States working harder to collect online sales taxes

More than 10% of the March of Dimes annual Signature Chefs Auction proceeds are going to the tax man. This is because they went online to buy 4,000 T-shirts to give to donors for the March for Babies Walk in April. They buy supplies and materials online and also raise money online by selling items - racking up a big tax bill. The director of the Nebraska chapter, Rosemary Opbroek, said "They didn't know and wish the law were different. It's taking money away from helping." It takes away about $26,000. March of Dimes owes for unpaid taxes for April purchases and online transactions over the past 5 years. Opbroek knows they owe money and it will have to come from this weeks proceeds. They hope the final tally will be like last years, about $215,000, but the tax bill will take almost 13%. A lot of people stumble over the same law.

There is confusion on tax policies for online purchases. Sales taxes for online purchases have always been there, but are almost never paid. There is also confusion on who collects and when. Businesses are responsible for collecting sales tax, if they have a store, office, or sales rep in your state, they tack on the sales tax.

If the seller's not responsible then you are. You're supposed to file your own report and pay the tax on your online purchases. The majority of the people don't know of the rules and the forms don't get filed and taxes don't get paid. The National Conference Of State Legislatures estimates $8.6 billion in 2010 alone go unpaid. Sales taxes (handled by a retailer) and use taxes (handled by the customer) pay for schools and public safety.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39159604/ns/business-personal_finance/

I think that having to pay taxes, or use taxes as they are now called, online wouldn't be that bad or make a lot of people upset if we didn't have to go through and fill out a form and send in money to they state. I know that I wouldn't want to pay more money for having just bought something online and then going and paying more of the use tax.

As for people who have no idea about the law, I don't think that they will want to pay they tax on the stuff they bought in the past years, when if they had known about they law they wouldn't have bought they stuff online in the first place.

I know that they law has been in place for some time now, but I think that if they online retailers haven't told they buyers about the tax then they retailers should have to pay for some of the taxes that they didn't tell the people about, because it is their fault in the first place for not telling the buyers about the tax.

I think that on all websites that sell items should put on their site the use tax law and what it is all about. I think that they should tell the buyers ahead of time so they aren't surprised when they find out that they have to pay the use tax. The websites should either put it on their front page of the website in bold writing or on the page where you have to pay for the items you are purchasing.

I truly think that us as consumers shouldn't have to remember to pay the tax, the producers or sellers should be the one to remind us that we have to pay the use tax.

Boehner backs tax cuts limited to middle class

John Boehner, House Republican leader, supports tax cuts for middle-class even though he thinks it a "bad policy" to exclude the upper-class from tax relief during a recession. One of President Obama's chief economic advisers is happy that Boehner isn't going to hold an extension of tax cuts for people earning under $250,000/year, or more than 97% of earners to gain a continue of breaks for the wealthiest. Elections are coming up and both parties want to score points with voters who are unhappy with Congress. Democratic leaders want to put up a bill that extends middle-class tax cuts. The argument between Obama and Republican lawmakers focus on tax-cuts and if they can afford to continue President Bush's tax breaks. Republicans want to cut back on government spending to focus on balancing the federal budget. Obama has been leading the charge against Boehner.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39131165/ns/politics/

In the article it talks about the government controlling their spending and trying to balance their budget, if the government can accomplish this it might be easier for Americans to deal with all the economic struggles that we are going through. I do find it a bit unfair that just the middle-class is getting the tax-cuts, when truly everyone is going through some budget cuts and have to give up some expenses. If Boehner is going to support the tax cut but also think that it is bad policy towards the upper-class, I think he is a bit fickle. True, the middle-class doesn't have as much money are the upper-class. True, the wealthy think the tax-cuts are a bit unfair. Although I can see both of Boehner's sides of the tax-cuts, I think that we need to level out the differences between the wealthy upper-class and the middle and lower classes.

