Ron Paul: ‘Secession is a deeply American principle’
By KEVIN CIRILLI | 11/19/12 4:43 PM EST
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said Monday that secession was a “deeply American principle,” amid a growing number of people petitioning the White House to let their states secede from the U.S.
“Secession is a deeply American principle. This country was born through secession. Some felt it was treasonous to secede from England, but those ‘traitors’ became our country’s greatest patriots,” the former presidential candidate wrote in a post on his House website. “There is nothing treasonous or unpatriotic about wanting a federal government that is more responsive to the people it represents.”
Valley’s $500K donation to fund health programs for Ridgewood students
MONDAY NOVEMBER 19, 2012, 9:24 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Valley Hospital will be incrementally donating $500,000 to the Board of Education (BOE) over the next five years to improve student well-being, starting this school year. The half-a-million-dollar donation agreement represents Valley’s largest single donation commitment to the district.
Each year from now through the 2016-17 school year, the hospital will donate $100,000 to the BOE, according to board officials.
According to Valley spokesperson Maureen Curran Kleinman, the donation will be used to support both new and existing initiatives in the areas of health education, fitness and wellness, as well as disease prevention programs aimed at raising awareness and promoting the benefits of a healthy lifestyle to Ridgewood students and their families.
In a statement, Valley’s President and CEO Audrey Meyers promoted the hospital’s longstanding education commitment, including its sponsorship of the Ridgewood Academy for Health Professions (RAHP) program and annual community events.
“As part of its commitment to community benefit, The Valley Hospital has a long history of supporting the students who attend Ridgewood Schools,” said Meyers. “I am very pleased that Valley is able to continue this tradition of support with this donation to the Ridgewood public school system, especially since it will be used to enhance the health and wellness of Ridgewood’s students.”
Welcome to USA .Gov benefits galore for New Immigrants
Welcome to USA .Gov Encourages new migrants to seek government hand outs and freebies
https://www.welcometousa.gov/Government_benefits/default.htm
GOVERNMENT BENEFITS
Depending on your immigration status, length of time in the United States, and income, you may be eligible for some federal benefit programs. Government assistance programs can be critically important to the well-being of some immigrants and their families. Frequently, however, there is a lack of information about how to access such benefits. Benefit programs can be complicated and you may be given misleading information about how they operate.
The links below will lead you to official government websites describing a range of assistance programs.
Official website with information on all available federal benefit programs. (English version – Spanish version)
Official website for Medicare, the health insurance program for people 65 years of age or older or who have specific disabilities.
Official website for Medicaid, the joint federal/state medical care program for low-income people.
Official website for the Social Security Administration. (English version – Spanish version)
Social Security information available in foreign languages.
Information on Supplemental Security Income benefits for aliens.
Information on the Food Stamp Program for low-income families.
A website containing links to available federal information in other languages.
Information on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program.
Information on access to federal benefits and services for immigrant survivors of domestic violence.
In a country of children where the option is Santa Claus or work, what wins?
By THOMAS B. EDSALL
The morning after the re-election of President Obama, Rush Limbaugh told his listeners:
I went to bed last night thinking we’re outnumbered. I went to bed last night thinking all this discussion we’d had about this election being the election that will tell us whether or not we’ve lost the country. I went to bed last night thinking we’ve lost the country. I don’t know how else you look at this.
The conservative talk show host, who had been an upbeat, if initially doubtful, Romney supporter throughout the campaign, was on a post-election downer:
In a country of children where the option is Santa Claus or work, what wins? And say what you want, but Romney did offer a vision of traditional America. In his way, he put forth a great vision of traditional America, and it was rejected. It was rejected in favor of a guy who thinks that those who are working aren’t doing enough to help those who aren’t. And that resonated.
Limbaugh echoed a Republican theme that was voiced before and after the election: Barack Obama has unleashed a coalition of Americans “who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it — that that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them” — as Mitt Romney put it in his notorious commentary on the 47 percent.
