Rep. Mike Honda: VITA ACT 2011: THE WIN-WIN FOR TAXPAYERS AND GOVERNMENT

As Benjamin Franklin once wrote, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." While we aren't able to stave off death, there is something vital we can do to help low-income Americans with their taxes.

That's why Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and I have introduced the VITA Act of 2011. This legislation would permanently authorize the Community Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Matching Grant Program.

The program provides trained tax-preparers to underserved communities to help Americans properly prepare their taxes and file for crucial money-saving tax credits. Congress must pass the VITA Act of 2011 to permanently fund this critical program that saves money for taxpayers and the federal government.

You read that correctly -- VITA actually saves the government money. VITA programs help reduce error rates and processing costs, thereby saving the IRS $1.8 billion a year. Tax compliance rates rise because most VITA beneficiaries are filing their taxes for the first time. At a time when important federal programs are being slashed, saving VITA should be a no-brainer -- we make money in the deal.

VITA also boosts the economy and increases the return on investment for communities. By putting money back in the wallets of low-income people, VITA enables them to increase spending on essentials in their community, thereby increasing their spending on education, mortgages and other investments. For many, this encounter with financial services is a gateway to building individual assets, such as savings accounts and college tuition funds.

In general, VITA is a crucial program for serving low-income communities and helping eradicate poverty. By lifting Americans out of the clutches of poverty, we can in turn increase the nation's economic productivity and, therefore, our gross domestic product. President Ronald Reagan understood this concept of rejuvenating the economy by reducing poverty, and came up with a way to do it -- incentivizing work over welfare by taking the country's poorest off the tax rolls. The result came in the 1986 bipartisan reform with the expansion of the earned income tax credit, the largest public assistance program our country has today.

The EITC is an extremely successful program that lifts 4 million people out of poverty each year. Studies show that every dollar of EITC refunds translates to $1.58 in local economic activity. Unfortunately, low-income workers, the elderly, people with disabilities and those who lack a thorough grasp of English are less likely to claim the credit.

Many of them are not well-informed about the tax filing process or able to pay for tax assistance services. While we may have created a tax credit to support the people who need it most, if it goes unclaimed, it's worthless. This is where VITA comes into play.

VITA transforms the EITC and other tax credits from policy into reality for thousands of needy families. In 2009, community VITA programs prepared more than 1.2 million tax returns, including 400,000 EITCs, resulting in $887 million of refundable tax credits for their clients.

Funded primarily by nonprofits, community organizations and local governments, VITA programs have suffered funding cuts in the recent economic downturn. Meanwhile, the demand for services is rising dramatically. Community VITA programs have received appropriations from the federal government since 2008 in the form of a matching grant program. While the grant program provided $12 million in the 2011 tax season, there were program requests that went unfilled -- with a need exceeding $30 million.

With the federal deficit out of control, our economy floundering and people cinching their belts until they can hardly breathe, we need programs such as VITA to relieve financial stress for both citizens and the government. By providing Americans a service that puts money back in their wallets, we can help a single mother buy schoolbooks for her children, help an underemployed construction worker catch up on his mortgage and give a family a chance to buy presents during the holidays.

It is in Congress' best interest to support cost-effective programs such as the VITA Act of 2011 that will stimulate the economy and save money for the federal government. The tax breaks are already there -- let's give people the opportunity to use them.

This piece was first published in Roll Call on 11/4/11

Congressman Michael Honda is Silicon Valley's Representative. He has represented the 15th Congressional District of California in the U.S. House of Representatives for a decade. In Congress, Rep. Honda is a member of the House Appropriations and Budget Committees and Chair Emeritus of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-mike-honda/vita-act-2011-the-win-win_b_1093600.html

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Starbucks Investing in Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) | Wall St. Cheat ...

By Wall St. Cheat Sheet
Scottrade: $7 Online Trades. Real-Time Stock Quotes

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:SBUX) loaned $14.6 mil to coffee producers last year, and is expects to invest 37% more by 2015, for a total of $20 mil. Assisting its bean growers is a logical move for Starbucks and lives up to the ?You gotta spend money to make money? mantra.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX)?has invested cash in opening new stores in the past. But, Starbucks?now plans to open new farmer support centers to offer agronomy and technical support to its coffee producers.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX)?also anticipates increasing its eco-friendliness with 86% of its green-coffee purchases for 2011 being under the sustainable C.A.F.E Practices certification program, a 2% increase from last year.

