits tax: is a tax on any profit above a certain amount. A predominantly wartime fiscal instrument, the tax was designed primarily to capture wartime profits that exceeded normal peacetime profits.[citation needed] In 1863 the Confederate congress and the state of Georgia experimented with excess profits taxes. The first effective national excess profits tax was enacted in 1917, with rates graduated from 20 to 60 percent on the profits of all businesses in excess of prewar earnings but not less than 7 percent or more than 9 percent of invested capital.
Terms heard in Democratic speeches:
Corporate welfare: is a term describing a government's bestowal of money grants, tax breaks, or other special favorable treatment on corporations. The term was coined by Ralph Nader in 1966,[1][2] and creates a satirical association between corporate subsidies and welfare payments to the poor, and implies that corporations are much less needy of such treatment than the poor. The Canadian New Democratic Party picked up the term as a major theme in its 1972 federal election campaign.
Subsidies: considered excessive, unwarranted, wasteful, unfair, inefficient, or bought by lobbying are often called corporate welfare. The label of corporate welfare is often used to decry projects advertised as benefiting the general welfare that spend a disproportionate amount of funds on large corporations. For instance, in the United States, agricultural subsidies are usually portrayed as helping honest, hardworking independent farmers stay afloat. However, the majority of income gained from commodity support programs actually goes to large agribusiness corporations such as Archer Daniels Midland, as they own a considerably larger percentage of production.[4]
According to the Cato Institute, the U.S. federal government spent $92 billion on corporate welfare during fiscal year 2006. Recipients included Boeing, Xerox, IBM, Motorola, Dow Chemical, and General Electric.[5]
Thanks Wikipedia
These terms are necessary to know if you plan on listening to presidential speeches--especially those of you who vote or declare yourselves Republican.
One would gather true Republicans would have these terms down pat already but there are segments of the American population that will declare themselves Republican for reasons that are unclear to me. Some of those people--I know--don't quite understand what all the flap is about over taxes and taxation.
Republicans won't bother to explain these terms to you. Anyone making more money that you won't explain these terms either so don't look for organized news groups to tell you. (They make wayyyyy more than you)
Capital Gains, Dividend, and Corporate Taxes, etc.
Capital Gains Tax: is a tax you pay on gains arising on the disposal of assets. Any form of property including an interest in property (eg a lease) is an asset for CGT purposes.
Dividend Tax: is an income tax on dividend payments to the stockholders (shareholders) of a company.Some jurisdictions apply a withholding tax to ensure collection of the dividend tax.
Explanation of the argument:
Those who want to get rid of the tax argue that a dividend tax amounts to unfair "double taxation", in the sense that the company has already paid a corporation tax on these profits, which means that the shareholders, as part owners, have likewise been taxed already.
Those who want to keep the dividend tax as it is, claim it is unfair to tax income generated through active work at a higher rate than income generated through less active means or that companies may not have paid their full share of income tax.
Their argument is that such a taxation can help the wealthiest of individuals who can afford to buy large quantities of stock as they could feasibly live off the dividend payments without any income tax on their earnings.
Corporate tax (varies)
Corporate tax refers to a tax levied by various jurisdictions on the profits made by companies or associations.Corporate tax in the United States is a tax on the taxable income of a C corporation or an entity taxed as a C corporation. The corporate tax is the default tax levied on a business entity unless the entity qualifies to be taxed under different tax rules such as those for non-profit organizations and S corporations. See table
An excess profits tax: is a tax on any profit above a certain amount. A predominantly wartime fiscal instrument, the tax was designed primarily to capture wartime profits that exceeded normal peacetime profits.[citation needed] In 1863 the Confederate congress and the state of Georgia experimented with excess profits taxes. The first effective national excess profits tax was enacted in 1917, with rates graduated from 20 to 60 percent on the profits of all businesses in excess of prewar earnings but not less than 7 percent or more than 9 percent of invested capital.