While New Jersey Residents Suffer, Governor Christie Goes on Saturday Night Live
November 18, 2012 By Daniel Greenfield
Tens of thousands of New Jersey residents are without power. Many have lost homes and everything else that they have. Some don’t have enough to eat and others are struggling to stay warm.
This is not the time for a responsible leader to go do his self-promoting shtick on Saturday Night Live. But Christie seems so tone deaf that he puts his self-promotion ahead of anything else.
Yes Giuliani went on Saturday Night Live a few weeks after September 11, but that wasn’t a series of gags, it was a serious tribute to those who died in the attacks. It had very little in common with Christie showing off the same routine that he does every time he’s in the vicinity of a video camera. And at a time when New Jersey residents still need help, why is their Governor spending time on a comedy show cracking jokes about what people have been going through?
140 Million Families Will Be Forced to Submit Obamacare Individual Mandate Compliance Forms to IRS
CBO estimates hours and hours of more paperwork for American taxpayers because of the Individual Mandate tax.
The Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday announced that six million American families will be forced to pay the Obamacare individual mandate non-compliance penalty tax.
The six million families who will be forced to pay the tax understates the true compliance burden of the looming Obamacare individual mandate scheduled to take effect in 2014:
Every American required to file an income tax return must report to the IRS whether or not they have “qualifying” health insurance under Obamacare.
Thus, this tax will not just impact the six million American families having to pay the tax, but the 140 million U.S. households which file an annual income tax return. Each of the 140 million households will be forced to complete and submit compliance forms to the IRS.
The compliance burden described above does not even take into account the other 19 new or higher taxes in the Obamacare law, which the IRS has determined for the Ways and Means Committee will increase tax preparation time by a collective 80 million hours per year.
The non-compliance penalty tax will hit middle-income Americans, a violation President Obama’s “firm pledge” not to raise “any form” of tax on families making less than $250,000 per year. There are at least seven Obamacare taxes that directly hit families making less than $250,000.
Sunday will mark the start of the 44-day countdown to “Taxmageddon” – the date the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2013:
First Wave: Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief
In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for small business owners, families, and investors (later re-upped by President Obama and Democrat Congress in 2010). The following tax hikes will occur on January 1, 2013:
Personal income tax rates will rise on January 1, 2013. The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which the majority of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates. The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:
-The 10% bracket rises to a new and expanded 15%
-The 25% bracket rises to 28%
-The 28% bracket rises to 31%
-The 33% bracket rises to 36%
-The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%
Higher taxes on marriage and family coming on January 1, 2013. The “marriage penalty” (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of taxable income. The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level.
Middle Class Death Tax returns on January 1, 2013. The death tax is currently 35% with an exemption of $5 million ($10 million for married couples). For those dying on or after January 1 2013, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes and a retirement account could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones.
Higher tax rates on savers and investors on January 1, 2013. The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 23.8 percent in 2013. The top dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 43.4 percent in 2013. This is because of scheduled rate hikes plus Obamacare’s investment surtax.
Second Wave: Obamacare Tax Hikes
There are twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Some have already gone into effect (the tanning tax, the medicine cabinet tax, the HSA withdrawal tax, W-2 health insurance reporting, and the “economic substance doctrine”). Several more will go into effect on January 1, 2013. They include:
The Obamacare Medical Device Tax begins to be assessed on January 1, 2013. Medical device manufacturers employ 409,000 people in 12,000 plants across the country. This law imposes a new 2.3% excise tax on gross sales – even if the company does not earn a profit in a given year. Exempts items retailing for <$100.
The Obamacare Medicare Payroll Tax Hike takes effect on January 1, 2013. The Medicare payroll tax is currently 2.9 percent on all wages and self-employment profits. Starting in 2013, wages and profits exceeding $200,000 ($250,000 in the case of married couples) will face a 3.8 percent rate.
The Obamacare “Special Needs Kids Tax” comes online on January 1, 2013. Imposes a cap on FSAs of $2500 (now unlimited). Indexed to inflation after 2013. There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education. This Obamacare cap harms these families.
