Archive for August 4th, 2009

Tax revenues drop big time … let’s go after the top 1% (again) … or borrow some more from the Chinese

August 4, 2009

Summary: The recession is starving the government of tax revenue, just as the president and Congress are piling a major expansion of health care and other programs on the nation’s plate and struggling to find money to pay the tab.  The deep recession is reducing incomes, wiping out corporate profits and straining government programs.

Ken’s Take: There will be no talk of slowing spending … marginal rates will go up (for more than the top 1%) … the economy will stall (again)

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Excerpted from: AP ENTERPRISE, Biggest tax revenue drop since 1932, Aug. 3, 2009

Tax receipts are on pace to drop 18 percent this year, the biggest single-year decline since the Great Depression, while the federal deficit balloons to a record $1.8 trillion.

  • Individual income tax receipts are down 22 percent from a year ago.
  • Corporate income taxes are down 57 percent.
  • Social Security tax receipts could drop for only the second time since 1940, and
  • Medicare taxes are on pace to drop for only the third time ever.

The last time the government’s revenues were this bleak, the year was 1932 in the midst of the Depression.

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While much of Washington is focused on how to pay for new programs such as overhauling health care — at a cost of $1 trillion over the next decade — existing programs are feeling the pinch, too.

  • Social Security is in danger of running out of money earlier than the government projected just a few month ago.
  • Highway, mass transit and airport projects are at risk because fuel and industry taxes are declining for the 2nd straight year.
  • The national debt already exceeds $11 trillion and
  • Bills just completed by the House would boost domestic agencies’ spending by 11 percent in 2010 and military spending by 4 percent.

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The future of current programs — not to mention the new ones Obama is proposing — will depend largely on how fast the economy recovers from the recession’.

Full article:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ibGXhJv-N7Qg6nh-nQpPOgJRTgugD99RMD200

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Posted in Taxes | 1 Comment »

From The Numerati … the biology of personality

August 4, 2009

Ken’s Take:  Don’t blame me ! My personality is derived from my body chemistry. 

Perhaps, this is how marriage blood tests should be applied …

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From: The Numerati, Stephen Baker, Haughton Mifflin, 2008 

In the late 1990s, researchers began looking into the biology of personality: the genes, neurotransmitters, and specifically, the hormones.

A theory emerged at four different hormones — estrogen, testosterone, dopamine, serotonin – mold personalities.

People with lots of dopamine are likely to be “Explorers” — optimistic risk takers. Explore issues words like excite, spirit, dream, fire, and search. Explorers have a tendency to fly off in different directions the minute they get bored. They get into relationships fast, wonder how they got there, and then try to weasel their way out.

Serotonin breeds “builders” who tend to be calm and organized and work well in groups. Builders have a tendency to talk about law, honor, limits, and honesty. Builders like to keep finances in order, map out vacations, and make sure the cats get their latest battery of rabies shots.

People brimming with testosterone — two thirds of whom are men — our “directors”. They are analytical, logical, and often musical. Directors focused largely on the physical world and over use words like aim, measure, strong, and hard. They also talk a lot about “thinking.”

People high in estrogen are at the “negotiators.” They are verbal and intuitive, and a good people skills. Negotiators talked about links, bonds, love, team, and participation. Negotiators are smooth talking, problem solvers who patched together friendships.

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When it comes to relationships,

  • Negotiators gravitate towards directors, and vice versa.
  • Explorers are attracted to negotiators.
  • No-nonsense builders are often drawn to explorers, who helped them “lighten up.”

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Posted in Book Summaries, Personality, Psychology | 1 Comment »

From The Numerati … the biology of personality

August 4, 2009

Ken’s Take:  Don’t blame me ! My personality is derived from my body chemistry. 

Perhaps, this is how marriage blood tests should be applied …

* * * * * 

From: The Numerati, Stephen Baker, Haughton Mifflin, 2008 

In the late 1990s, researchers began looking into the biology of personality: the genes, neurotransmitters, and specifically, the hormones.

A theory emerged at four different hormones — estrogen, testosterone, dopamine, serotonin – mold personalities.

People with lots of dopamine are likely to be “Explorers” — optimistic risk takers. Explore issues words like excite, spirit, dream, fire, and search. Explorers have a tendency to fly off in different directions the minute they get bored. They get into relationships fast, wonder how they got there, and then try to weasel their way out.

Serotonin breeds “builders” who tend to be calm and organized and work well in groups. Builders have a tendency to talk about law, honor, limits, and honesty. Builders like to keep finances in order, map out vacations, and make sure the cats get their latest battery of rabies shots.

People brimming with testosterone — two thirds of whom are men — our “directors”. They are analytical, logical, and often musical. Directors focused largely on the physical world and over use words like aim, measure, strong, and hard. They also talk a lot about “thinking.”

People high in estrogen are at the “negotiators.” They are verbal and intuitive, and a good people skills. Negotiators talked about links, bonds, love, team, and participation. Negotiators are smooth talking, problem solvers who patched together friendships.

* * * * *

When it comes to relationships,

  • Negotiators gravitate towards directors, and vice versa.
  • Explorers are attracted to negotiators.
  • No-nonsense builders are often drawn to explorers, who helped them “lighten up.”

* * * * *

Posted in Book Summaries, Personality, Psychology | 1 Comment »