Traditional Ira Rules

Frequently Asked Questions

1. QUESTION:
   Can I fund a Traditional IRA with pretax dollars?
   I’m not sure if the rules stipulate I have to use after-tax income to fund a traditional IRA.

   • ANSWER:
     There isn’t a mechanism set up to fund your Trad. IRA with pre-tax dollars – you have to wait and take the appropriate deduction when you file your taxes.

2. QUESTION:
   Can I take out a traditional IRA now and convert to an existing Roth IRA later?
   This is my scenario. I currently have a ROTH IRA. For this and next year I would like to take out a traditional IRA, and in a few years (2010) convert this to my current ROTH IRA. I had read somewhere I thought you can only do a rollover like this one time. Does anyone know the rules on this? Thanks!
   Thanks for the answers. I know it’s kind of tricky. I would rather get the tax break now and pay the taxes in a couple of years because of my financial situation. But i would want to do it all at once. For example, rollover the total of all my traditional IRAS into my existing ROTH. Don’t mind paying the taxes at that time, but dont want it counted as a withdrawl and get penalized, etc. I eventually just want it all in one account. I’m just scared there is a catch somewhere ( or will be in 2 or 3 years). Several years ago, they let you do that rollover thing all at once, and I did do it at that time.
   To the last response from TBONE. You mentioned in 2010 you can rollover a traditional ira into a roth ira…this is the whole crux of my concern…I know I can roll it into “an IRA” but can I roll it into “an existing IRA” that I had before i started opening up the traditional iras?
   Thanks!

   • ANSWER:
     Yes you can rollover a Traditional IRA into an existing Roth IRA. If you have multiple Traditional IRAs, you can roll them all over into your existing Roth IRA.

     Right now, the rule says that if you rollover your 401k into a Traditional IRA, you must wait one year to roll it over again into a Roth IRA. In 2010, you can roll over your assets into a Traditional or a Roth IRA.

3. QUESTION:
   Roth or traditional IRA help please?
   My wife is a stay at home mom, she does not have any income. Can she still put money in an IRA? Are the rules different if we are talking about a traditional or Roth IRA? Does it matter that I (her husband) have a 401K at work? Are there annual limits? I guess I could put the money in my name, not so sure we want to do that. Any reference material out there? Thanks for any help.

   • ANSWER:
     Go to irs.gov and get publication 590.
     As long as one of you works, you can put money into an IRA under her name.

     Yes, there are annual limits (particularly because you *do* have a 401K).

4. QUESTION:
   when am I allowed to roll a traditional ira over into an existing 401k ?
   what are the rules that would allow this?

   • ANSWER:
     It must be pre-tax.
     Can not be inherited IRA
     You must sell all your stocks and funds
     Please talk to your HR person.
     I personally do not see any advantage in doing this.
     /

5. QUESTION:
   Can I roll-over a Traditional IRA into a Roth IRA prior to April 15, 2009 and claim the income for 2008?
   I want to claim the income for 2008 (without increasing my taxable income bracket) and also claim for next year – 2009– in 2010. Does the rule for opening a IRA before April 15 also apply to roll-overs prior to April 15?

   • ANSWER:
     no it must be done by 12/31 to claim for 2008

     i suggest you do it now so you can get benefit of the recent market down turn if you eait until april the market could be higher

     if you are concerned about income roll over part in 2008 and the the rest in jan 2009 and split up the tax liability

     remember this ADDS to your income and can impact other areas of your return

6. QUESTION:
   If I covert my traditional IRA to a Roth IRA will I be affected by the 5 year rule regarding withdrawals?

   • ANSWER:
     Yes. Your contribution from the rollover will start the 5-year rule for withdrawals prior to 59 1/2. After 59 1/2 they go away.

     However, do the math carefully.

     If you are concerned about the 5 year rule a conversion may not make sense for you. The major reason to do it would be to not have to start withdrawals at 70 1/2 as is the case with a traditional IRA.

7. QUESTION:
   Should I convert my traditional IRA to a ROTH before end of 2010?
   I recently changed jobs and rolled my 401K over to a traditional IRA. With the 2010 rule that allows individuals to rollover a traditional to a Roth and split taxes over 2011 and 2012, I want to take advantage if it makes sense. I have about K in the traditional IRA. This may bump me into a higher tax bracket, but I’m only 33 years old right now so the benefits of being able to grow the money tax-free will possibly outweigh any tax hit I take now. Any advice?

   Also, when it says that you can split taxes over 2011 and 2012, does that mean that I will claim 50% of the converted amount on my upcoming taxes that I file in 2011 for 2010 income? Or does it mean that I won’t have to add the converted amount as income until I do my taxes for 2011 income? Thanks for any input.
   Also, is it possible to rollover a portion of the IRA in 2011? Meaning can I just go ahead and rollover half of it next year in 2011 and then half of it in 2012? There are obviously lots of things that will factor in from a tax standpoint that will impact my decision (mortgage interest payments, etc). I plan to talk to a tax accountant/adviser, but I just wanted some quick feedback on the IRA rules since it’s 12/30. Thanks!

   • ANSWER:
     The question is do you want to pay taxes on this retirement now or when you start taking the money out ? Traditional IRA you pay taxes when you take out in the future. Ross is you pay now so at retirement there is no tax. Ross also has other benefits. Talk to a tax person for the right info.

8. QUESTION:
   Any difference b/w ROLLOVER vs. TRADITIONAL IRA?
   I’m doing a direct transfer of all my funds/stocks/etc to one brokerage and they’re telling me I can combing my Traditional and Rollover IRA to make my account view much simpler, which I have no problem with.

   I just want to make sure this is correct, as I don’t want to be surprised with any distribution/RMD/etc rules that may differentiate ROLLOVERS from TRADITIONAL IRA. I already know about Roths, SEP’s and conversions – just need clarification on the 2 types mentioned above. Thanks.

   • ANSWER:

9. QUESTION:
   Can I still open a non-deductible traditional IRA and roll it into Roth for 2010?
   Hi guys, I’m thinking of opening a traditional IRA to take advantage of 2010′s unique rules for Roth conversions. My question is, can I open a traditional IRA account today and make contributions to it, then immediately roll it into a Roth IRA account I open sometime next week?

