All categories - 8 November 2007

Awesome here! 4 inches and counting!

2007-11-08 06:28:10 · 20 answers · asked by Kat 3 in Polls & Surveys

By 'you' I mean I. But seriously, how do you learn to love people that are, well...hard to love?


I know it is possible, I just could really use your tips right now.

2007-11-08 06:28:09 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

or make you insane?

2007-11-08 06:28:00 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Polls & Surveys

Polls and surveys

2007-11-08 06:28:00 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Food & Drink

Shouldnt kids be left to find their own religion? and if they dont find one, then maybe they dont need one?

2007-11-08 06:27:44 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

ok,you see here there are so many idiots insult allah and prophet muhammad peace be upon him ,can you tell me how many times muslims insulted christ or trinity or even insulted an atheist?

2007-11-08 06:27:29 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D., N.Y.) is a powerful man. When he makes the rules, Congress usually sticks to them.

Those rules now include “Pay-Go,” short for “pay-as-you-go.” This is something Democrats promised last year in their successful campaign to retake the Congress. The idea is that every increase in entitlement spending and every cut in taxes must be offset by a spending cut or a tax increase. Congress already spends lots of money it doesn’t have, but the concept here is that they can’t spend additional money they don’t have unless they can find additional revenue or savings somewhere else.

We’re seeing now what that means for fixing the Alternative Minimum Tax. In order to prevent this “tax on the wealthiest” from ensnaring 23 million American families, Pay-Go would force Democrats to raise other taxes to make up for the “lost” revenue.

But what if Rangel were to propose a tax increase that will actually reduce federal revenue? Would that tax increase still count as an offset against the future social spending programs that Democrats envision?

The answer is yes, and it isn’t a theoretical question. As part of his so-called “Mother of All Tax Increases” (H.R. 3970), Rangel would hike the capital gains tax rate by 63 percent. This will severely depress financial markets and almost certainly lose money for the government at the same time. And because Congress’s Joint Tax Committee and the Congressional Budget Office do not consider how taxes affect human behavior, it will count this tax increase as a positive instead of a negative.

The capital gains tax applies to earnings from the sale of investments that appreciate in price. When you buy a stock at $1, for example, and sell it a year later for $10, you pay this tax on your $9 gain. Rangel wants to boost that tax immediately from 15 percent to 19.6 percent, and then let it rise by five more points in 2011, when President Bush’s tax cuts expire.

The capital gains tax has a very direct effect on investors’ decisions because it hits so near to their activity in the market. It represents an extra transaction cost for each profitable sale of an investment. If it is very high, the tax tends to discourage investors from swapping out of mediocre investments into better ones unless they are guaranteed a very high return in advance. It distorts the markets by making tax-exempt bonds appear to be a more attractive investment than they would be otherwise.

This is not just theory — it has been demonstrated conclusively each time the capital gains tax has been raised or lowered. The capital gains tax offers uncontroversial proof that incentives really do matter in tax policy — a staple of supply-side thinking. For thirty years, each time the capital gains tax has been cut, its revenues have increased as investors have taken the opportunity to buy and sell more freely. When it has been raised, revenues have declined.


By 2011, Democrats plan to raise the capital gains rate from 15 percent to 24.6 percent. That would represent a 63-percent increase on the tax cost of every investment transaction — definitely large enough to begin affecting the decisions of the large financial institutions that control most of the stocks bought and sold each day. This could crush shareholder value for everyone — including the little guy. In some cases, it will encourage investors to stick with mediocre investments when their money could be getting more return and contributing more to the economy elsewhere.

Historically, capital-gains-tax hikes have meant less in tax collections, and less revenue for the government. Yet because they use what is called “static analysis,” Rangel’s congressional accountants will certify — contrary to fact — that a 63-percent increase in the capital-gains rate will translate to a corresponding increase in capital gains revenues.

The tax hike will also hurt a lot of people. It would be easy to dismiss a capital-gains-tax hike as something that only affects the wealthy, but this is false in a day when 92 million Americans’ financial fortunes and retirement plans are tied to the stock market, and millions more own investment properties.

Rangel’s tax hike, along with a much-feared pick-up of inflation, could constitute a one-two punch to your financial gut. The U.S. Department of the Treasury does not collect the capital-gains tax based on an investment’s inflation-adjusted or “real” value — you have to pay taxes on the inflation, too. Let’s say your $10,000 investment from 2000 only kept pace with inflation and was worth $11,708 in 2006. If you sold it at that price, you still paid taxes on that false “gain.” Under current law, the tax bill would have been $265. Rangel’s tax hike, once both stages are complete, would make you pay $420 just to recover your own money.

