Wendell Brock - Wednesday, March 02, 2011
By Jayme Mendenhall

CREED was able to put together 360 school kits to send to Holy Cross Anglican School situated on a little island called Ambergris Caye just off the coast of Belize. There are about 400 children at the school and they come mostly from poverty stricken homes. The school kits were transported by a barge from the mainland, arriving just before Christmas.


During the school’s Christmas party, Santa came and distributed the school kits to the children.  They took pictures of each child receiving their school kit from Santa.  The children were excited to have the new supplies for school. Many of the children come from homes of such poverty that this was their only Christmas gift; and it was one that enabled them to continue with their schooling! The administration and teachers at Holy Cross are dedicated to educating these sweet children and helping them grow and develop. The children themselves are cute and have happy dispositions; they are eager to learn.


Two of the biggest hurdles that had to be overcome to make this delivery a success were funding and shipping. Funding was needed initially to get the school kits put together and then again to have them sent. Shipping is normally a very expensive part of the process, but CREED was able to coordinate efforts with another non-profit that helped with the shipping. While this helped the expenses greatly, it then meant working on someone else’s time table; then the challenge of getting the kits through customs etc. Each step seems to have its own particular set of obstacles to rise above.  We are grateful to those who helped make this delivery such a success! 


Ralph Hardy was recently in charge of delivering the school kits that went to three other schools in Belize.  45 children received school kits at the Iguana Creek School in the village of Celena; 65 children at the village school in San Marcos; and 30 children at the Cayo Deaf Institute in the Central Farm area. The students were also given a pair of flip flops to wear. Several of the teachers decided to keep back some of the notebooks for future use so they wouldn't get used up so quickly. The children were happy to receive the school kits and flip flops as these were much needed items for them. Thanks to all of you for your support of the children of Belize!


On a side note, the school kits that have been sent to Haiti are awaiting delivery. It took a long time to ship them and get them through customs due to the political unrest in that country. We are looking forward to having them delivered by March.Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

Wendell Brock - Saturday, February 05, 2011
/ĭn-vĕst’ing/- The act of committing money to a business while expecting income or profit in return.
/out-vĕst’ing/- The act of committing money to a business while expecting to getnothing in return, other than the satisfaction of giving a leg up to American entrepreneurs.

CREED is launching a business plan contest, which is funded by the masses to help kick-start a few small businesses.  Crowd-funding initiatives have been run successfully around the world, where efforts were funded by many small donations, raised via word-of-mouth and grassroots marketing. Both were intended to jumpstart a few businesses and put some fire back into the small business segment. CREED wants to extend this energy and excitement for small businesses.

Here's the quick overview of the contest:

Part I: Starting February 1st

• Entry Fee: $50 donation
  
• Each contestant who submits a one-page business plan will receive one vote with their $50 entry fee; After the entry fee is paid, additional votes are $10 each (votes increase your chances of winning and will also help fund CREED's mission) Encourage friends and family to become voters by sending this to everyone you know, for each $10 donation they may have one vote or they may outvest a $100 donation and have 12 votes.  (The more people who enter the contest and/or buy votes the larger the pot of winnings will be for contestants.)
• Part II: February 1st - March 15th
• Write a very concise business plan/proposal on one page – see The One-Page Proposal Book as a guide.
• Submit the one-page proposal via our secure web portal under the CREED-BPlan.org tab
• Part III: March 15th - March 31st
• Cast your vote(s) to select the best plan. There will be two rounds of voting - first round will select the top ten business plans, the second round will select the top three business plans.
• Winnings will be divided between the top three business plans with the most votes. In the following manner
• Fist Place 50% of the capital raised
• Second Place 35% of the capital raised
• Third place 15% of the capital raised You may participate as a donor, or as a contestant and donor. The competition rules are published on the registration page. Anyone over 18 years old can participate by purchasing votes. Contestants must be enrolled in a college or university.
• Sign up now? Click here. Remember, your donation allows you to vote on who should win the start-up capital. If you've got a great idea and you can write a compelling business proposal, you could be the winner of CREED's business plan contest! Register today and start writing your plan. Business plans must be submitted by March 15th 2011. After that date, the voting will start!

