Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving and washable paint?
Thanksgiving is a great day to meet friends and renew the family bonds. While awaiting our trip to friends I was scanning the web and came across this article on a new type of Low VOC scrubbable paint it is Ceramic Wall Paint. There is lots of information out there on this and I was hard pressed to not follow the trails leading to other green topics all done through the links in each article. Have a fun investigative journey.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Theater on the Main Line
Friends of ours have talented children who perform with many theater groups in the area. The Wolf PAC has a performance of Charlotte's Web occurring December 11,12 &13 in which some of them are performing. I think it will be a great show if it is anything like the other Wolf PAC shows we have seen. Maybe we will see you there.
Another area amateur production is by the
Marple Newtown Players present Disney's Cinderella Kids
Location: Gauntlett Community Center West Chester Pike and Radnor Rd
Date: Nov 21, 22, 27, 28, & 29, 2009
Time: Fridays & Saturdays 7pm / Sundays 2pm
Tickets: $7 - reserved / $5 - general
For more information, call (610) 353-9181, email mnplayers1@yahoo.com
or visit our web site
Another area amateur production is by the
Marple Newtown Players present Disney's Cinderella Kids
Location: Gauntlett Community Center West Chester Pike and Radnor Rd
Date: Nov 21, 22, 27, 28, & 29, 2009
Time: Fridays & Saturdays 7pm / Sundays 2pm
Tickets: $7 - reserved / $5 - general
For more information, call (610) 353-9181, email mnplayers1@yahoo.com
or visit our web site
Monday, November 9, 2009
New Tax credit passed the Congress
President signs homebuyer tax credit into law
President Obama has signed into law an extension and expansion of the current home buyer tax credit. The measure extends the present $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers through April 30, 2010. Current homeowners are eligible for a $6,500 tax credit through April 30, provided they have lived in the home they are selling, or have sold, as principal residence for five consecutive years in the past eight years. If potential home buyers have a binding contract on or before that date, they will have until July 1 to close the transaction. Income limits for eligible home buyers are expanded to $125,000 for single buyers and $225,000 for couples. The purchase price of the home cannot exceed $800,000. To help guard against fraud, buyers are required to attach documentation of purchase to their tax return. Click here for a side-by-side comparison of the expanded tax credit and the current version. Get all the basics about the extended and expanded tax get credit.
President Obama has signed into law an extension and expansion of the current home buyer tax credit. The measure extends the present $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers through April 30, 2010. Current homeowners are eligible for a $6,500 tax credit through April 30, provided they have lived in the home they are selling, or have sold, as principal residence for five consecutive years in the past eight years. If potential home buyers have a binding contract on or before that date, they will have until July 1 to close the transaction. Income limits for eligible home buyers are expanded to $125,000 for single buyers and $225,000 for couples. The purchase price of the home cannot exceed $800,000. To help guard against fraud, buyers are required to attach documentation of purchase to their tax return. Click here for a side-by-side comparison of the expanded tax credit and the current version. Get all the basics about the extended and expanded tax get credit.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Radnor Township Leaf Pickup Schedule
Here is the link to the township website where the Leaf collection schedule is posted by street and date and
The rules are explained. Here are two rules to remember when looking at the list by Street
Residents who live on street names listed in CAPITALS must place their leaves in the gutter line of their street. The Township's crew will only pick up the leaves that are placed on the street on these roads.
Residents who live on streets listed in regular type are required to place their leaves on their property and off the street (that is, behind the curb). The Township will remove the leaves from that location.
The rules are explained. Here are two rules to remember when looking at the list by Street
Residents who live on street names listed in CAPITALS must place their leaves in the gutter line of their street. The Township's crew will only pick up the leaves that are placed on the street on these roads.
Residents who live on streets listed in regular type are required to place their leaves on their property and off the street (that is, behind the curb). The Township will remove the leaves from that location.
Real Estate boost extended for First time home buyer Maybe?
