South Carolina House plan would make poorest pay more in taxes
South Carolina’s poorest residents would pay more in state income taxes while all others would pay less or no more than they do now, according to a Republican tax plan approved by a House panel Tuesday.Right now, anyone with taxable income of $2,800 or less pays no state income tax. That covers at least 267,000 of the 2.1 million S.C. taxpayers who file state income tax returns, according to the state Board of Economic Advisors.
But a proposal that lawmakers unanimously approved Tuesday calls on those low-income residents to pay 3 percent of their taxable income to the state. That is an increase of up to $84 for those residents, depending on their taxable income.
Meanwhile, South Carolina taxpayers who now pay 4 percent, 5 percent or 6 percent of their taxable incomes would see their taxes cut to 3 percent, a savings of up to $84. That move would affect at least 185,000 people, according to the board.
State Rep. Tommy Stringer, R-Greenville and the principal author of the tax proposal, said a person with taxable income of $2,800 could make as much as $35,000 a year.
The state’s highest-taxed earners – those with taxable incomes of $14,000 or more – would continue to pay 7 percent. (Taxable income is how much money you make in a year, minus all federal and state tax credits and deductions.)
Gut Infections Are Growing More Lethal
Gastrointestinal infections are killing more and more people in the United States and have become a particular threat to the elderly, according to new data released last week.Deaths from the infections more than doubled from 1999 to 2007, to more than 17,000 a year from 7,000 a year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Of those who died, 83 percent were over age 65.
Two thirds of the deaths were caused by a bacterium, Clostridium difficile, which people often contract in hospitals and nursing homes, particularly when they have been taking antibiotics. The bacteria have grown increasingly virulent and resistant to treatment in recent years.
Ron Paul calls Secret Service protection a ‘form of welfare’
Republican presidential candidate and staunch libertarian Ron Paul says he has rejected protection from the Secret Service because he believes charging taxpayers for his personal security is a “form of welfare.”
“You know, you’re having the taxpayers pay to take care of somebody,” Paul told late night talk show host Jay Leno on Tuesday. “And I’m an ordinary citizen and I would think I should pay for my own protection, and it costs, I think, more than $50,000 a day to protect those individuals.”
“It’s a lot of money,” he added.
The twelve-term congressman, who has decided to not seek re-election, did appear to put some thought into what his codename would have been had he accepted federal protection.
“Bulldog,” he told Leno. “I’d go after the Fed, and all that big spending.”
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France shootings suspect says he'll surrender
Updated 4:55 a.m. Eastern(CBS/AP) TOULOUSE, France - French police officers raided a house in the southern city of Toulouse early Wednesday morning, cornering a suspect in the killing three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three paratroopers in three separate attacks.
Interior Minister Claude Gueant, speaking at the scene, said the suspect was "talking a lot about his involvement in the jihadist cause," claiming to be a member of the al Qaeda terror network who wanted to "avenge Palestinian children" and attack French troops for their actions abroad.
The suspect, named by French police as Mohammed Merah, a French national of Algerian origin, told police he would surrender later on Wednesday afternoon, according to Gueant. The Interior Minister said he was "certain" that Merah was the man responsible for the recent spate of shootings.
SC ponders turning buses over to school districts
The primary sponsor of a bill that would turn over South Carolina's state-run school bus system to local districts is asking opponents to look over his changes to the proposal that he says alleviates concerns the districts will be left with huge costs.A House panel listened to two hours of testimony Tuesday before Rep. Jim Merrill asked to delay a vote on his bill, which would allow school districts to either run the buses themselves or turn operation and maintenance over to a private firm.
Representatives of several school districts across the state, both in rural and urban areas, came to the subcommittee meeting to oppose the bill or at least ask for more time to discuss their concerns.
Lawyer: Girl on phone with Trayvon Martin cuts shooter's self-defense claim
A girl who overheard part of an incident involving Florida teenager Trayvon Martin can help prove he was killed "in cold blood" by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, an attorney for Martin's family said Tuesday.The girl, who was dating the 17-year-old, "completely blows Zimmerman's absurd self-defense claim out of the water," lawyer Benjamin Crump told reporters.
The girl -- who he said does not wish to be identified -- "connects the dots" about what happened that day when she lays out what she overheard while on the phone with him, he said.
7.4 quake hits Mexico, but apparently spares lives
A powerful earthquake that shook Mexico from its massive capital to its resort-studded southern coast damaged hundreds of homes and sent thousands of panicked people fleeing from swaying office buildings, yet apparently didn't cause a single death.
As of early Wednesday, there were still no reports of deaths from Tuesday's magnitude-7.4 quake centered near the border between the southern states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, even after 10 aftershocks. Interior Secretary Alejandro Poire said Tuesday night that nine people were injured in Oaxaca and two in Mexico City.
Heart-Healthy Chocolate: Dark and Bitter Treat
"The higher the percentage of cocoa, the higher the flavanol content, the higher the antioxidant content and thus we believe the greater positive health benefit," says Washington, D.C., nutritionist Joy Dubost, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a trade group.
'Aspirin Drug Cuts Cancer Deaths By Half'
A daily aspirin tablet costing little more than a penny could prove to be a potent treatment for cancer.
Research has shown for the first time that the drug cuts the risk of cancer spreading around the body by 36%. And deaths due to cancer were reduced by around a half.Professor Peter Rothwell, of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, said the new finding is highly significant.
He told Sky News: "If you have cancer, your main risk of dying is from that spread rather than from the growth of the cancer itself.
"So if you find a treatment that reduces the spread it has a real potential as an additional treatment for people with cancer."
New cancer drugs typically cost several thousand pounds a month. But a bottle of 100 75mg aspirin tablets can be bought for as little as £1.35.
Professor Rothwell said further trials of aspirin as a treatment for cancer are urgently needed.
Arm blood pressure differences 'predict death risk'
A large difference between the blood pressure in each arm suggests a bigger risk of dying early, researchers claim.
More heart health checks may be needed in those with different readings, says the British Heart Foundation.
Not all medics follow national guidance to measure blood pressure in both arms.
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