Good morning MOT.

Got an email a couple of hours ago from one of Dave's sons. He's back in the hospital. Ok, now I'm worried. Typically, I'll get an email or call from Dave if he's in the hospital. Like most folks, Dave keeps his medical situation private but we know he has trouble breathing at times. It's been worse lately (he's used his alert device to summon 911) and I believe it's what has him in the hospital again.

Sounds nice. You'll appreciate those light bulbs when you get older. I'm convinced there ought to be a light in any closet no matter how small. Every wall ought to have at least two outlets and every room a HVAC return.



Glad to hear you weren't alone! Seems like these days, working short-handed is the norm, especially in urgent care/hospital settings. Fall allergies are already kicking in so between that and back to school, a wave of kids is to be expected but 60 sounds like a new one every 10 minutes.



Uh oh......

And now for the bad news--
>
>This one is non-partisan and will touch every one of us in some way; >MANY ways!
>
>In just six months, 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, 2011:
>
> First Wave:
> Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief
> In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for
> investors, small business owners, and families.
> These will all expire on January 1, 2011:
> Personal income tax rates will rise. The top
> income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate
> at which two-thirds 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 an expanded 15% (Gordon's > translation=======THAT'S A 50% INCREASE FOLKS!)
> - The 25% bracket rises to 28% (Gordon's > translation=======THAT'S A 12% INCREASE FOLKS!)
> - The 28% bracket rises to 31% (Gordon's > translation=======THAT'S A 10% INCREASE FOLKS!)
> - The 33% bracket rises to 36% (Gordon's > translation=======THAT'S A 9% INCREASE FOLKS!)
> - The 35% bracket rises to 39.6% (Gordon's > translation=======THAT'S A 13% INCREASE FOLKS!)
> Higher taxes on marriage and family. The
> marriage penalty (narrower tax brackets for married
> couples) will return from the first dollar of 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. The dependent care and adoption tax credits
> will be cut.
> The return of the Death Tax.
>This year, there is no death tax. For those dying on or after >January 1 2011, 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.
>The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in
> 2011. The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6
> percent in 2011. These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.
>
>
>Second Wave:
> Obamacare
> There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Several > will first go into effect on
> January 1, 2011. They include:
> The Medicine Cabinet Tax
> Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health
> savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health
> reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription,
> over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).
> The Special Needs Kids Tax
>This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs)
> of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). 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 cannot be used to pay for this type of special
> needs education.
> The HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike.
>This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on >non-medical early withdrawals
> from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs
> and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.
>
>
>Third Wave:
> The Alternative Minimum Tax and Employer Tax Hikes
> When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011,
> they'll be in for a nasty surprise - the AMT won't be
> held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired.
> The major items include:
> The AMT will ensnare over 28 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 28.5 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.
> Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear.
> Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or
> depreciate) equipment purchases up to $250,000. This
> will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can
> expense half of their purchases of equipment. In January of 2011,
> all of it will have to be depreciated.
> 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.
>PDF Version Read >more:<http://www.atr.org/six-months-untilbr-largest...hikes-a5171#ixzz0sY8waPq1
> One of the surprises
> we'll find come next year, is what follows - - a little
> "surprise" that 99% of us had no idea was included in the
> "new and improved" healthcare legislation . . . the
> dupes, or, dopes, who backed this administration will be
> astonished!
> Starting in 2011, (next year folks), your W-2 tax form sent by
> your employer will be increased to show the value of whatever
> health insurance you are given by the company. It does not
> matter if that's a private concern or governmental body of
> some sort. If you're retired? So what; your gross
> will go up by the amount of insurance you get.
> You will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you
> have never seen. Take your tax form you just finished
> and see what $15,000 or $20,000 additional gross does to your
> tax debt. That's what you'll pay next year. For
> many, it also puts you into a new higher bracket so it's even
> worse.
> This is how the government is going to buy insurance for the15% that don't
> have insurance and it's only part of the tax increases.
> Not believing this??? Here is a research of the
> summaries.....
> On page 25 of 29: TITLE IX REVENUE
> PROVISIONS- SUBTITLE A: REVENUE OFFSET PROVISIONS-(sec. 9001,
> as modified by sec. 10901) Sec.9002 "requires employers
> to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of
> applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is
> excludable from the employees gross income."
> Joan Pryde is the senior tax editor for the Kiplinger letters.
> Go to Kiplingers and read about 13 tax changes that
> could affect you. Number 3 is what is above.

I got a bunch as well. Don't have a count. Keith, please keep us up on anything you learn about Dave.