United States Representative Gabrielle Giffords, Democrat from Arizona, was shot in the head Saturday morning while hosting her first Congress On The Corner in Tucson. She remains in critical condition with a traumatic brain injury caused by a bullet that traversed the left side of her brain from back to front.

People died and others were wounded exercising a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States for which others have died establishing and protecting that document.

I hope Gabby’s story does not get lost in political rhetoric. She has a long, long, long rehabilitation period facing both her and her family…the results of which cannot be known at this time.

You will notice at the end of this article that friends of Uncle Brice include some brain injury sites. I encourage you to visit those sites and better acquaint yourselves with Gabby’s future. (continued below)

Pundits and Palin

There are many who have already ramped up the political rhetoric about gun control and hateful speech and Internet postings. Was Sarah Palin wrong to post a map targeting Democratic districts as potential Republican takeovers in the last election? No. Was she wrong in using gun sights on her map? Yes.

Is it wrong for elected officials and political pundits to call for second amendment remedies and for people to carry guns to political rallies? Certainly. The First Amendment guarantee of free speech and a free press does not guarantee that the speech be responsible. Common sense is not so common anymore.

President Barack Obama spoke Wednesday night at a memorial service held at the University of Arizona. He said, "But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized – at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do – it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds."

He summed up a need in America when talking about nine-year old victim Christina Taylor Green. "I want us to live up to her expectations. I want her democracy to be as good as she imagined it… We should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s expectations."

This story is not about Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz or any others who have chosen to politicize it. This story is about America. Will we remain divided according to selfish political policies, or will we come together to promote the common welfare of our nation?

This is a developing story. For now, we can only hold up the families of this tragedy in our thoughts and prayers.

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

Why is there such a ruckus about the estate tax? Less than 1% of wealthiest Americans pay it. The real estate bubble brought it to the forefront a few years ago. People who had bought a house for $30,000 in the 1960’s found that its value had risen in some parts of the country to about $1,000,000.

The $600,000 exemption still meant that had to pay estate taxes for whatever portion of that remaining $400,000 that couldn’t be reduced by other deductions.

A simple matter would have been to raise the exemption.

Here’s what the IRS says, "The Estate Tax is a tax on your right to transfer property at your death. It consists of an accounting of everything you own or have certain interests in at the date of death. The fair market value of these items is used, not necessarily what you paid for them or what their values were when you acquired them. The total of all of these items is your Gross Estate. The includible property may consist of cash and securities, real estate, insurance, trusts, annuities, business interests and other assets.

Once you have accounted for the Gross Estate, certain deductions (and in special circumstances, reductions to value) are allowed in arriving at your Taxable Estate. These deductions may include mortgages and other debts, estate administration expenses, property that passes to surviving spouses and qualified charities. The value of some operating business interests or farms may be reduced for estates that qualify.

After the net amount is computed, the value of lifetime taxable gifts (beginning with gifts made in 1977) is added to this number and the tax is computed. The tax is then reduced by the available unified credit. Presently, the amount of this credit reduces the computed tax so that only total taxable estates and lifetime gifts that exceed $1,000,000 will actually have to pay tax. In its current form, the estate tax only affects the wealthiest 2 percent of all Americans." (Source: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=164871,00.html) – continued below

It only affects the wealthiest 2% of all Americans. Where have we heard that before? Let’s talk dollars for a moment and then we’ll talk sense.

There was no estate tax for the wealthiest 2% of Americans in 2010. This, of course, was part of the Bush Tax Cuts set to expire December 31, 2010.

Obama Proposal for the Estate Tax

The Obama Administration proposed raising the exemption to $3.5 million from what was once $600,000. The tax rate proposed was 45%, about 10% lower than the old days and the same rate the Bush tax cuts lowered it to for 2009.

Robert Ball Has a Suggestion

Robert Ball served as a Social Security Commissioner during the administrations of Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. Ball proposed using the 2009 Bush estate tax plan and dedicating the revenue to the Social Security Trust Fund. Actuaries estimated that such an estate tax plan would close more than one-fourth of the Social Security shortfall over the next 75 years. (Source: Center on Budget and Policy Profiles)

Estate Tax Congressional Action

The United States House of Representatives passed the Obama proposal. Republicans in the Senate blocked it. Again I say, does that sound familiar?

The December 6, 2010 Compromise

The DEAL with the Republicans to move forward provides a two-year plan for the estate tax with an exemption of $5 million and a tax rate of 35%.

The Estate Tax America Needs

Please notice I did not use the word "want" in that heading. We the people need to begin looking at what we need more than what we want. We need, at a minimum, the estate tax proposed by the Obama Administration, and we need to dedicate it to the Social Security Trust Fund as proposed by Robert Ball.

This should be the first step before any measures aimed at reducing Social Security costs are undertaken. Add this footing to the program and let the actuaries then see what’s needed in the future.

Call to Action: Make sure your representatives in Congress know what they should do to protect America’s finances. You can also Stumble this article, Digg it, Tweet it or stick it on your Facebook page.

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

The BP oil spill catastrophe did not have to be this bad. It’s one thing to gush millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It’s quite another to disrupt the lives of millions of Americans – needlessly.

Obama Gaffe

Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines gaffe as a social or diplomatic blunder. At freedictionary.com, gaffe is defined as a clumsy social error.

Many news organizations and web sites have concentrated on gaffes made by BP such as lying about the amount of oil blasting into the gulf or BP CEO Tony Hayward wanting his life back, etc. You’ve read and seen many such faux pas. (Note to students: the spelling of faux pas does not change between singular and plural usage but the pronunciation does. "Fo Pa" is singular; "Fo Pas" is plural. Synonyms would be blunder, foul-up or whatever slang you choose to describe it.)

The Obama Administration made the supreme gaffe, and it could very well change the outcome of the 2010 elections if something is not done fast. It may be too late, already. (continued below)

Compare the photo at left to the one above. This is what Americans want…and expect. We want a clean beach, not a closed sign. You see, the Washington elite have no idea about what Main Street Americans do when planning a vacation.

We’re not rich. We don’t have the luxury of taking off on a moment’s whim. We, the small people, work for a living and must plan our vacations precisely. A friend of mine must put his name on the vacation list each October for the following year. That requires advance planning. Do you have any idea what it’s like to plan a Florida beach vacation nine or ten months in advance, cut discretionary spending to save for that vacation, and show up to see a Beach Closed sign?

Vacations mean something to us "small people" who have been working with little or no increases in our salaries because the inflation rate is good, if you don’t count gasoline and groceries. That’s exactly what we spend a great deal of our money on – gasoline and groceries. We’re not paid enough to have brokerage accounts so we invest what we can in 401K plans; and that went to hell-in-a-handbasket in 2008. Many of us have seen our retirement goals delayed or destroyed. At least we can take a few days away from it all and take a nice vacation. Oh, wait!!!

The biggest gaffe, Mr. President, occurred when our beaches were not protected at all costs. Yes, hotels and restaurants on the Gulf Coast have been affected. Fishermen have been affected. Many have lost, are losing or will lose income. Yes, BP has pledged to help these people out by helping them recover lost income. But, Mr. President, you cannot help us "other" Americans recover a lost vacation.

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.