This is what “Pay-Go” means for you. Whether you have an IRA, a 401(k) or a little account on TD Ameritrade, you are going to lose a lot of money so that Democrats can balance congressional revenue and spending at the bottom of a blank page full of false information.

2007-11-08 06:27:06 · 10 answers · asked by mission_viejo_california 2 in Politics

My girlfriend recently broke up with me. We had been dating for 17 months and she said that she wasnt "in love" with me. She said that she still loves me but that's not enough for her. What the hell does that mean? She's Brazilian and I'm American. Is this a cultural difference or do American girls feel the same way? I would prefer females to answer this question please.

2007-11-08 06:26:59 · 36 answers · asked by Jeremy A 1 in Singles & Dating

2007-11-08 06:26:53 · 92 answers · asked by Lisa B 4 in Polls & Surveys

The party is Saturday night and I will be making Sea Bass with breadcrumbs and lemon, roasted potatoes with shallots and whole garlic cloves, and string beans almondine. I am also making a dip made with crumbled bacon, swiss cheese with mayo and scallions. What can I prepare today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday?

I really do so much better preparing ahead of time and enjoying my company...help!!!! Thank you for taking the time to respond.

2007-11-08 06:26:30 · 7 answers · asked by jane m 1 in Entertaining

I have a friend who wants to get married to her boyfriend, but he has bad credit and told her that he is going to file for Chapter 7. If she gets married to him will it effect her? What are the pros and cons? She is very young and wants to purchase things in the future like a house, car, etc.

2007-11-08 06:26:29 · 14 answers · asked by Luxurious_red 2 in Marriage & Divorce

His stats are amazing. His last second finishing off of Cleveland last night is a classic example. He personally took Utah to the Western Conference finals last season. Yet being from a small market, no one notices.

2007-11-08 06:26:27 · 9 answers · asked by Kerry 7 in Basketball

My rabbits cage is cleaned daily, and I have used differnt kinds of bedding. The rabbit was given to me about a year ago, and the woman I got him from said his feet got that way when she had him.

2007-11-08 06:26:14 · 3 answers · asked by waterlily 4 in Other - Pets

2007-11-08 06:26:12 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

2007-11-08 06:25:59 · 12 answers · asked by Giggly Giraffe 7 in Gender Studies

I know with the crises at hand it seems a valuable option but what happens when we start eradicating the oceans and seas. I mean the ice caps are already melting. Isn't this a defence mechanism of the earth to heal itself? What would happen if we started to depleat our water supply? I think we need to research more on solar power. What are your thoughts?

2007-11-08 06:25:57 · 13 answers · asked by Aaron4me 3 in Green Living

2007-11-08 06:25:56 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Family & Relationships

exonerate him from being the father of this child?

2007-11-08 06:25:54 · 6 answers · asked by sonal p 1 in Biology

I'm pretty sure its Neil Young, but everyone else keeps saying it was originally Kurt Cobain or Tom Petty!!!!!

2007-11-08 06:25:50 · 4 answers · asked by michelle 1 in Quotations

2007-11-08 06:25:48 · 20 answers · asked by lvbrdy4vr 1 in Software

2007-11-08 06:25:29 · 4 answers · asked by cassiehart22 1 in Other - United States

how can i weigh 95 lbs.. 150cm. my current weight is 116 pounds .. so being 95 lbs is still healthy ! how can i achieve that?

2007-11-08 06:25:16 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Diet & Fitness

Because I wouldn't want to Offend or Confuse anybody or anything.

2007-11-08 06:25:14 · 15 answers · asked by Black♥ of the †oxic faerie †ales 5 in Polls & Surveys

Cake Cookie
Hot Cold
Tender Rough
Spicy Calm
Wild tame

ill pass on mine =)

2007-11-08 06:25:13 · 20 answers · asked by Francesca 5 in Polls & Surveys

I entered cheat 'motherlode' and a box comes up saying 'Sorry! No such cheat', I don't know why this is happening as all my friends have used this cheat and it has worked. I downloaded Sims 2 (the one I used the cheat on) off Limewire, could this have something to do with it?

2007-11-08 06:24:58 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Video & Online Games

How do you see the future of this planet? according to the bible

2007-11-08 06:24:49 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

A friend of mine was told by her lawyer that a creditor has 5 years to try to collect on a debt, after that they are no longer able to take action legally.

2007-11-08 06:24:38 · 3 answers · asked by greg_lang2006 1 in Law & Ethics

We are long distance. I live in california. She lives in new york. She will be using her cell phone.

2007-11-08 06:24:36 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cell Phones & Plans