Wendell Brock - Wednesday, January 26, 2011
By Jayme Mendenhall

Rebecca Douglas visited India in 2000 and observed a depth of suffering that was palpable. The worst of what she saw was the Leprosy beggars. When she returned to the United States, she was so haunted by images of suffering people that she knew she had to act. She called four close friends, and around her kitchen table they quietly formed Rising Star Outreach. It was incorporated and received its 501(c)(3) tax-free status in March 2002. Rising Star Outreach takes a three-pronged approach to ease the suffering and eradicate the cycle of poverty associated with Leprosy:

1. To teach the children from the colonies pride in their Indian heritage and to provide them tools necessary to break the generational cycle of dependence on society and instead become productive members of that society.

2. To encourage ostracized families to work toward independence by providing loans for small businesses and structural improvements.

3. To address the physical ravages of Leprosy's bitter attack and screen for new cases through mobile medical units.

The first official Rising Star Outreach children's home was rented and opened in April of 2004 with 27 children from the Leprosy colonies. The success of the home was stunning, and in 2005 a second children’s home was rented and opened for 32 additional colony kids. Now officially recognized by the Indian government, Rising Star has been commended for the high standard of care and excellence maintained in the school as the children prepare to enter mainstream society. They have since been able to build their own facility on 13.5 acres. This beautiful new facility currently houses and educates 180 children K-10, with a new grade added at the bottom each year.

While Rising Star was happy to have finally found a way to successfully care for the children of Leprosy victims, the suffering of their families who remained behind in the colonies could not be ignored. There needed to be a long term approach to lift the Leprosy afflicted out of their poverty. This was not an easy task in a country where the Leprosy-afflicted are shunned from society and considered untouchables. Banks refuse to lend to them.  The beggar’s life has been the only way to survive for thousands of years for someone afflicted with Leprosy.  

In June of 2003, Rebecca met Padma Venkataraman while working in the colonies. Padma is the daughter of India’s former president and is well known for her pioneering work facilitating micro-financing projects in Leprosy colonies.  Her idea was a simple one, but it took a lot of effort to convince the people it could work. Finally, a group of 4-5 women decided to give it a try.  Each month they would each commit to contributing the (US) equivalent of ten cents into a pot until they had accumulated $5. Then one of the women would take this loan and buy an iron, or some chickens or something with which she could start up a small business. As the business grew, she could pay back the loan.  When another $5 was gathered, then the next woman could take out a loan and the process would continue and grow. Gradually, the others in the colony saw the success of the women and want to take out loans too; and gradually, the colony became self-sufficient!  For the first time in known history, those afflicted with Leprosy have a viable alternative to begging and are rising above the stigma of their disease.

As the colonies began to improve their economic situation, the primary challenge they faced was the lack of consistent medical care. Access to hospitals was difficult, both logistically and due to the social stigma. Rising Star Outreach responded to this problem with the initiation of a Mobile Medical Unit in March 2005. Finally, severely deformed Leprosy victims' problem of being unable to leave the colony for adequate medical care was resolved. Run completely by a team of excellent Indian doctors, the unit travels to the colonies and provides leprosy screening, medicines for treatment, wound and ulcer care, and medical treatment for non-leprosy related ailments such as TB, typhoid fever, and diabetes.

Rising Star Outreach has now grown into a nationally recognized force in the fight against Leprosy. They have clarified their mission to focus on one specific objective: to help the Leprosy colonies become thriving, self-sufficient communities. Using these three methods, Rising Star expects to see the Indian Leprosy colonies converted into thriving, self-sufficient communities by the year 2020. Rising Star Outreach typically has about 1,000 loans out to leprosy-affected patients. These loans are constantly being repaid and re-lent. They also have around 3,000 loans out to victims of the 2004 tsunami; the average loan is between $20-$100. Rising Star plans to duplicate this program in other Indian states and in other developing countries where Leprosy continues to destroy families and lives.