Senate Approves Extended U.S. Homebuyer Tax Credit (Update1)
By Brian Faler
Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate approved a $45 billion plan to expand a tax credit for first-time homebuyers, extend jobless benefits and provide tax refunds to money-losing companies.
Lawmakers voted 98-0 for the measure, sending it to the House, where Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said in a statement it will receive a vote as early as tomorrow. The bill then would be forwarded to President Barack Obama for his signature.
The plan would be the first major extension of provisions in February’s economic stimulus plan. The $8,000 homebuyers’ tax credit, slated to expire this month, would continue until April 30 and be expanded to include people with higher incomes and some who already own homes. That would cost about $10 billion in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, according to Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation.
The measure includes $2.4 billion to extend unemployment benefits for as many as 20 weeks, enough to aid the jobless through the holiday season. It would loosen tax rules for homebuilders and other money-losing companies to let them claim an estimated $33 billion in tax refunds this year, according to Joint Committee on Taxation estimates.
The legislation had been delayed for weeks by Republican demands for votes on amendments to the plan.
“Republicans used every trick in the book to slow and stall and ensure we can’t do important work,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said today.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has said the legislation could have been approved last week if Democrats had agreed to his colleagues’ demands. Republicans sought a vote on an amendment to end the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Other Stimulus Measures
Lawmakers are still considering whether to extend several other elements of the stimulus package, including subsidies to help the jobless buy health insurance and increased funds for food stamps. Obama has called for sending seniors $250 checks because they won’t get a cost-of-living increase next year in their Social Security checks.
Michael Mundaca, nominated to be assistant secretary for tax policy at the U.S. Treasury Department, said the administration may seek to extend the interest-subsidized Build America Bonds created as part of the stimulus package. Mundaca told the Finance Committee today the initiative is “too successful to allow to go away.”
The Treasury Department estimates that more than 1.4 million Americans have taken advantage of the homebuyer credit at a cost so far of about $10 billion.
Increased Credit
The Senate plan would allow homebuyers who have lived in their residence at least five years to receive a $6,500 credit. Couples earning as much as $225,000 a year and individuals earning up to $125,000 would qualify. That is up from the current $75,000 limit for individuals and $150,000 for couples.
Those buying homes worth more than $800,000 wouldn’t be eligible for the credit. Those who sell their new home or stop using it as their main residence within three years would have to repay the credit.
The credit “really does provide some economic lift in the country at a time when we desperately need economic lift,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat.
He said expanding the credit to those who already own homes would help create jobs because “the move-up buyer is more inclined and capable of buying that furniture, maybe building a porch, putting a garage on, a new roof” and making the “kinds of investments I think is going to be a job-creator across the country.”
Waste of Money
Senator Christopher Bond, a Missouri Republican, called the tax credit a waste of money, saying studies show that most of those claiming the break would have bought homes anyway.
“For the vast majority of cases, the homebuyer credit amounted to a free gift since it did not affect their decision to purchase,” he said on the floor this week. “The homebuyer tax credit is a terribly inefficient, irresponsible and poor use of scarce taxpayer resources.”
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a research note yesterday that the credit probably spurred 200,000 home sales that otherwise wouldn’t have occurred.
Extending the credit to people who own homes wouldn’t reduce the excess housing blamed for the slump because “every buyer taking advantage of the move-up credit would necessarily be a seller,” Goldman Sachs said. It said the plan may increase housing prices by 1 percent because “sellers are likely to incorporate a fraction of the credit amount in their sale prices.”
Unemployment Extension
The bill would provide 14 additional weeks of unemployment benefits in all states, plus another six weeks in states with the highest jobless rates. The extension would be the fourth since the recession began. The share of unemployed people who have been out of work at least six months has reached the highest level in at least a half-century, according to the Labor Department.
The legislation also would expand provisions in the stimulus package allowing companies to apply their losses to previous years’ income, thereby reducing their tax bills and allowing them to claim refunds. Banks and other institutions receiving assistance from the Treasury Department’s TARP program wouldn’t be eligible.