Terms heard in Democratic speeches:
Corporate welfare: is a term describing a government's bestowal of money grants, tax breaks, or other special favorable treatment on corporations. The term was coined by Ralph Nader in 1966,[1][2] and creates a satirical association between corporate subsidies and welfare payments to the poor, and implies that corporations are much less needy of such treatment than the poor. The Canadian New Democratic Party picked up the term as a major theme in its 1972 federal election campaign.
Subsidies: considered excessive, unwarranted, wasteful, unfair, inefficient, or bought by lobbying are often called corporate welfare. The label of corporate welfare is often used to decry projects advertised as benefiting the general welfare that spend a disproportionate amount of funds on large corporations. For instance, in the United States, agricultural subsidies are usually portrayed as helping honest, hardworking independent farmers stay afloat. However, the majority of income gained from commodity support programs actually goes to large agribusiness corporations such as Archer Daniels Midland, as they own a considerably larger percentage of production.[4]
According to the Cato Institute, the U.S. federal government spent $92 billion on corporate welfare during fiscal year 2006. Recipients included Boeing, Xerox, IBM, Motorola, Dow Chemical, and General Electric.[5]
Thanks Wikipedia
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Mississippi School Holds First Interracial Prom
With a nudge and a check from local resident Morgan Freeman, the high school in Charleston, Miss., held integrated its prom this year for the first time ever. One student reports that everyone had a ball, surprising themselves and the community.
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Barack Obama recruits team to tackle web smears
Barack Obama is recruiting senior staff to a new unit which will combat virulent rumour campaigns on the internet that threaten to cost him votes in the presidential election against John McCain. The unit is part of a huge expansion of Obama's campaign team as he shifts from the Democratic nomination race to the campaign for November's election.
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Florida growers cleared of samonella scare
Reported on Fox News (I know) and CNN this morning is that Florida and California tomato growers are cleared to begin shipping again, tomatoes.
More on this story throughout the day.
More on this story throughout the day.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Former official sues NASCAR over harassment claims - Racing
As an aspiring racing official, Mauricia Grant had grown used to working in a man's world.When she finally made it into NASCAR, Grant was appalled at the way she says she was treated beginning from her first day on the job until her firing last October.
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The Big Story You May Have Missed During the Obama v Clinton
I'd like to call your attention to a major story you may have missed: the Senate Intelligence Committee's 200-page "Phase II" report on how the Bush administration used -- and abused -- pre-war intelligence in the run-up to the war in Iraq.
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Salmonella Tomato Warning Expanded
Editor's Note: I have eaten four of the six tomatoes in the Nationfresh six-pack of tomatoes. I can't say that I feel sick right now but it is stated symptoms appear up to 72 hours after ingestion of infected tomatoes. When I bought these tomatoes, it was said the large, slicing tomatoes and Roma were affected. They type that I have was added a day after I bought and ate them cut up on a sandwich.
One of the smallest things in the world to enjoy is a well-made, good-tasting fresh fixin-topped homemade Dagwood sandwich. And now, we can't even enjoy that. How can you have a sandwich without tomato?
The number of people sickened by a salmonella outbreak linked to tomatoes has grown, and the suspect tomatoes are coming off restaurant menus and store shelves. Now, the CDC reports that at least 167 people in 17 states have been infected with Salmonella Saintpaul, the salmonella strain involved in the current outbreak.
read more | digg story
One of the smallest things in the world to enjoy is a well-made, good-tasting fresh fixin-topped homemade Dagwood sandwich. And now, we can't even enjoy that. How can you have a sandwich without tomato?
The number of people sickened by a salmonella outbreak linked to tomatoes has grown, and the suspect tomatoes are coming off restaurant menus and store shelves. Now, the CDC reports that at least 167 people in 17 states have been infected with Salmonella Saintpaul, the salmonella strain involved in the current outbreak.
read more | digg story
Toxic fumes suicide forces evacuation in Japan
Police evacuated dozens of residents after poisonous fumes escaped from an apartment where a man killed himself by inhaling a detergent-laced gas, authorities said Wednesday.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
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