The success of Rising Star Outreach to date has truly been a miracle. It is one that they attribute completely to the kindness and generosity of concerned people all over the world and the loving hand of God.

• for providing shelter, food, health care, and education for children of leprosy-affected persons by building and running children's homes.
  
• to fund the schools for the children. Donations fund not only the building of the schools, but running them as well. Teachers, teaching supplies, books, and uniforms are all part of the school costs.
• to provide micro-loans for small businesses as part of the economic rehabilitation of the leprosy-affected.
• to improve the living conditions of the leprosy colonies through targeted improvement projects.
• to run mobile medical clinics to the leprosy colonies that provide wound care, leprosy-screening, leprosy treatment, eye care, and treatment for other diseases affecting the colonists.

To learn more about Rising Star Outreach, or to donate, go to   http://www.risingstaroutreach.org/.

Wendell Brock - Tuesday, November 02, 2010
By Jayme Mendenhall

The Word at Work non-profit in Belize is putting together a small scale sewing business. This non profit is teaching ladies how to sew and then providing the funds for them to purchase a sewing machine on credit, to help get their micro business established.  They are also looking for some investment dollars that they can lend to the ladies to help purchase the machines.  CREED is working to establish a fund that would provide the money for their growing micro-business lending project in Belize.

Pedro Perez, a Business Development Manager, at Atlantic Bank, Ltd. a local bank in Belize, is leading this project.  “My initial focus is serving those who are currently ‘unbankable minitrepreneurs’ within the $400.00 range. It is my hope that with training, monitoring and support these could graduate into micro, and small projects.  My main focus is to increase their capacity and skills to do business generally.  We also saw that these trained persons needed the financial and business skills to be fully successful, hence our initial interest in Micro Enterprise development.”

The idea is new for Belize and they are open to play it by ear and adopt the best practices.  The target market is single mothers and young women and men who are unable to continue their formal education. Pedro and his wife have been partnering with The Word at Work for sometime and they currently manage one of the sewing programs in Belize. There are three in Belize City, one in Corozal, and the Word at Work is hoping to start another at Holy Cross in San Pedro.  So far they have trained many singles and mothers and sold them sewing machines to start a new life. Their immediate goal for this sewing project is: 20 single mothers at Centro, 25 at House of Refuge, and 8 in Corozal.
  
CREED is initially creating a $5,000.00 revolving fund for the initial pilot project.  They have developed a complete framework for this program and they are working on developing the training material both in Spanish and English to implement with 3 of their local partners: Centro Vision Misionero, House of Refuge and Living Hopes Ministry Preparatory School. 

The loans to help start the micro businesses are a maximum of Bze$ 400.00, but they have the flexibility of going above and below this amount.  The total charges for the loan, including interest, registration and support and monitoring fees, are $100.00. The recipients are then given 5 months to pay with a grace of one month (six months). This makes the $25.00 weekly payments affordable.

There are some requirements the recipients must meet; they must take the training, develop a business plan, start saving, accept the monitoring and coaching and pay back on time.  There is a committee that evaluates the business plans and decisions are based on:

Character
Viability and need of project
Capacity to pay back
 How it is going to impact the member and their family
 References from the Pastor and others in the church they attend

We invite you to participate in this project as we press forward to improve the lives of families, simply click Here, then click on the "Just Give Button"  
Thank you very much for your support.

Wendell Brock - Friday, October 29, 2010
By Jayme Mendenhall

Josh Bagley, of McKinney Texas, decided that for his Eagle Scout project he would put together school kits for CREED.  He began by collecting donations.  He was able to collect about $750 total of gifts in kind and cash. Josh made up a list and budgeted out the expenses; then he went shopping.

While Josh was out shopping for the items, a lady stopped him in the store and asked him about his full shopping cart of school items.  He explained to her his plan for the school kits and his goal of achieving his Eagle Scout award.  Without skipping a beat she said, “I would like to participate and help too!”  She then opened up her wallet and gave him $20 cash on the spot!  Josh thanked her for her kindness and generosity.  The twenty dollars were used to fund two more school kits.