The Obamacare “Haircut” for Medical Itemized Deductions goes into force on January 1, 2013. Currently, those facing high medical expenses are allowed a deduction for medical expenses to the extent that those expenses exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI). The new provision imposes a threshold of 10 percent of AGI. Waived for 65+ taxpayers in 2013-2016 only.
Third Wave: The Alternative Minimum Tax and Employer Tax Hikes
When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2013, they’ll be in for a nasty surprise—the AMT won’t be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired. These tax increases will be in force for BOTH 2012 and 2013. The major items include:
The AMT will ensnare over 31 million families, up from 4 million last year. According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center, Congress’ failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families—rising from 4 million last year to 31 million. These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.
Full business expensing will disappear. In 2011, businesses can expense half of their purchases of equipment. Starting on 2013 tax returns, all of it will have to be “depreciated” (slowly deducted over many years).
Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses. There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the “research and experimentation tax credit,” but there are many, many others. Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs.
Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced. The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available. Tax credits for education will be limited. Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut. Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed. The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.
Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed. Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA. This contribution also counts toward an annual “required minimum distribution.” This ability will no longer be there.
Read more: https://atr.org/days-taxmageddon-a7203#ixzz2Cfe0QQMt
Follow us: @taxreformer on Twitter
Investors Rush to Beat Threat of Higher Taxes
By NATHANIEL POPPER and NELSON D. SCHWARTZ
Published: November 18, 2012
Business owners and investors are rapidly maneuvering to shield themselves from the prospect of higher taxes next year, a strategy that is sending ripples across Wall Street and broad areas of the economy.
Take Steve Wynn, the casino magnate, who has been a vocal critic of higher tax rates. He and his fellow shareholders in Wynn Resorts, the company announced, will collect a special dividend of $750 million on Tuesday, a payout timed to take advantage of current rates. Experts estimated that taking the payout this year instead of next could save Mr. Wynn, who owns a sizable stake in the company, more than $20 million.
For the wealthy like Mr. Wynn, the overriding goal is to record as much of their future income this year as they can. This includes moves as diverse as sales of businesses, one-time dividends and the sale of stocks that have been big winners.
“In my 30 years in practice, I’ve never seen such a flood of desire and action to transfer a business and cash out,” said Kenneth K. Bezozo, a partner in New York with the law firm Haynes and Boone. “We’re seeing a watershed event.”
Whether small business owners or individuals saving for retirement, investors are being urged by their advisers to reconsider their holdings. Along the way, many are shedding the very investments that have been the most popular over the last year, contributing to recent sell-offs in formerly high-flying shares like Apple and Amazon.
Modern Family’s Rico Rodriguez at Bookends tonight 7pm
Rico Rodriguez, Monday, November 19th at 7:00pm
Manny on the hit ABC show: Modern Family, Rico Rodriguez, will sign his new book: Reel Life Lessons….So Far Books available November 6th.We Take Phone Order if you can’t make the event!
Appearing authors will only autograph books purchased at Bookends and must have valid Bookends Receipt.Availability & pricing for all autographed books subject to change.Bookends cannot guarantee that the books that are Autographed will always be First Printings.
Autographed books purchased at Bookends are non-returnable.
While we try to insure that all customers coming to Bookends’ signings will meet authors and get their books signed, we cannot guarantee that all attendees will meet the author or that all books will be signed. We cannot control inclement weather, author travel schedules or authors who leave prematurely.
Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-0726
Dr. Roberto Rivera, 60, who according to some reports was active in the Occupy Wall Street movement last year, was arrested following a Friday night raid on his Ridgewood, N.J., home. (ABC News)
Bomb-Making Chemicals, Assault Rifles Found in Doctor’s Home, Prosecutor Says
By ALYSSA NEWCOMB (@alyssanewcomb)
Nov. 17, 2012
Large amounts of chemicals commonly used to make bombs were found in the basement of a New Jersey doctor, along with assault rifles and a stun gun, prosecutors said today.
Dr. Roberto Rivera, 60, who according to some reports was active in the Occupy Wall Street movement last year, was arrested following a Friday night raid on his Ridgewood, N.J., home.
Ridgewood police first showed up at the home around 6:15 p.m. after getting a report of potential hazardous and explosive material, according to a press release from Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli.