   If so, how much can I roll over—example: Open traditional IRA account, make a ,000 non-tax deductible contribution to it from a savings account, transfer the funds to Roth IRA the next day/week. Is this OK?

   Additionally: The k is obviously after tax money I have in savings. If I roll it into Roth eventually through this process, will I have to re-report it as income for 2010? Wouldn’t this be double taxation?

   Thanks, will vote for best answer promptly based on accuracy and clarity.

   • ANSWER:
     No you can’t. Roth conversions have to be done prior to Dec 31 of the tax year so you’re too late. Also, the IRA contribution limit is still 00 or earned income, whichever is less. You can make that still for 2010.

10. QUESTION:
    Why is there an upper income limit for contributing to a Roth IRA?
    People over a certain income are not allowed to make any contributions to a Roth IRA. Why? Wouldn’t people with high income rather pay the taxes later anyway (as they would do with a traditional IRA)? In other words, doesn’t this rule just prohibit people from doing something they’d already rather not do?
    Mrs. F: in addition to the upper income limit, there’s also a yearly contribution limit (00 this year). But Roth IRAs are still very, very, worth it! You can always put more money in next year, and the year after that, etc. Contribute the maximum, or as much as you can, every year; you’ll be glad later.

    • ANSWER:
      The limits are for AGI over 0,000 if married (MFJ) and 0,000 for single folks. I would assume that the idea of having a limit is to give tax breaks to lower income folks and continue to tax the “rich”. All of this a political decision by Congress not the IRS.

11. QUESTION:
    Can I roll over my newly opened traditional ira into my 401k to increase the exemption for the 401k?
    Turbo tax says I make too much money to deduct my traditional ira contributions. I opened the IRA in 2008. I did not max out my 401k contributions through my employer. Can I roll over my 2008 IRA to my 401k to increase my exemption under the 401k? If so, what rules will I need to follow, and what are the limits?

    *This question is being asked for a friend, so I don’t have all the specifics. Sorry.

    • ANSWER:

12. QUESTION:
    roth ira ownership for disabled and regular ira at same time ?
    Suppose I open an roth Ira 23% yield, Can I put money into a traditional ira at 23% then roll it into the roth? what are the rules for conversion?

    • ANSWER:
      There is NO limit to the number of IRAs you can own. The annual contribution limit is for the TOTAL contribution to ALL accounts. You CAN’T guarantee anywhere close to 23% on ANY investment. There is NO reason to contribute to a traditional IRA if you intend to convert it to a Roth. You are better off putting it directly into the Roth.

13. QUESTION:
    about the retirement money in traditional IRA?
    my friend’s mother was laid off in 2006,she was only about 62 years old,she got the unemployment benifits and one year salary monthly income with medical health insurace as a regular employee,all the benefits from her employer,up until,june/30 /2007,then she tried her best to get a job,just because her full retirement age was 66 years old,when realized that in this age any office job for the same office work is impossible so she went to social security office to find about early retirement in Dec/2007,they said do not wait till full retirement age just to get more money,it is not worth,it will be only or /month more for long term but after 62 you can retire and emagine how many hundred and thousand social security check you will have if you apply now.so she applied and got her early retirement checkf fromJan/2008,and her medicare health benifits after completing the 65 in march/2oo8.
    her monthly check, from social security after deducting the medicare every month comes in her hand is only 3/month.it is very very low income,to survive,she get letters from social security that she can apply some govt help to live a little bit financialy better life by getting food stamps or in medicine,but for that she is only entitle to have a home and a car and not more than a coule thousand in bank act.having few thousand in her IRA account which is already gone down to half of what she had in 2007,she can not get any financial help.her son told her she should put all her IRA to any of her trusted person’s name and that is the only way she can get help to survive to live without any kids obligation to support herself.i can see just for the only 3/month she have to pay her,taxes,monthly elictric,phone,light & water bill,her very old car mentenance,car insurance and there is hardly left for her daily or weekly groceries,she desperately need help but is not sure how to get rid her IRA money out from the account so she really can live a little bit better life.that money she saved for buying a car but it is gone so down that she can not even buy a fully paid a small reasonable transportation a dream for her oldage.she even do not have any home insurance since 3 years,living in Florida without a home insurance is just like playing russian rullet.
    so i request the people to put light in this situation,that is why i wrote all the details so any one who knows how to handle the rules without breaking any laws and get as much benifits from the govt as much she deserves.only legal way adivice needed.no gueses please.i really wants to help her if i can find any solution for her financially a little bit better.
    to me it really seems that the law is really punishing her for not supporting or giving any help just because she has few thousands dollar in her 2010 retirement fund in troweprice.
    thanks.god bless you.all.

    • ANSWER:
      She can get a part time job, although she is only permitted to make so much, without losing some of her benefits. “For 2008, that limit is ,560. For 2009, that limit will be ,160.”, from the social security website.

      “If you will reach full retirement age in 2009, the limit on your earnings for the months before full retirement age will be ,680.
      (If you were born in 1943, your full retirement age is 66 years.)”

      “Starting with the month you reach full retirement age, you can get your benefits with no limit on your earnings. ”

      Since she was unemployed, it was smart to start getting her money now, instead of waiting until 66. Some people think it is better to wait and get full, but it takes about a dozen years for the wait to make a real difference. There is no guarantee that we will live long enough to make up that difference.

      I am not sure what other government benefits are available, but I would think if she needs prescriptions, there are options to get for free. There are also food stamps and stuff like that, not sure of any other.

      If she merely wants to deplete her IRA, why not prepay her home insurance, and other bills? Buy a freezer and fill it? Stock her pantry shelves? If the IRA is half gone now, I imagine it will be long gone before too much longer.

      I agree – the limitations on them are attrocious! My father was disabled and survived on social security for 25 years, making very little. He did get food stamps and a home health aid that came in from the state twice a week for a couple hours. My step mother started getting her social security at 62, kept working, then lost a lot of her money back to them. She retired at 75 after he died, but then had to go back to work because she couldn’t afford it.