Josh organized over 20 volunteers from the community to help in a massive assembly line.  In less than five hours, from start to finish, the group was able to put together 562 school kits! Not only were the school kits assembled in those five hours, but they were all packaged in boxes and made ready to ship! Those school kits are now on their way to Haiti and Belize.  It was a great experience for him and through his efforts many children will be blessed as they work to gain an education.  We appreciate Josh's leadership and hard work on this project.  Here at CREED we will be looking forward to attending Josh’s Eagle Scout Award ceremony!  

Wendell Brock - Monday, October 11, 2010

We first met Paul and Rose Bogere our second week in Uganda. I friend of our who had worked in Uganda in the past told us about the St Paul and Rose orphanage and the work Paul and Rose were doing to provide 27 young orphans with a loving home environment, a quality education, and practical skills. 

When we arrived at the orphanage the children greeted with an overwhelming abundance of love and gratitude just for us being there. They showed us with pride around their small home with only two small bedrooms for all of the children to share. Each room contained a couple of bunk beds where the children would sleep three or four to a bed.

From the very beginning our team knew that we wanted to do something to help these orphans and Paul and Rose who has dedicated their lives to creating a stable home life for each of them. The biggest challenge they faced was earning the money to send each of the children to school, an expense that adds up to $50 USD per semester per child or $1350 a semester for all of them. Most the money they are able to bring in comes from the acres of crops that the children themselves are responsible for nurturing and harvesting. Unfortunately they are so far removed from any sort of economic center that there really is no market for their goods. What they are able to manage to sell doesn't even begin to cover the costs of the children's school fees. 

We were drawn to Rose and Paul’s because Paul has truly taken it upon himself to make these orphans into successful members of society. Beyond sending as many of the children as possible to school (7 have had to stay home this semester because as much as he tried Paul just couldn't pull the school fees together) Paul provides them with the practical skills that will be extremely useful in the future.

One problem that many of the rising generation face in Uganda is a lack of practical skills. They all want to grow up and have white collar jobs working in an office in front of a computer. Unfortunately this isn't feasible, there just aren't enough jobs. The result is people like our taxi driver who has a doctorate but can't find a job. Turns out education doesn't solve everything unless you have a practical way to apply it.

Agriculture is something that they will never get enough of in Uganda though. Unfortunately most adolescents consider such skills below themselves. Not Paul's children though, they have been trained in the latest practices and have the opportunity to apply them on a daily basis. Team this with some basic business skills and discipline (all of which are also provided at the orphanage) and the odds are definitely in these children's favor.

Beyond the skills that these children learn from a young age they are also provided with an abundance of love and nurturing. This is why we truly felt that the St Paul and Rose orphanage was worthy of our investment of time and money.

During our second visit to St Paul’s, Paul asked us to help him build a chicken coop so that they could sell the eggs to the endless market found in the area. "I don't want money for school fees" he explained to us, "I want a way so I can EARN the school fees." Paul understands the fact the sponsors disappear and cannot be counted on in the long run. If he could find someone to pay his children's school fees this semester there is no guarantee that he will be able to find someone to pay them next semester. He would much rather have an income generating project that would next to guarantee that all of his children would be able to attend school. Consequently his orphans would also be learning how to care for and rear the chickens which is another valuable practical skill.

Beyond his goal to be able to pay all his children's school fees Paul and Rose would also like to be able to expand their orphanage so that he can provide a home for more children. "We have children show up on our doorstep every week asking for a place to live and the best we can do is give them some food before turning them away." Paul and Rose want so badly to be able to help these children but there just aren't enough resources to go around.

Unfortunately as we ran through Paul's numbers for the chicken coop project we realized that such a project was financially out of the reach of our team’s funds for the summer. It broke our hearts to have to tell him this as he looked to us with such hope for his children's future.  "What if we were to cut the project in half?" he asked. "We could start smaller and then with time we could reinvest the profits into the project and it would grow." Our hearts were torn; even still it would require a substantial amount of money.