Here?s how coffee stocks closed today:

  • Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:SBUX): The shares recently traded at $43.64, down $0.7, or 1.58%. Its market capitalization is $32.50 billion. They have traded in a 52-week range of $29.45 to $44.70. Volume today was 4,899,111 shares versus a 3-month average volume of 8,077,550 shares. The company?s trailing P/E is 26.94, while trailing earnings are $1.62 per share. The company pays a dividend of $0.68 per share for a dividend yield of 1.50%. About the company: Starbucks Corporation retails, roasts, and provides its own brand of specialty coffee. The Company operates retail locations worldwide and sells whole bean coffees through its sales group, direct response business, supermarkets, and on the World Wide Web. Starbucks also produces and sells bottled coffee drinks and a line of ice creams. Get the most recent company news and stock data here >>
  • Dunkin? Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DNKN): The shares recently traded at $25.72, down $0.19, or 0.73%. Its market capitalization is $3.09 billion. They have traded in a 52-week range of $24.74 to $31.94. Volume today was 1,319,917 shares versus a 3-month average volume of 639,383 shares. The company?s trailing P/E is 47.72, while trailing earnings are $0.54 per share. About the company: The owner of Dunkin? Donuts Baskin-Robbins has more than 14,800 points of distribution in 44 countries, and approximately 120 years of combined history. Get the most recent company news and stock data here >>
  • Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR): The shares recently traded at $42.14, down $1.57, or 3.59%. Its market capitalization is $6.51 billion. They have traded in a 52-week range of $29.55 to $115.98. Volume today was 9,607,058 shares versus a 3-month average volume of 6,675,980 shares. The company?s trailing P/E is 32.17, while trailing earnings are $1.31 per share. About the company: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. roasts Arabica coffees and offers various coffee selections. The Company?s products include single-origin, estate, certified organic, Fair Trade, signature blends, and flavored coffees sold under the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters brand. Green Mountain serves offices, supermarkets, and convenience stores, and operates a direct mail business. Get the most recent company news and stock data here >>

Don?t Miss: Green Mountain Earnings Conference Call Highlights: K-Cup Capacity and Starbucks.

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Source: http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/starbucks-investing-in-starbucks.html/

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Pope: Yes to adult stem cells, no embryonic (AP)

VATICAN CITY ? Pope Benedict XVI has reaffirmed his opposition to embryonic stem cell research, saying it's morally wrong to destroy an embryo no matter how beneficial the resulting treatment is.

Benedict made the comments Saturday to participants of a Vatican conference on adult stem cells convened under an unusual new partnership between the Vatican's culture office and a small U.S. biotech firm, NeoStem Inc.

Church teaching holds that life begins at conception. As a result, the Vatican opposes embryonic stem cell research because embryos are destroyed in the process. It supports research using adult stem cells.

Benedict said: "The destruction of even one human life can never be justified in terms of the benefit that it might conceivably bring to another."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111112/ap_on_re_eu/eu_vatican_stem_cells

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Russian craft set to blast off on delayed mission (AP)

MOSCOW ? A Russian cosmonaut says the three-man U.S.-Russian crew are thinking positively as they prepare to blast off on a delayed mission to the International Space Station.

The mission had been delayed for two months after the failed launch of an unmanned Progress cargo ship in August. The failure was blamed on a manufacturing flaw and cast doubt on the future of manned flights because the upper stage of the Soyuz booster rocket that carries the cargo ships into orbit is similar to that used to launch astronauts.

The way was cleared after another Progress lifted off successfully on Oct. 30.

"We have no black thoughts and full confidence in our technology," cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov told journalists at the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where he, fellow Russian Anatoly Ivanishin and NASA astronaut Dan Burbank were preparing for the launch.

Their Soyuz craft is to lift off early Monday (0414 GMT, 11:14 p.m. EST Sunday) and dock at the International Space Station two days later.

They are to arrive just in time to keep the orbiting station manned. The three crew members there are returning to Earth on Nov. 21 and if the new crew had not launched in time the station would have had to have been abandoned temporarily for the first time in nearly 11 years.

The Russian Soyuz spacecraft serve as the only link to the space station now that NASA retired the space shuttle in July.

The 39-year-old Shkaplerov and 42-year-old Ivanishin are making their first flights into space. Burbank, 50, will take over command of the space station and is a veteran of 12-day shuttle missions in 2000 and 2006. The three men are to remain aboard the space station until March.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111113/ap_on_sc/sci_space_station

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U.N. committee says divided on Palestinian bid (Reuters)

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) ? A U.N. Security Council committee said Friday it had failed to reach agreement over a Palestinian application for full membership in the United Nations, the Portuguese U.N. ambassador said.