      Oh yea, since she is over 59 1/2, she doesn’t have to pay a penalty to take out her money. Not sure about how that figures in with getting the money if on social security though. You will need to check that out on the IRS and Social Security websites.

      Good Luck!! ~ Suzi

14. QUESTION:
    Early Roth IRA Withdrawal after 5 years Transfer?
    In 1998 I transferred a Traditional IRA (approx. ,000) into a Roth IRA and paid the appropriate taxes. Through bad investments the value of the Roth in 2007 was ,000. I withdrew ,000 to pay some debt. I know I don’t owe tax on Capital Gain but do I still need to pay the 10% penalty? Does the “5 year Rule” have any effect on the 10% penalty?

    • ANSWER:
      There are two conditions that must be met to avoid a penalty when withdrawing money from a Roth. One, you need to have had the account for at least 5 years, and you must be at least 59 1/2 when you made the distribution. If one of these two conditions are not met, you will pay a 10% penalty on the amount of the distribution as an “early withdrawl penalty”. You will also pay taxes on the earnings that are imposed in the event of a non-qualified distribution, which is basically an ordinary income tax (since your account didn’t earn anything you don’t have to worry about that).

      If you are over 59 1/2 you don’t have to worry about it and shouldn’t have to pay any taxes or penalties.

15. QUESTION:
    Question regarding a Roth IRA conversion?
    My Dad converted a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA at the age of 57 (I believe the government allowed people do this recently). Does he have to wait five years before he can withdraw funds tax free, or will the 59 1/2 age rule take precedence in this case?

    Much appreciated.

    • ANSWER:
      “If you convert a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA, then you must wait at least five years from the first day of the tax year in which you made the conversion before you can take a qualified distribution.”

      http://www.money-zine.com/Financial-Planning/Retirement/Roth-IRA-5-Year-Rule/

      1. I don’t know what was the motivation to convert a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA at 57 years of age unless:

      (A) There is NOT a large amount of money that is being converted;

      (B) His tax bracket is very low, and the conversion will not jump him to higher tax brackets say 25% or higher.

      (C) He plans to work for another 15-20 years; or has no need to tap this money for that period of time, and believes he has the income to make up for the taxes paid on the conversion and will pay those taxes from another NON retirement account.

      One can convert a Traditional IRS or a ROTH anytime.

      The problem is if you are under 59 1/2, there is a 10% tax penalty of the ENTIRE amount converted, UNLESS:

      1. He retires early and has taken fixed payments based on actuary tables (he would need help with this in advance and declare this option PRIOR to taking the ROTH conversion in order to avoid ONLY the 10% penalty); or

      2. The amount of IRA money was deposited in the “Traditional IRA” as “after tax contributions” and if that can be proven as such, thus those principle amounts ONLY are not subject to ordinary income tax on converting to a ROTH IRA, but ARE subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty because the funds came from a Traditional IRA and withdrawn before 59 1/2.

      Next, except for where exempted (above), the ENTIRE amount of assets (cash, stocks, funds, etc) converted from the Traditional IRA to the ROTH IRA will be subject to ordinary income tax in the year the conversion was executed.

      Again, I would not pay all these taxes and penalties with retirement money. This should be paid with other funds that are not part of retirement planning.

      I don’t know your dad’s personal situation, but based on the statements here, I would not have suggested a conversion unless I knew a lot more and compelling reason to do this.

      Disclaimer: I am not a tax or legal advisor and I would highly seek a tax and or legal advisor BEFORE engaging in any tax planning, legal issues, and seek a qualified tax advisor especially regarding ROTH conversions.

      Further Reading:
      Roth IRAs: To Convert or Not

      http://www.smartmoney.com/Personal-Finance/Retirement/Roth-IRAs-To-Convert-or-Not-7965/

      http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/business/retirementspecial/04ROTH.html

      For Shift to Roth I.R.A., Know the Pitfalls to Avoid

      Roth IRA Rules of Thumb

      http://www.fairmark.com/rothira/thumb.htm

16. QUESTION:
    Traditinoal IRA First-time home buyer tax treatment?
    Hi,

    My wife and I are looking to purchase our first home in the next couple of months and want to clarify this questions before ‘game day’.

    I understand the surface rules of the IRS Traditional IRA penalty waiver for First-Time home buyers. The IRS basically allows a ,000 distribution penalty free for the purchase of your first home.

    The question I have goes a little deeper and doesn’t seem to be covered on the IRS’s website:
    If I am the only one (between my spouse and I) who owns a Traditional IRA, AM I ABLE TO TAKE OUT ,000 FOR THE BOTH OF US OUT OF MY IRA?

    The IRS’s website states:
    “If both you and your spouse are first-time home buyers, each of you can receive distributions up to ,000 for a first home without having to pay the 10% additional tax.”
    What if she doesn’t have an IRA, and we are utilizing my IRA…would I be able to pull ,000 for the both of us out of MY IRA?

    Thank you in advance for any help.

    • ANSWER:

17. QUESTION:
    IRA: Does 5 year holding period only apply to Roth IRAs?
    I’ve been searching online and it seems that the rule only applies to Roth IRAs or when you convert a Traditional IRA into a Roth IRA. Is there a holding period for Traditional IRAs?

    • ANSWER:
      The 5 year rule only applies to Roth IRAs.

18. QUESTION:
    Question about preexisting Roth IRA?
    I stopped investing in my Roth IRAs about a year ago when my income put me outside of the income eligibility limits (>177K). Married, filing jointly. My understanding with the new rules that one could open a separate traditional IRA and then automatically place those funds into the preexisting Roth accounts. Does this make sense?
    My understanding is that those with traditional IRAs who make more than 100K may now rollover those funds to a Roth, whereas before they could not. I understand that monies invested in Roths are taxed upfront. My question is, now that I can no longer contribute to my Roth, can I simply open up a traditional IRA with 00 and then simply reinvest it into my existing Roth account?

    • ANSWER:
      I believe the strategy that you are referring to is to open a non-deductible IRA (since your income is too high for it to be deductible). You make your ,000 contribution and then you are eligible to convert this into a Roth IRA. The term you are looking for is convert which you are now eligible to do because they lifted the income limits.