Ted Koppel will mourn his son for the rest of his life

Speaking out about his 40-year-old son, Andrew, Ted Koppel said that his son died Monday morning after a daylong drinking. The Koppel's, Grace Anne Dorney Koppel and Ted Koppel, say that their son was a brilliant caring man. Andrew lived in Queens with his girlfriend and baby daughter. He started drinking around noon at one of the Hell's Kitchen Bar and arrived at his apartment later that evening. A waiter at the bar and a roommate put Koppel in bed because he said that he wasn't feeling well. Noticing that he wasn't breathing they called 911. Andrew was the third child of four for Ted and Grace Anne.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/06/02/ted.koppel.sons.death.ppl/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

This is quiet sad. I feel for the Koppel family and Andrew's girlfriend and daughter. But I question what drove his to start drinking at noon and going until late at night. Could it be that he was having problems at work or with his family. I would think that since he had a baby daughter that he would want to spend some time with her, but he could have had a fight with his girlfriend and not want to be around the apartment. It is hard to know what caused him to drink for so long and I hope that he wouldn't have been having family problems. I know that from my dad to be away from his kids for too long, he would start to call us every 5 minutes and text us about random stuff.

I hope that the family is cooping well. It is expected for them to mourn losing their son, father and boyfriend for a while. May he rest in peace.

Wind blast form aircraft downs limbs at ceremony, 10 injured

A wind blast from Marine Corps tilt-rotor aircraft performing a Memorial Day demonstration and caused tree limbs to fall, injuring 10 people. The incident occurred after 9 a.m. at Clove Lakes Park on New York's borough of Staten Island. It was part of the annual Fleet Week Exhibition, which included military displays from the Navy, Coast Guard, and Marines. The tilt-rotor aircraft, an MV-22 Osprey, was coming in to land when the wind generated by its twin propellers gave enough force to knock branches off a tree that was 600 feet away. The injured were spectators. Medical and fire personnel were on the grounds and prepared to deal with the accident. The event continued and people were seen touring the aircraft on the ground. The tilt-rotor aircraft combines vertical flight capabilities of a helicopter with speed and range of an airplane. It can carry 24 troops.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/31/new.york.fleetweek.accident/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

It is sad that people were injured during a demonstration where people can meet sailors, marines, and coast guardsmen. They can also witness the latest capabilities of today's navy, marine corps, and coast guard team. I think that it is cool that they do this kind of demonstration so people can see and understand what the navy, coast guard, and marine do. I hope that all the people injured are alright. I find it weird that they have been doing this kind of demonstration since 1984 and they haven't had any problems until know, or at least problems that I have heard of. They should do some research on what they can do next time so that a similar incident doesn't occur. I hope that they are better prepared next time and that they have a designated area reserved for the spectators so that everyone can stay out of harms way.

Topical storm leaves more than 100 dead in Central America

After a tropical storm battered Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, about 115 people have died. Guatemala was hit the hardest, at least 92 deaths, 54 missing and 59 injured, 112,000 people have been evacuated and 29,000 living in temporary shelters says Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom. Mudslides have destroyed homes and buildings and burying some victims. Nine rivers have higher levels and 13 bridges have collapsed. Classes have been canceled throughout the nation.

In Honduras, 14 have died, President Porfirio Lobo said. 3,500 people have been evacuated and 3,300 in shelters. Over 140 homes are destroyed and 700 damaged.

In El Salvador, 9 people died. The rain stopped Sunday and river levels are beginning to drop. Classes remain canceled.

Agatha was demoted from tropical storm to tropical depression Saturday night and lost the status as a depression Sunday. It was the first named storm for the Pacific hurricane season.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/05/31/honduras.storm.emergency/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

This is very sad. I hope the people in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are doing okay. This is a scare situation that they are going through. Peolpe worrying about losing someone they love and losing their homes. These people have gone through a lot having to deal with the tropical storm, the rising rivers, and finding a place to live that will be out of the way of river overflow and mudslides. We should keep them in our prayers and hope that everyone gets back on their feet and can continue their lives. Also for those who lost someone, that they are doing well and can continue on without their loved one.

7-year-old Girl Killed in Detroit Police Raid

The Detroit Police Department is being accused of misrepresenting an incident where a 7-year-old girl was shot to death in a police raid. Michigan attorney Geoffrey Fieger had obtained a video footage of the shooting captured by a crew filming for "The First 48." He didn't say how he got the tape, but that it shows officers rushing the home and throwing a flash grenade through a window before an officer fires into the house from the front porch. Assistant Police Chief Ralph Godbee says that the members of the Detroit Police Special Response Team came to the house and announced themselves as police. The officers used a "flash bang" device, entered the house and came across a 46-year-old female in the front room. Godbee says that what happened next is still under investigation, but an officer and the woman had some kind of physical contact and the officer's weapon discharged which struck Alyana Stanley Jones in the neck/head area.