All hope was not lost though, we were determined to do everything in our power to help Paul and Rose along with their orphans achieve their dreams of a better future. It was then that our team came in contact with CREED or The Center of Resources for Economic Education and Development. Because of the generosity of CREED we were able to return to Rose and Paul’s and announce to them that we would be able to build their chicken coop after all. The children literally jumped for joy as we told them the news and Paul promised that whatever they were given they would help it to grow providing them with more and more independence.  

The rest of the team’s summer was spent planning and building the chicken coop providing a meaningful experience for all involved. Now our team is back in America but the legacy made possible by CREED will not soon be forgotten. I recently received the following E-mail from Paul:

Hi Carrie!!
    Thank you so much for the donation your team and donors made to the St.Paul and Rose orphanage. We really appreciate so much, and we a sure you that we shall be able to look after these chicks, we shall take care of the house and we shall be updating to you everything concerning with this chicken coop.
We finished the construction, we paid for the chicks, and we paid for the feeds and paid for the Vaccines, only waiting for 28 October to collect the chicks from the Ugachick office in Kampala.
 So thank you very much God bless you all.


PAUL.
I personally would like to thank CREED for their generous donation and for making all of this possible. You not only made an impact on the lives of Rose and Paul and their 27 children but the 26 college students who had the opportunity to work on this project over the summer. It was an experience that will not soon be forgotten. Words cannot express the impact you have made on each of our lives.  

Photos:

Wendell Brock - Thursday, September 30, 2010
Part Three
By Jayme Mendenhall

The Third Wave:  The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and Employer Tax Hikes

The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers. The AMT operates as a parallel tax system to the regular tax system with its own definition of taxable income, exemptions, and tax rates. It was originally called the "millionaire's tax", in that it targeted only the wealthiest households. The income triggers were not indexed for inflation so as incomes rose the AMT touched more of the middle class. Without periodic Congressional action to temporarily raise the income limits that trigger the AMT, estimates are between 22 and 28 million families will be required to pay the tax now, this is up from 4 million last year.

Taxes will be raised on every business.  Name one business that won’t be affected by the scores of tax hikes that are coming.   The biggest is the loss of the “research and experimentation tax credit,” but there are many others.  Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs. High tax burdens will crush efficiency, creativity and innovation; who can put a price tag on that?

Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear.  Small businesses can normally expense (rather than depreciate) equipment purchases up to $250,000. This will be cut all the way down to $25,000! Larger businesses can expense half of their equipment purchases.  In January of 2011, all of it will have to be depreciated. 

On page 25 of 29: TITLE IX REVENUE PROVISIONS- SUBTITLE A: REVENUE OFFSET PROVISIONS-(sec. 9001,as modified by sec. 10901) Sec.9002  "requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employees gross income."

What this means is that, starting in January, insurance will be income on W2's.  In 2011, W-2 tax forms sent by employers will be increased to show the value of the health insurance given by the company. It does not matter if that's a private concern or governmental body of some sort.  Individuals and families will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that they have never seen.  Increasing additional gross income by $15-20 thousand will put many people into a higher tax bracket.  Even retiree’s gross income will go up by the amount of insurance they receive. 

Tax policies that will be changing for education include:

• Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced
• Deductions for tuition and fees will not be available
• Tax credits for education will be limited
• Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses
• Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut 
• Education Savings Accounts will be cut 
• Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed
• The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families

Charitable Contributions from IRAs will no longer be allowed.  Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA.  This contribution also counts toward an annual “required minimum distribution.”  This ability will no longer be there.

The tax tsunami that is headed towards the American public is the largest set of tax increases ever to hit at one time in the history of the United States.  The devastation to our economy is unimaginable at this point and looks to be unprecedented in the annals of our history.   But don’t fear, there are some jobs being made by this administration; they are in the IRS.  So if these new tax hikes hit you hard enough, you may consider finding work there.  It looks like they will be very busy the next few years.