      Please let me know if you have any questions.

      http://evolutionofwealth.com

19. QUESTION:
    Why are traditional IRAs taxed at ordinary rates upon withdrawal?
    I contribute to a Roth IRA, but I foresee my income levels in the future causing me to switch to a traditional at some point.

    Is it true that distributions from a traditional IRA are taxed at ordinary rates even if the accumulation is from capital gains? If so, why? And does that mean that I should invest in individual stocks and mutual funds in my regular brokerage account and restrict my trad. IRA investments to ordinary income producing investments like bonds? I cannot stand to think of converting capital gains income to ordinary income even if the initial investment is tax deductible.

    Also, are those rules the same for 401(k) distributions?

    Thanks for any clarification or advice!
    I am aware that is the law which is written by congress… that’s why I’m asking is it better to use all IRA funds for ordinary income producing investments and keep capital gain producing investments in a taxable account since there is already a deferral and (probably) preferential rates?
    Also, I do not expect to have income that “per year varies considerably”. I expect to have steadily increasing income until I retire.

    • ANSWER:
      Why?

      Because congress wrote it that way.

      Yes, pulling money out of a TAX DEFERRED account is always ordinary income. This includes IRAs, 401(k)s, HSA, annuity income, etal.

      If you “can’t stand the idea” then stick to Roths.

      My income per year varies considerably. I plan to retire early and will have several years of “no income” for tax purposes–I’m using the 401K/IRA to lower taxes now and create taxable income later. In a year I was out of work, I moved IRA money that I’d avoided taxes at 28-33% from the IRA to the Roth. The amount to cancel out my itemized deductions and personal exemption were then taxed at 0%. The next portion was at 10%. That was a huge savings right there.

20. QUESTION:
    Early IRA withdrawals for a house down payment?
    My wife and I are getting ready to put a down payment on our first house, and I know that I can take a K withdrawal from a traditional IRA penalty-free. What I don’t know is, can my wife ALSO do this (we file jointly). Also, I know that there is a similar (but slightly different ) rule regarding Roth IRA’s. Does anybody know if I can do all three (K from my rollover IRA, K from my wife’s rollover, and K from my Roth)?

    I tried looking at the instructions for IRS form 5329, and found them utterly baffling. HELP!!!

    • ANSWER:
      Your “taxpayer unit” (you AND your wife) can only take a maximum of ,000 for the “first-time homebuyers exemption” from all of your Traditional IRA’s without being subject to the penalties.

      You can also withdraw any amount of your Roth IRA that YOU HAVE CONTRIBUTED. For example, if you’ve got a Roth IRA that is worth ,000, and you’ve contributed ,500 and it has grown by ,500 since you started it, you can withdraw the ,500 that YOU contributed to it, any time, for any reason, without penalty. (This is one of the advantages of a Roth IRA vs. a traditional IRA).

21. QUESTION:
    can someone in distribution of an IRA take advantage of the new rule to deposit a tax refund to the account?
    If one is in required distribution, can they still direct deposit their tax refund to that account? The new option seems to make sense for other IRA’s like the Roth but I didn’t think it was possible to make a contribution to a traditional if you are in distribution. I know someone who is planning on taking advantage of the new option and I wondered if it won’t cause a problem later.
    If the bank allows it (how could they stop it if the account number is valid?) is there a correction that can be made later?
    Any help would be appreciated

    • ANSWER:
      A taxpayer who is required to take a minimum distribution from an IRA has reached the age of 70.5. After age 70.5, no additional contributions to a traditional IRA are allowed.

      The IRS is allowing taxpayers who receive a refund on their tax return to deposit refund money into their IRAs. However, this does not change the rule that taxpayers over the age of 70.5 may not contribute to a traditional IRA.

      A taxpayer over the age of 70.5 may contribute to a Roth IRA, and if the taxpayer had a refund, it may be deposited (in full or part) to the Roth IRA.

      If a taxpayer who is not allowed to contribute to a traditional IRA makes a contribution anyway, the contribution will be treated as an excess contribution subject to a 6% annual excise tax for each year that excess contribution remains in the account.

22. QUESTION:
    Are there any time constraints on doing a direct rollover from a 401(k) to an IRA, after a job loss?
    I want to rollover funds from my old 401(k) plan to a traditional IRA. Does it matter when I do this, as far as tax implications and things of that nature? For example, can I do it 6 months after I lost my job, just the same as if I had done it 6 days after I lost it?

    I had previously asked a question about the IRS’s “60 day rule”. If I understand correctly, that rule is only for an “indirect rollover” in which I would take a distribution from the 401(k) directly to myself and put it into an IRA later. But I realize I may not be understanding that correctly, and also I’m not sure if there are any other rules I’m unaware of.

    Thanks!

    • ANSWER:
      Your understanding is 100% correct. As long as you rollover from one institution DIRECTLY into another, there is no time constraint or tax implication….unless you rollover into a Roth IRA.

23. QUESTION:
    Roth IRA Conversion in 2010 – Federal and State Tax?
    Let’s say I have ,000 in Traditional IRA. In 2010, if I rollover entire amount to Roth IRA, am I taxed as ordinary income of ,000 each in 2011 and 2012? What about in 2010?

    Does the same rule apply to state taxes? I’m in California.

    • ANSWER:

24. QUESTION:
    ROTH IRA QUESTIONS – Rollovers/conversions/recharacterizations…?
    FACTS:
    1) I had a SIMPLE IRA from 2004-2008 at a former job. Last contribution was in 2004.
    2) Towards the end of 2008, I “moved” (rolled over? converted?) all the funds in my SIMPLE IRA to a ROTH IRA with Nationwide (yeah, they don’t just do car insurance!)
    3) I paid taxes on the amount that was “moved” but no penalties (since I didn’t take the money out of course, but just went from one account to another)
    4) Surprisingly, I have not yet contributed to my new ROTH IRA yet
    5) I am now finding that I don’t like the company and options available in my current ROTH and want to “move” funds again….but not back to a SIMPLE or Traditional IRA, just to a different company but still as a ROTH.