The decision by the council's admissions committee brought the Palestinian Authority's push for U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, one step closer to collapse.

It is now up to Palestinians, who have so far been unable to secure the nine votes needed to pass a Security Council resolution favoring their U.N. bid, to decide whether or not to call a vote on their application.

The Palestinians currently have only eight supporters, diplomats say. If the Palestinian delegation chooses to force a vote without securing nine votes, the United States would not need to use its veto power to block it.

A draft report of the committee, which includes all 15 council members, detailed the deadlock among council members. Now that the committee has formally approved it, the issue will revert back to the Security Council.

"The Council will receive the report and will discuss any future initiative," said Portuguese envoy Jose Filipe Moraes Cabral, council president for November.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas applied for full U.N. membership for the state of Palestine on September 23.

Israel and the United States oppose the Palestinian bid for membership and recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital, saying it is aimed at de-legitimizing Israel. They say the only way Palestine can get statehood is via peace talks with Israel.

(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by )

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111111/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_un

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Penn State trustees promise to search for truth (AP)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ? The arduous task of rebuilding Penn State's shattered image began Friday with a pledge by the board of trustees to search for the truth amid an unfolding child sex abuse case against a former assistant football coach, a scandal that has already claimed the jobs of coach Joe Paterno and the school's president.

In front of an overflow crowd at a meeting that was moved from a hotel boardroom to a ballroom to accommodate more people, the trustees opened with Chairman Steve Garban welcoming the replacement president, Rod Erickson, and Gov. Tom Corbett, who had pressed publicly for fast action by trustees accustomed to deferring to Spanier.

The meeting was the first public gathering of the 32-member board in the wake of the scandal that has gripped one of the nation's largest universities and touched off a violent student demonstration. In addition to the firing of Paterno and President Graham Spanier, an assistant coach who told his bosses in 2002 that he saw an assault was placed on administrative leave Friday.

Garban pledged to support Erickson ? the trustees removed the "interim" tag on his new title but will continue to search for a permanent successor to Spanier ? as the board works "for the future of this institution that we respect and love." Erickson, previously the university's longtime provost, said Penn State must devote itself to its core values ? honesty, integrity, excellence and community ? now more than ever.

"I know we can do this. We are resilient; we are a university that will rebuild the trust and confidence that so many people have had in us for so many years," Erickson said in a six-minute speech to the trustees.

Without mentioning Spanier or Paterno, Erickson told trustees that their deliberate and decisive action had set a course for the university's future. His heart aches for the victims and their families, he said, and he pledged to reassure Penn Staters that the university's future is still bright.

Paterno and Spanier were fired Wednesday in the fallout of a shocking days-old grand jury report alleging repeated, illicit contact between retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky and boys as young as 10 over a span of 15 years, sometimes in Penn State's facilities.

The grand jury report said that administrators did not contact law enforcement authorities after a graduate assistant for the football team said he saw Sandusky sodomizing a boy of about 10 years old in the locker room showers at the team's practice center in 2002. Top school officials, including Paterno and Spanier, say they weren't told about the seriousness of the matter.

Sandusky has been aware of the accusations against him for about three years and has maintained his innocence, his lawyer has said.

The board adjourned after forming an investigative committee, to be headed by trustee Kenneth Frazier, the CEO of pharmaceutical company Merck, to dig into the university's failure to stop Sandusky's alleged activity. Ronald Tomalis, a trustee and state education secretary, will be vice chairman.

The rest of the committee has yet to be formed, but Frazier said it will have the power to hire independent lawyers and plans to publicly release the entirety of its findings.

"That's absolutely what we intend to do," Frazier said after the meeting. "The purpose of this investigation is to ensure that the public understands everything that we learn in this investigation and a report will be made completely public as quickly as we possibly can."

The university as a whole, however, has a long way to go before anything can be considered routine now that Paterno, whose 46 years leading the Nittany Lions turned him into an icon in the area known as Happy Valley and beyond, is gone. The school named defensive coordinator Tom Bradley interim coach on Thursday.

Paterno's firing touched off a violent student rally late Wednesday night, requiring police in riot gear, at times using pepper spray, to disperse about 2,000 who took to the streets and toppled a television news van.

The university's faculty senate on Friday called on students and employees to "act in ways that bring honor to our institution and ourselves."