Wendell Brock - Friday, September 03, 2010 
By Jayme Mendenhall

The Second Wave:  Obamacare

There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare.  Not all of them even relate to health care.  But all of them will have a dire impact on small businesses and our way of life. Several will go into effect on January 1, 2011.  

A business owner and his employees will have to purchase unlimited lifetime coverage and unlimited annual coverage (this requirement phases in between now and 2014).  The Obama administration estimates that these mandates alone could increase premiums for some businesses by 7 percent. (And if it is a government estimate, then you know it is low).

He and his employees will have to purchase coverage for dependent children without any waiting periods for pre-existing conditions.  Another mandate will require them to purchase coverage for dependents up to age 26.  One private estimate puts the cost of this “slacker” mandate an average of 2 percent, but a small-business owner’s premiums may rise even more.  Adversely, the cost may force him to drop dependent coverage entirely.

If his health plan loses its “grandfathered” status (really, what are the odds?) he and his workers will have to purchase 100-percent coverage for a long list of preventive services. The administration estimates this mandate will increase premiums on average by 1.5 percent. (Private estimates are in the range of 3-4 percent.)  According to HHS, these added costs will likely push the small-business owner to change health plans to a plan that complies with the mandates, but tightens restrictions on accessing care.

Owners of health savings account (HSA), medical savings account (MSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement arrangement (HRA), will lose the ability to purchase over-the-counter drugs tax-free (except insulin).  If they make non-medical withdrawals from their HSA or MSA, the penalty will double from 10 percent to 20 percent.

The “Special Needs Kids Tax” provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (currently, there is no federal government limit).   FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel: parents of special needs children. Thousands of families with special needs children in the United States use FSAs to pay for special needs education.  This will no longer be permitted.

If the small business is a tanning salon, it is already paying a new 10-percent tax on its sales.

Beginning in 2010, one third of small businesses may be able to get a tax credit that covers up to 35 percent of their health-benefits.  Of course, that credit is not a long-term solution to rising costs; it disappears after 6 years and often sooner.  It will also discourage hiring, because hiring too many workers will reduce or eliminate the credit.

By 2013, all businesses will have to fill out an IRS Form 1099 every time they purchase more than $600 from a vendor.  If a small-business owner owns a trucking company, he will have to ask gas stations for their tax ID numbers.  If the gas stations don’t cooperate, he will have to withhold money and send it to the IRS for gas expenses.  This will be the biggest nightmare in the bill for small businesses. 

If a small-business owner and his wife make over $250,000, they’ll pay the new, higher Medicare “payroll” tax of 3.8 percent, starting in 2013.  (It’s currently 2.9 percent).

2014 is when things really get messy.  That is when the government will require everyone that is still in business to purchase even more unspecified types of coverage, which will cause premiums to rise even higher.

If a small-business owner has 50 or more employees – or fewer full-time employees and lots of part-timers – he faces the prospect of tens of thousands of dollars in penalties under ObamaCare’s employer mandate if he does not provide “adequate” coverage to his workers.  A small-business owner with 55 employees may decide to fire six of them just to eliminate that potential liability.

Penalties may be triggered by factors that are unpredictable and totally beyond the control of a small-business owner.  He could get hit with penalties simply because a worker’s spouse loses or changes jobs; if a worker’s spouse moves out or dies; or if an employee’s parents move in.

If a small-business owner splits his 60-employee business into two 30-employee businesses, then the federal government—maybe the IRS—will start snooping around to determine whether it was done for legitimate business reasons or just to avoid the mandate.

No matter the size of the firm, if the owner or his workers earn around $30,000 to $100,000 and get coverage through one of the new health insurance exchanges, their implicit marginal tax rates will jump from about 30-40 percent all the way up to 60-75 percent!

ObamaCare has created enormous uncertainty.  No one has any idea what ObamaCare’s mandates will cost in 2011, 2012, 2013, or 2014 or what additional benefits will be required.  It is also unknown what kind of insurance options will be available in the future.  All that is known is that these changes will cost more – probably a lot more – and small-businesses will be spending extra time and money on tax accountants and attorneys.

Michael F. Cannon is director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute.