    QUESTIONS:
    1) When I “moved” from SIMPLE to ROTH, that was a conversion, right? If so, then what is a rollover?
    2) I never even heard of a SIMPLE IRA until recently! (thought I had had a Traditional IRA the whole time at my last job). Other than the rule that you can’t move funds less than 2 years after your last contribution, is there really any other significant differences between a SIMPLE IRA and a Traditional IRA. If not, then when I am reading about the characteristics and pros/cons of a Traditional IRA (which there is more info online for Traditional IRAs than SIMPLEs) I can pretty much use that same info for a SIMPLE?
    3) Can you have more than one ROTH at a time, so long as you don’t go over the contribution limit of 00 for the year? If so, then instead of moving my funds again, maybe I will just open a second ROTH?
    4) Regardless of whether I could have two ROTHs at the same time, or if I closed my current one and opened up a new one, in either scenario, I would want to “move” my funds from the old one to the new one. If I were to “move” funds from my ROTH with company A to my new ROTH with company B, would that be a rollover or a conversion? I’m thinking it definitely would not be a “recharacterization”, because my understanding is that it would only be called that if you were to transfer funds back to a different TYPE of IRA (like back to a SIMPLE or Traditional from my ROTH, which I wouldn’t be doing) or that you are trying to say a certain conversion should be treated differently
    5) As stated in the facts above, there are currently NO contributions in my current ROTH, only the amount of the previously “moved” funds. And based on how the market went down over the last several months, there are no positive earnings (my balance is definitely lower than when I moved the funds). So if I moved funds to new ROTH, I am thinking there would be no taxes (since I was taxed when they were first moved in and the only other thing you get taxed on are earnings but I’ve had no earnings). And also no penalties (because I am not really withdrawing funds but simply moving them again to another account)?
    6) If it is true that I can in fact move my funds to a new ROTH, since both of these ROTH transactions will have happened in the same tax year (2008), can I assume that for purposes of the “5-year rule” (in determining if future withdrawals of earnings will be taxed/penalized), that my 5 years will still start from the same time (January 1, 2008)?

    I know I’ve asked A LOT here, but a nice big whopping 10 points to whoever can try to address as many as you can. And I have numbered things so we can all keep it straight!
    My current company holding my ROTH said that I bought “B shares” for my mutual funds, which are the kind that charge certain back end fees if you sell earlier than 5 years, it goes down like every year or something. So it looks like I wont have any tax or penalty issues, but broker fees is the 3rd thing to factor in and looks like I would have to pay that so maybe I should just keep things how they are?

    • ANSWER:
      1) The easiest way to distinguish btw rollover and conversion is that rollover refers to an account transfer where the account type is the same (roth to roth, or 401k to regular ira) and so there’s no tax implication. The conversion, as you said, involved a tax payment because you changed from a pretax account (401k) to a post-tax retirement account (Roth).

      2) For your purposes, it’s fair to say that your SIMPLE account is the same as a Traditional IRA account. The major differences are related to the decision factors of your employer to set up the account and determine how much can be invested, etc. But since you already have this account set up and funded, from your perspective, not much difference to you.

      3) Yes, you can have more than one Roth Account at one time. You can have as many as you want, as long as you don’t fund greater than ,000 into your various Roth accounts for any given TAX year.

      4) Roth to Roth is rollover. Trad IRA to Trad IRA is a rollover. Roth to Trad IRA or vice versa is a conversion. A recharacterization is where you go back to an investment you did in your current tax year, and change the type of retirement account so your understanding is correct.

      5) Right you are. Roth to roth rollover means no tax consequences or penalties.

      6) The 5 year rule applies to time from when you made the original contribution or conversion. Let’s say you contributed the money to either type of ira in 2005. Regardless of how many rollovers you did with this money, you can still take out the money after 5 years (and also as long as you are over 59.5 years) without penalty.

      If you did a conversion, the same 5 year rule applies. If you did the conversion from Trad IRA to a Roth IRA in 2008, you have to way 5 years from the 2008 date. In that time, you can roll over the Roth IRA to different types of Roth IRA accounts, but it’s the date of the original conversion to this type of account that matters.

25. QUESTION:
    IRS minimum distribution rules for owner in year of death?
    I am inheriting a traditional IRA from my deceased 89-year-old mother. Publ. 590 tells me that her MRD is determined as if she lived for the entire year. She was taking monthly payments, and I’m not sure whether they will total enough to satisfy the MRD requirement–I doubt if they will, since the whole year’s payments are generally designed to satisfy the requirements. So what am I supposed to do to satisfy the requirement if she died before all 12 monthly payments are received? It’s too late for her to receive them now. Should I take out the rest of the RMD in cash, and treat it as additional income paid to her on her final tax return, even though that distribution will be made after her death? I’m not sure that makes a lot of sense, but how else can the RMD be achieved? Certainly she can’t face an under-distribution penalty–just about everyone would be in that situation in the year of death if there wasn’t some way to complete the RMD.

    For myself, I’m anticipating transferring the IRA to an “inherited IRA” kept in her name, and taking 1/23.5 of the 12/31/2010 value as a RMD in 2011. (I’ll be 62 in 2011, and the Table 1 entry for age 62 is 23.5.) Does that sound like a correct procedure?

    • ANSWER:
      since she died before the year was fulfilled, she had no control over the MRD, therefore report what she did receive and her tax return will also show her date of death–consequences not in either the taxpayer’s or your control
      and you will calculate your inherited IRA now based on your information which has a basis as of Dec. 31, 2010 to determine what your MRD should be

26. QUESTION:
    If I convert my rollover & nondeductable IRAs to Roth, can I then comingle those with my existing Roth IRAs?
    In my retirement account I have a Rollover IRA from a former employer, a Roth IRA, and also a traditional (nondeducted) IRA, all are in separate accounts — I understand that tax rules don’t allow comingling of funds with different rules (like Roth vs. Traditional.) If I convert my Rollover and traditional IRAs to Roth, then all the different accounts would be under the same rules. Will I then be able to combine/comingle those acconts, so all the funds are in one big account?

    • ANSWER:
      Yes. Once all your IRAs are converted to Roths, you can transfer them to another Roth of your choosing.