The Police were executing a search warrant. They were searching for the suspect in a shooting that killed a high school student. Godbee said that the suspect was found and arrested at the home where the girl was shot.

Fieger called the explanation "entirely false." He had seen the tape and said that it portrays the grenade device was thrown and a shot was fired. The murder suspect wasn't found in Alyana's house, but in an upstairs apartment next door where he surrendered.

Godbee says that he wished to express to the Jones family the sorrow that they feel at the police department. The police got the high-risk search warrant based on intelligence. Because of the violent nature of the suspect, it was determined to be the best interest to execute the search warrant a.s.a.p.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/16/michigan.police.child/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

I feel truly sorry for Alyana Stanley Jones family because they lost a child, a sister, and a family member all due to the police searching for a murderer. In the article it said that the police got a search warrant for the Jones house but not for the home next door. I think that they should have got a search warrant for the houses on either side of the Jone's house because that way they have 2 other possibilities for where the suspect might be. Although they got the warrant based on intelligence, I think that they still probably weren't sure whether or not the suspect was specifically in that house.

I think that if the police announced that they were police then they should have just gone and knocked on the door and if no one came then they could try opening the door to get in. I think that throwing a flash grenada in the window and firing a shot from the porch was a poor choice because that is probably why the woman was a little defensive. She probably thought that they were there it take something from her, like maybe her children. I think that they way they went about entering the home wasn't a very good plan.

I hope that they family is doing okay and that they get the answers they need as soon as possible.

Next Step to Stop the Oil

If a massive dome to cover the source of the oil coming into the Gulf of Mexico fails, crews are ready to clog it. Engineers are deciding if they can close a failed blowout preventer by stuffing it with trash, says Adm. Thad Allen (Commandant of the Coast Guard). Th 48-foot-tall, 450-ton device sits on the well at the heart of the Gulf oil spill. It is designed to stop leaks, but isn't working properly since the oil rig exploded April 20th and then sank. Allen says the next tactic will be called a junk shot. They will take debris and shoot it into the preventer itself and see if they can clog it and stop the leak. The Oil company BP attempted to lower a 4-story vessel over the well. That plan was thwarted after ice-like hydrate crystals formed when gas combined with water. It blocked the dome and made it buoyant. It has not abandoned the dome plan. They are considering the junk shot and other possible solutions. Trying to stuff shut the preventer hasn't been attempted because of possible challenges and risks along with the depth beneath the water's surface. Handling the crystals could take two days. Officials are considering heating the dome or adding methanol to dissolve the hydrates. If the hydrates are gone, BP hopes to connect the dome to a drill ship and suck the oil from the containment dome.

There is estimated 210,000 gallons of crude oil is pouring from the well every day. Many things are being done, like skimming the surface and trying to capture or break up the spilled oil, to prevent the oil moving toward the Gulf coastline. People could see oil hit the coast by Tuesday.

Scientists are examining tar balls to see if they are from the oil spill. Tar balls are shaped like pancakes that are pieces of emulsified oil. They can occur naturally.

Investigators are trying to determine what caused the explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon. It left 11 men presumed dead aboard the rig. The company's vice president for drilling in the Gulf and BP employees were on board the rig at the time of the explosion. They were discussing its positive safety performance.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/09/gulf.oil/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

I think that what happened is very sad and terrifying. I hope that the family of the people who died are doing well and that the people who are injured are recovering fast. I think that we need to try anything we can to stop the oil spill. We are talking about a spill that is really close to reaching the coast and that is harming many animals and the economic loss to our beaches and tourism. I do agree that we need to do research on the attempts to clean up the oil before we actually try it in the water. I am not quite sure if shooting, under high pressure, debris into the preventer to try and stop the leak is good because we putting garbage into the oceans. I think that it is a good try and if it works then great but if it doesn't work, we have to get all of the garbage that we put in the water out. We need to protect the animals from the oil and the garbage that we might be putting into the oceans.