Wendell Brock - Wednesday, August 18, 2010By Jayme Mendenhall

In just a few months, a tax tsunami will hit America. It will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2011. The first of the three waves will be outlined here:

First Wave
Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief
In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families.  These tax cuts are all scheduled to expire on January 1, 2011.

Personal income tax rates will rise  
The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent, which is a 50 percent increase!  All the rates will rise as outlined below. The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed).  

Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will be phased out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates.  The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:

- The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%
- The 25% bracket rises to 28%
- The 28% bracket rises to 31%
- The 33% bracket rises to 36%
- The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%

Higher taxes on marriage and family    
The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child.  

The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level.  

The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut, which will hurt people who are taking care of parents or children with special needs.

The return of the Death Tax; this year, there is no death tax, for those dying on or after January 1 2011, the highest estate tax rate is 55 percent.  

Higher tax rates on Retirees, Savers and Investors
The capital gains tax on investment income will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011 or an increase of 33 percent. 

The dividends will be taxed as ordinary income, which could push the tax rate as high as 39.6 percent or an increase of 164 percent for those in the top tax bracket. These rates will increase another 3.8 percent in 2013.

At the end of the Clinton presidency the economy was in a recession. It was comparatively mild, but sluggish none the less.  With the Bush tax cuts, the economy rebounded and was renewed again.  If this were the only change to our tax code and our economy we could expect to go back to the sluggishness we were experiencing then; but its not, with these increases we will be plunging deeper into a recession again and this is only the first wave to hit our economic shores.

Wendell Brock - Tuesday, July 06, 2010AIDS has taken many lives, and  to the children in a small orphanage in Uganda it has turned their lives upside down as they learn to cope without their  family, mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters.

The St. Paul and Rose Orphanage is currently taking care of 27 children.  Paul, the owner of the orphanage was only able to pay for 20 of the children which left 7 of them at home for a semester. Schooling in Uganda is expensive for the people, costing $50 (in U.S. currency) for one semester, and $1350 for all of the children in the orphanage to attend for only one semester.

Paul doesn’t want people to donate money so all of the children may attend school, because once one semester is over who is going to be able to pay for the next? Even if he receives more donations for many semesters to come, those donations will eventually come to a close. 

Children with the dental kits we handed out after showing them how to properly care for their teeth.

Instead, he would rather develop a micro-business that he and the children can work together to create a steady income for the children’s school fund every semester.  Running a micro-business will provide the children with a great economic education, which will strengthen their abilities to care for their own families later in life.

He has asked a team of young adults that have come to Uganda to help out with the AIDS victims to assist him and his children in building a chicken coup so the children will have an opportunity to sell the eggs at a market nearby. The team of young adults would absolutely love to help this orphanage out, but they don’t have enough funds to build it. But Paul didn’t give up. He asked the team to try to cut the project in half, “only do half as big of a coup”, but the team wouldn’t even be able to afford that small of a coup. It broke their hearts to have to turn down this sweet man’s request to help better the lives of orphans in Uganda, especially because with having a chicken coup these children will learn a valuable and practical skill in Uganda by caring, and taking care of chickens.

But this chicken coup is only the beginning of Paul and Roses dreams and aspirations for their humble orphanage.  "We have children show up on our doorstep every week asking for a place to live and the best we can do is give them some food before turning them away." Paul and Rose say. They want to be able to expand their orphanage so they are able to house more orphans.

Even though a chicken coup seems like a small little project, it will turn out to be what changes many children’s lives. Through this many children will be able to go through school, and eventually find work to take care of, and support their future families. Eventually Paul and Rose will be able to expand their orphanage and change many other children’s lives as well. But there is no way that any of this will be able to happen without donations to start on one chicken coup.  

The chicken coop will cost $1,500 USD to build it large enough and strong enough to withstand the elements and wild animals.  That will also supply them with a small flock of chickens to start out with as well.  All extra funds will be used for school kits we will send to the orphanage.

Learn More At: http://carrieinuganda.blogspot.com/2010/06/childs-prayer.html