27. QUESTION:
    Is contribution to a Roth IRA for tax year 2008 tax deductible?
    While filing out the tax form I noticed that for explanation for Line 51 (Retirement Savings Contributions Credit (Saver’s Credit) on Form 1040 says “you may be able to take this credit if you or your spouse if filing jointly, make a) contributions to a traditional or Roth IRA

    This is the part where I got confused. I thought that Roth IRA is not tax deductible but under letter “a” it says “traditional” OR Roth, which makes me wonder if the rule changed for tax year 2008 (one of Obama’s plans)?

    Can someone explain this to me? Thanks!

    • ANSWER:
      The Roth is not tax deductible.

      The Retirement Savings Contributions Credit (Saver’s Credit) is a separate credit, if you qualify, that is not connected to the deductiblity of your IRA, 401(k), 403(b), etc.

28. QUESTION:
    Should I have my wife with her lower income contribute into Roth IRA instead of me? ?
    I am currently 23 and make 60k/yr. My wife is also 23 and currently without a job, but I estimate her income will be between 20-30k/yr. I am currently contributing 10% of my income into a traditional 401k and have been debating contributing to a Roth when it occured to me that SHE should contribute to the Roth because her tax bracket is lower than mine, providing the better tax deal. Would this play out how I imagine it would, or is there some rule with IRA that married couples are taxed at their combined income instead of individual when contributing?
    It seems people don’t understand what I am getting at. Lets say I am in a 25% tax bracket and she is in a 15% tax bracket. If she contributes 5k a year into a Roth at her tax rate it would be 4.25k, while if I contributed 5k at my tax bracket into Roth it would be 3.75k towards our retirement. My question is does this infact happen, or does it go by your married joint income when determining your tax bracket?

    • ANSWER:
      It does not matter who contribute to the Roth IRA and besides, you and your spouse only have one common tax rate and the money contributed to the Roth IRA is after-tax money.

      I encourage both of you to open a Roth IRA account so one for yourself and one for your wife. There is no Joint IRA because the “I” in IRA means Individual so you can only have your own Roth IRA and so is your wife. Now remember, there’s a contribution limit each year on IRA so don’t over-contribute.

29. QUESTION:
    Roth IRA Question?
    I am thinking about opening a ROTH Ira. What is the traditional return on investment in these? I know the Rule of 72, but I want to try to crunch some numbers to see how my money may grow. I’m thinking about putting away 250 a month for right now.

    Thanks.

    • ANSWER:
      A Roth IRA is a vehicle to put investments in, just like a traditional IRA, or a brokerage account. Depending on the investments you select, your return will vary.

      If you are investing in the U.S. stock market, you could expect something like 10% per year over the long run. See the links I have provided, for several different answers about the long-term stock market returns, some of which are based on over a hundred years of stock market history.

30. QUESTION:
    Borrowing from a roth ira that was converted from a rollover ira?
    I’ll try to keep this as short and simple as I can.

    My husband contributed to a 401k plan at a previous job. He got partial match on contributions. When he left the company, they put it into a rollover ira. When we got married, I took the money from the rollover ira and converted it to a roth. We have not paid taxes on it yet (but will as of April). We are now looking at buying our first home. The conversion was only about a year ago or so, so we are outside of the 5 year rule.

    My questions are these:
    - We are allowed to take contributions out at any point tax free. Does this mean that the money he put in originally while at his previous company is tax free withdrawal, or is it the amount we converted? Is the 5 year rule applied to this?
    - If we take money out towards the down payment on our new home, are we a) paying taxes on the money we take out, and/or b) paying a 10% penalty [since it has not been 5 years]?
    - I’ve read that you can take the money out as long as it is replaced within 60 days. I’ve also read that you can borrow against it as long as the money is replaced by the time taxes come around. What are the rules on this? Do either of these even apply to a roth, or only to traditional?
    - If we take money out at this point, and do not pay all of it back within the 60 days, do we pay taxes + penalty on all remaining outstanding balance? Is our “earned” portion put back in first, or the original contributions? If we have paid back at least the amount of the “earned” portion by the 60 days, how will that effect our taxes and/or will it incur a penalty?

    Thanks.

    Add: I know it’s bad to borrow against an ira because of the long term effect it can have on how much you have at retirement. We will be repaying any money taken out within 4 months. We are looking into this mostly because we don’t want to miss out on the tax credit that is available until the end of April/June.
    When I said “borrow”, I meant “withdrawal”. I only meant that it would be paid back when I said borrow. Sorry for the confusion!

    • ANSWER:

31. QUESTION:
    Retirement: Social Security and IRAs?
    1. PRESUMPTION: My Social Security. Once I start receiving SS, what taxes will I owe out of each month’s check?

    2. CURIOSITY: Using today’s US tax rules/laws. When I truly retire at 63, may I continue to contribute to my Traditional IRA using my military retirement pay as my source of income? The US Government classifies military retirement pay as “reduced compensation for reduced services”; it is not a pension”.

    Thanks.
    Thanks NewJersey! That helps me plan my IRA.
    Thanks Custiz20 for the useful info!

    • ANSWER:
      There is a “Social Security Benefits Worksheet” to calculate your taxes from SS. You can find it on page 25 of the 1040 instructions:

      http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040.pdf

      If SS is the bulk of your income you will probably not owe taxes on it, but use the worksheet to be sure.

      As for the IRA, some people get very part time jobs simply to have earned income so they qualify to put money into an IRA or ROTH IRA. It might be worth your while to make ,000 just to qualify to contribute ,000.

      Best of luck in your retirement ventures!!

32. QUESTION:
    Questions regarding 401(k). 70 year old, still working?
    Person was 70 on 12/25/07 and is still working full time. She has a 401(k) Profit Sharing plan where she works. Does she have to start taking out of it this year? 70 1/2 rule. Can she establish a Traditional IRA at her bank and roll it over to that, or would that make any difference? Any advice or details would be appreciated!

    • ANSWER:
      As long as you are still working, contributions can continue to that 401(k) and you don’t have to start withdrawals, but distributions must start on IRAs starting for the year during which you reach 70 1/2. If you then roll the money into an IRA, it’s no longer in a 401(k) with the company you are currently employed with, is it?

      The penalty for not taking the Required Minimum Distribution is a whopping 50% of what you were supposed to have taken out.