Sandusky served as Paterno's top defensive assistant for more than two decades and at one time was considered his heir apparent. But he abruptly retired in 1999, about a year after university police investigated a complaint by the mother of a woman upset that Sandusky had showered with and bear-hugged her 11-year-old son, the grand jury report alleged.

Authorities said Sandusky met many of his alleged victims through The Second Mile, a charity he founded in 1977 to help at-risk youth.

Former athletic director Tim Curley and former university vice president Gary Schultz have been charged with perjury and failure to report the 2002 assault, as required by state law. Lawyers for the men say that they are innocent, that they told the truth to the grand jury and that they told Spanier what they knew, fulfilling their legal obligation.

About a week and a half after the 2002 incident, the graduate assistant ? identified by people familiar with the investigation as Mike McQueary, now the team's wide receivers coach ? met with Curley and Schultz, and told them he had witnessed what he believed to be Sandusky having sex with a boy, the grand jury report said.

McQueary was placed on administrative leave Friday, Erickson said, and won't be coaching at Saturday's game against Nebraska because he has received threats.

Spanier told the grand jury that Schultz and Curley went to him and reported an incident that made a member of Curley's staff "uncomfortable."

"Spanier described it as `Jerry Sandusky in the football building locker area in the shower ... with a younger child and they were horsing around in the shower,'" the grand jury report said.

Paterno, major college football's winningest coach, has said he wasn't told "the very specific actions" contained in the grand jury report, but he also has acknowledged that "with the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111111/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_penn_state_abuse

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Apple iPhone 4S now available for $99... in Puerto Rico

Sure, you can now purchase an unlocked iPhone 4S within the US officially, but folks in the outlying territory of Puerto Rico have some tempting options if they'll go the long-term contractual route. The region's division of carrier, Claro, is now selling the Siri-packed device starting at the low, low price of $99 for the 16GB model on-contract -- those scared of commitment can also snag it unlocked, albeit for a slightly pricey $670 (which as 9to5Mac points out, is up $20 from Apple). The carrier also lists the 32 and 64GB variants as "expected soon," marked to sell at $199 / $299 with a two-year commitment and $770 / $870 unlocked. Notably, you'll have a choice of four monthly plans featuring unlimited talk and text ranging from about 65 to 85 bucks, with data allotments starting at 250MB and peaking at "unlimited." Apparently, Claro isn't offering the 4S for purchase online, but it does list a number of retail locations you can grab one from if you're interested. You'll find more details at the source link below.

Apple iPhone 4S now available for $99... in Puerto Rico originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 23:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink 9to5Mac  |  sourceClaro (Puerto Rico)(translated)  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/11/apple-iphone-4s-now-available-for-99-in-puerto-rico/

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Did Apple's new software fix iPhone batteries?

Apple

By Rosa Golijan

As promised, Apple released iOS 5.0.1?? an update to its iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch operating system?? on Thursday. This particular software update supposedly included a fix for bugs affecting iPhone battery life.?But did it really change anything? Are iPhone batteries around the world magically fixed now?

Yes, no, and maybe?? it's a bit too soon to tell.

Based on the experiences of several msnbc.com writers as well as their friends and family members, things appear to be fine dandy after iOS 5.0.1. Most are average to heavy iPhone users and still manage to get at least a day's charge out of their devices. The update, if anything, slowed an already tolerable battery drain rate.

But that's not the case for everyone. A look at posts in Apple's Support Communities suggests that many still feel that their iPhone batteries are draining far too quickly?? and some even believe that the issue became worse after the iOS 5.0.1 update.

How is it that different individuals are seeing such different results? Well, for starters: We've all got different settings, apps, and iPhone usage habits. Those alone would account for significant differences in battery life. (Not to mention that some folks may be using little tricks ? which apply even after the update???to extend battery life.)

Live Poll

How's your iPhone battery life after iOS 5.0.1?

And of course there's the fact that iOS 5.0.1 was publicly released just yesterday. That means many folks barely had time to fully charge and discharge their iPhones (meaning that they didn't take them all the way from 100 percent to zero). And that's the only way you can really tell how well things are going?? not by glancing at your screen and screaming because the battery percentage dropped since the last time you looked.

However, there may be other issues afoot, glitches with certain devices that are causing exceptionally bad battery life, and that's something we'll watch for in the forums in the coming weeks.

No matter how you're judging your battery life though, we want to hear about your experiences. Vote in the poll on the right or tell us in the comments below. Did Apple's software update fix your iPhone battery? How have things changed?

Related stories:

Want more tech news, silly puns or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts, or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/11/8754395-did-apples-software-update-fix-your-iphone-battery

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