‘Occupy’ doctor had bomb-making chemicals in his home, authorities charge
Published November 18, 2012
FoxNews.com
A New York doctor active in the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011 was charged with possessing a large quantity of chemicals used for making bombs, Paramus Patch reports.
Roberto Rivera, 60, a medical doctor, was charged Saturday hours after authorities conducted a raid on his Ridgewood, N.J., home, the website reports.
Rivera was charged with recklessly creating a risk of widespread injury or damage after FBI agents and members of the Bergen County bomb squad found chemicals used in the making of explosives, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said in a release.
Exclusive: New Jersey railway put trains in Sandy flood zone despite warnings
November 17, 2012|Janet Roberts and Ryan McNeill and Robin Respaut | Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) – New Jersey Transit’s struggle to recover from Superstorm Sandy is being compounded by a pre-storm decision to park much of its equipment in two rail yards that forecasters predicted would flood, a move that resulted in damage to one-third of its locomotives and a quarter of its passenger cars.
Marijuana-dispenser stock gets too high
Nov. 16, 2012, 4:01 p.m. EST
A company that creates medical-marijuana dispensing machines says its stock is getting way too high.
Medbox MDBX -90.24% shares surged 3,000% this week — from roughly $4 Monday to $215 Thursday — before falling to $100 after executives sought to dampen investor enthusiasm.
In a news release today, the company said that the stock’s rocket launch, which sent its market cap skyrocketing from $45 million at the start of the week to a staggering $2.3 billion, was ignited by a MarketWatch story Tuesday on how to invest in legalized marijuana (see How to invest in legalized marijuana .) (That’s about double the market capitalization of retailer Jos. A. Bank Clothiers.) The stock, which fell around 50% in early trading Friday, still hovers at $100. “We believe an appropriate trading range is between $5 and $10 but, alas, the market will do what it will do,” says Medbox founder Vincent Mehdizadeh.
All Seasons Chamber Players, now is it’s 32nd anniversary season, is a leading chamber music ensemble in the New York – New Jersey metropolitan area. It has performed over 678 concerts since it’s inception in 1981. The ensemble performs music from the baroque to contemporary periods in mixed ensembles using flute, violin, cello, harpsichord and piano. All Seasons repertoire includes new and unusual works as well as those from the standard chamber music repertoire of duets, trios, quartets and four-hand piano works.
All Seasons programs have proven highly successful with a wide range of audiences from experienced concert goers to casual music lovers of all ages. The wide appeal comes from not only from the high quality of the performances but from the variety of instrumental groupings and music periods.
In addition to its regional concerts, the ensemble provides free, public Community Concerts in Bergen County in area public libraries, churches, art centers and colleges. The Community Concerts are designed to make chamber music accessible, enjoyable and understandable and to develop new audiences for chamber music. They are supported by foundations, corporations, government agencies and individuals.
All Seasons Chamber Players’ Concerts 2012 – 2013
EMMANUEL BAPTIST CHURCH November 18th 2012 3pm
Honoring the musical legacy of William F. Wilkins
14 Hope Street (corner of Ridgewood Avenue), Ridgewood, NJ
Guest Artist: Jacqueline Schiller-Audi, Piano
Meet-The-Artist Reception in the Peace Lounge
(201) 444-7300
RIDGEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY December 9th 2pm
125 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ
A House committee has launched an investigation into whether EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson used an email alias to try to hide correspondence from open-government requests and her agency’s own internal watchdog — something that Republican lawmakers said could run afoul of the law.
The science committee has asked Ms. Jackson to turn over all information related to an email account under the name of “Richard Windsor,” which is one of the aliases identified by a researcher looking into the EPA.
The committee has also asked the White House’s lawyer and EPA’s inspector general to look into the matter and report back by the end of this month, saying that the secret email accounts could have been used to keep key information from official watchdogs as well as the public.
Read more: Congress demands EPA’s secret email accounts – Washington Times https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/17/congress-demands-epas-secret-email-accounts/#ixzz2CZ8OJML2
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