By Brian Faler
Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate approved a $45 billion plan to expand a tax credit for first-time homebuyers, extend jobless benefits and provide tax refunds to money-losing companies.
Lawmakers voted 98-0 for the measure, sending it to the House, where Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said in a statement it will receive a vote as early as tomorrow. The bill then would be forwarded to President Barack Obama for his signature.
The plan would be the first major extension of provisions in February’s economic stimulus plan. The $8,000 homebuyers’ tax credit, slated to expire this month, would continue until April 30 and be expanded to include people with higher incomes and some who already own homes. That would cost about $10 billion in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, according to Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation.
The measure includes $2.4 billion to extend unemployment benefits for as many as 20 weeks, enough to aid the jobless through the holiday season. It would loosen tax rules for homebuilders and other money-losing companies to let them claim an estimated $33 billion in tax refunds this year, according to Joint Committee on Taxation estimates.
The legislation had been delayed for weeks by Republican demands for votes on amendments to the plan.
“Republicans used every trick in the book to slow and stall and ensure we can’t do important work,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said today.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has said the legislation could have been approved last week if Democrats had agreed to his colleagues’ demands. Republicans sought a vote on an amendment to end the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Other Stimulus Measures
Lawmakers are still considering whether to extend several other elements of the stimulus package, including subsidies to help the jobless buy health insurance and increased funds for food stamps. Obama has called for sending seniors $250 checks because they won’t get a cost-of-living increase next year in their Social Security checks.
Michael Mundaca, nominated to be assistant secretary for tax policy at the U.S. Treasury Department, said the administration may seek to extend the interest-subsidized Build America Bonds created as part of the stimulus package. Mundaca told the Finance Committee today the initiative is “too successful to allow to go away.”
The Treasury Department estimates that more than 1.4 million Americans have taken advantage of the homebuyer credit at a cost so far of about $10 billion.
Increased Credit
The Senate plan would allow homebuyers who have lived in their residence at least five years to receive a $6,500 credit. Couples earning as much as $225,000 a year and individuals earning up to $125,000 would qualify. That is up from the current $75,000 limit for individuals and $150,000 for couples.
Those buying homes worth more than $800,000 wouldn’t be eligible for the credit. Those who sell their new home or stop using it as their main residence within three years would have to repay the credit.
The credit “really does provide some economic lift in the country at a time when we desperately need economic lift,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat.
He said expanding the credit to those who already own homes would help create jobs because “the move-up buyer is more inclined and capable of buying that furniture, maybe building a porch, putting a garage on, a new roof” and making the “kinds of investments I think is going to be a job-creator across the country.”
Waste of Money
Senator Christopher Bond, a Missouri Republican, called the tax credit a waste of money, saying studies show that most of those claiming the break would have bought homes anyway.
“For the vast majority of cases, the homebuyer credit amounted to a free gift since it did not affect their decision to purchase,” he said on the floor this week. “The homebuyer tax credit is a terribly inefficient, irresponsible and poor use of scarce taxpayer resources.”
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a research note yesterday that the credit probably spurred 200,000 home sales that otherwise wouldn’t have occurred.
Extending the credit to people who own homes wouldn’t reduce the excess housing blamed for the slump because “every buyer taking advantage of the move-up credit would necessarily be a seller,” Goldman Sachs said. It said the plan may increase housing prices by 1 percent because “sellers are likely to incorporate a fraction of the credit amount in their sale prices.”
Unemployment Extension
The bill would provide 14 additional weeks of unemployment benefits in all states, plus another six weeks in states with the highest jobless rates. The extension would be the fourth since the recession began. The share of unemployed people who have been out of work at least six months has reached the highest level in at least a half-century, according to the Labor Department.
The legislation also would expand provisions in the stimulus package allowing companies to apply their losses to previous years’ income, thereby reducing their tax bills and allowing them to claim refunds. Banks and other institutions receiving assistance from the Treasury Department’s TARP program wouldn’t be eligible.
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