33. QUESTION:
    Confused about rollovers, conversions, and recharacterizations…?
    FACTS:
    1) I had a SIMPLE IRA from 2004-2008 at a former job. Last contribution was in 2004.
    2) I just recently “moved” (rolled over? converted?) all the funds in my SIMPLE IRA to a ROTH IRA with Nationwide (yeah, they don’t just do car insurance!)
    3) I paid taxes on the amount that was “moved” but no penalties
    4) I have only had the new ROTH IRA for about 4 months but have not contributed to it AT ALL
    5) I am now finding that I don’t like the company and options available in my current ROTH and want to “move” funds again. But not back to a SIMPLE or Traditional IRA, just to a different company but still as a ROTH.

    QUESTIONS:
    1) When I “moved” from SIMPLE to ROTH, that was a conversion, right? If so, then what is a rollover?
    2) I never even heard of a SIMPLE IRA until last week! (thought I had had a Traditional IRA the whole time at my last job). Other than the rule that you can’t move funds less than 2 years after your last contribution, is there really any other significant differences between a SIMPLE IRA and a Traditional IRA or when I am reading about the characteristics and pros/cons of a Traditional IRA (which is more prevalent online) I can pretty much use that same info for a SIMPLE?
    3) Can you have more than one ROTH at a time, so long as you don’t go over the contribution limit? If so, then instead of moving my funds again, maybe I will just open a second ROTH?
    4) Even if I could have two ROTHs (which I’m thinking you cant), then if I were to “move” funds again from a ROTH with company A to a ROTH with company B, would that be a rollover or a conversion? My understanding of a recharacterization is that would only be if you go back to a different TYPE of IRA, like back to a SIMPLE or Traditional from my ROTH, which I wouldn’t be doing.
    5) As stated in the facts above, there are currently NO contributions in my current ROTH, only the amount of the previously “moved” funds. And based on how the market went down these past months, there are no positive earnings (my balance is definitely lower than when I moved the funds). So if I moved funds to new ROTH, I am thinking there would be no taxes (since I was taxed when they were first moved in) and no penalties (because I am not really withdrawing funds but simply moving them again to another account)?
    6) If it is true that I can in fact move my funds to a new ROTH, since both of these ROTH transactions will have happened in the same tax year (2008), can I assume that for purposes of the “5-year rule” (in determining if future withdrawals of earnings will be taxed/penalized), that my 5 years will still start from the same time (January 1, 2008)?

    I know I’ve asked A LOT here, but a nice big whopping 10 points to whoever can try to address everything.

    • ANSWER:
      We generally use rollover when referring to investments like Certificates of Deposit (CD’s). When the 3 month matures, you roll it over into another 3 month CD. Some are done automatically so you don’t have to fill out another paper.
      Conversions are when you have an option to buy shares of stock. One day you decide to convert your options into shares. You buy the shares. You have converted them or done a conversion.
      Some preferred shares are convertible into regular shares under certain conditions . When those conditions arrive, they are converted.
      We don’t use those terms for Roth’s or IRA’s. So i worry that you are going to make a bad decision just because you said the wrong term.
      You just want to take your Roth from your current employer to you new employer. Then you can change the plan to any new plan offered by the new employer. Anyone knows exactly what you want to do..

34. QUESTION:
    Personal Finance………..?
    1. Match the following words to its correct definition.
    A. General and progressive increase in prices
    B. Investment in which you are loaning money for a certain time period to the issuer
    C. Individual retirement account in which a person can set aside after-tax income up to a specified amount each year, earnings are tax-free, and tax free withdrawals may be made after age 59 1/2
    D. Distributions of profit a company pays you because you own stock in that corporation
    E. Supplemental retirement system in the United States
    F. Individual Retirement Account
    G. The amount of money you make on an investment in relation to the amount of time your money is invested stated as an annual percentage
    H. Quick and easy way to estimate how long it will take for you to double your money
    I. Type of tax-qualified deferred compensation plan in which an employee can elect to have the employer contribute a portion of his or her cash wages to the plan on a pretax basis
    J. Retirement plan for certain employees of public schools, employees of certain tax-exempt organizations and certain ministers
    K. An exchange where security trading is conducted by professional stockbrokers
    L. The age at which someone stops working permanently
    M. Asset purchased for profit
    N. An arrangement to provide income to people when they are no longer earning income
    O. Collection of financial securities (stocks, bonds, cash) that is managed by a company or a person on behalf of many investors

    Rule of 72
    Dividend
    Mutual Fund
    Bond
    Stock Market
    Rate of Return
    Inflation
    Pension
    Retirement
    Social Security
    IRA
    Roth IRA
    401K
    403b
    Investment2.

    How do mutual funds reduce risk?
    A) They invest in stocks
    B) They provide investment diversification
    C) They use an investment manager
    D) None of the above

    3. Your grandpa is 62 and asks you if he is eligible to collect Social Security. What do you tell him?
    A) He could collect his full payment now.
    B) He could have started collecting at age 59 1/2.
    C) He can receive reduced payments now.
    D) None of the above.

    4. Which type of account is usually used when employees can have a matching contribution from their employer?
    A) Roth IRA
    B) Traditional IRA
    C) 401k
    D) 403b

    5. In the future, you and your friends plan to receive Social Security after you retire. At what age can you currently plan to receive full benefits?
    A) 59 1/2
    B) 62
    C) 65
    D) 67

    6. Which type of individual retirement account should you choose if you want your contributions to be tax deductible?
    A) Roth IRA
    B) Traditional IRA
    C) 401k
    D) 403b

    7. When you reinvest dividends,
    A) you will receive them by check
    B) you will receive them by direct deposit
    C) the dividends are deposited into a Certificate of Deposit
    D) the dividends are used to buy more shares of stock

    8. Bonds are known as
    A) fixed income investments
    B) equities
    C) dividends
    D) no load mutual funds

    9. When you purchase stock in a corporation
    A) you are loaning money to the corporation
    B) you are technically becoming a part owner of that corporation
    C) you do NOT earn the right to vote on the direction of the company
    D) you have to own the stock for at least one year before you are allowed to sell it.

    10. Which of the following is the oldest measure of the U.S. stock market and the most widely used indicator of stock market activity?
    A) The NASDAQ
    B) The S&P 500
    C) The Dow Jones Industrial Average
    D) The Russell 2000

    11. The total value of the securities a mutual fund owns divided by the number of shares outstanding is known as the mutual fund’s
    A) Face Value
    B) Net Asset Value
    C) Market Value
    D) Yield

    12. Mutual Funds called “load” funds charge a high flat fee whyou purchase the fund or sell the fund.
    A) True
    B) False

    13. TD Ameritrade is an example of a full-service brokerage company.
    A) True
    B) False

    14. Treasury bonds are considered to be more risky than owning stocks.
    A) True
    B) False

    15. A Roth IRA is beneficial because your withdrawls are tax-free.
    A) True
    B) False

    16. IRA stands for Important Retirement Assets
    A) True
    B) False

    • ANSWER:
      That’s a lot of questions. If you care to email me any particular ones you are having trouble with, I’d be glad to help you. Or, if you email me your answers, I’d be glad to check them over for you. Good luck.

35. QUESTION:
    Where can I e-file if the IRS has a glitch and rejects all returns with error code 0448?
    If anyone else has had a rejected return i figured this info might help. This is not the tax sites error. . this is global for many of the companies like TaxBrain, TT, TaxAct, and most others. Here is the IRS notice:

    Subject: Individual Filers- Error Reject Code 0448 Auto forwarded by a Rule

    ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file
    Providers/EROs:
    We are experiencing a problem with Error Reject Code 0448 rejecting returns in error. The problem is being researched. When the problem has been corrected, we will issue another Quick Alert. Error Reject Code 0448 reads:
    Form 1040/1040A – If taxpayer age is 70 1/2 at the end of tax year and IRA Deduction of Form 1040 (SEQ 0700) and Form 1040A (SEQ 0626) is significant, taxpayer cannot deduct any contributions to traditional IRA or treat them as nondeductible contributions for they are ineligible for IRA Deduction.

    • ANSWER:
      Give it time, they will have the glitch fixed soon, if not already… There are too many millions of taxpayers that E-file for the system to stay down long….

36. QUESTION:
    Can you answer these multiple choice questions for business class?
    1. The major difference between a 401(k) plan and a 403(b) plan is:
    the number
    A.) the fact that one earns interest and the other doesn’t
    B.) the fact that one allows for matching contributions from your employer and the other doesn’t
    C.) the fact that one allows you to put away money tax-free and the other doesn’t

    2. How is the length of time calculated that it takes to double your money?
    A.) by dividing the interest rate by the number of times it is compounded during the year
    B.) by multiplying the principal by the interest rate
    C.) by the rule of 72
    D.) by multiplying the interest rate by the number of years that the interest is applied

    3. With regard to savings, liquidity is a measure of:
    A.) how quickly and easily you can get cash from your account
    B.) how often interest compounds
    C.) the size of the account’s principal
    D.) an account’s return on your investment

    4. The major difference between a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA is:
    A.) the amount you are allowed to put in
    B.) when you pay taxes on that money
    C.) the interest earned

    5. Interest that you earn on a savings account is:
    A.) the money that you deposit that continues to grow as long as the account is active
    B.) money that financial institutions pay you for the use of your money
    C.) the balance in your savings account at the end of a certain period
    D.) the money you must pay in order to keep a savings account active

    6. Of the following types of accounts, which pays the highest total interest over time?
    A.) one that offers interest that is compounded quarterly
    B.) one that offers interest that is compounded daily
    C.) one that offers interest that is compounded yearly
    D.) one that offers simple interest

    7. The type of investment that is similar to an IOU, usually to the federal government, is called a:
    A.) bond
    B.) certificate of deposit
    C.) commission
    D.) stock

    8. If you invested ,500 in a very successful mutual fund (12% return a year), how long would it take for you to have a balance of ,000 in that account?
    A.) 2 years
    B.) 4 years
    C.) 6 years
    D.) 8 years

    9. The type of investment in the following list that insures that you will not lose your money is:
    A.) a stock
    B.) a mutual fund
    C.) a certificate of deposit

    10. When you have your bank or another organization automatically take money out of your paycheck amount to put into savings or apply toward a bill, you are utilizing:
    A.) direct deposit
    B.) payroll deduction
    C.) direct deduction
    I did my own homework for Christ’s sake.
    It just takes forever to get graded and I want to see how many I got right RIGHT NOW! lol

    • ANSWER:
      1 A
      2 C
      3.A
      4.B
      5.B
      6.B
      7.A
      8.D
      9.C
      10B

37. QUESTION:
    severance check advice — experienced replies please?
    my question is what to do with a 50k severance check i recently received. working in same industry as before making same salary (just under six figures).

    i own a rent house on which i owe 25k. total payment for it is 430/month but i rent it for 650/month. my loan is through a local bank… 8% interest… 15 year loan… been paying 0 extra every month since loan began. could deposit 25k into CD and borrow at 2% above what they’re currently paying (~2%).

    my own house payment is ~1800/mnth (600/month of this is taxes). our loan is 5 years old/we haven’t missed a payment/don’t intend to. loan is for ~200,000 at 5.25% for 30 years. would consider refinancing to another 30-year at 4-4.5% but dont’ know if A) could find rates like this or B) if it’d be cost-effective to do so (closing costs, etc.).

    contribute about 4% to 401k.

    have ~80k in roth iras, traditional iras and individual stocks.

    have two kids. have not begun college savings plan for them.

    own car on which we owe 9k (about 320/month).

    where to start? pay off car first, put that extra 320 toward rent house? pay extra on house or is it worth it? gotta set up college 529 or other plans for college – what do? contribute to roths? beef up 401k?

    main goal: be out of debt. can follow dave ramsey’s rules.

    any/all SMART advice appreciated.

    • ANSWER:
      A couple of things Dave would tell you.

      You don’t OWN your car if you OWE K on it.

      If you have paid on your home for 5 years, you should never even think about refinancing for 30 years. 15 maybe, but you don;t want to drag this out forever.

      You talk about investing in a CD and borrowing. Dave would never consider that.

      If I were you, I would pay off the cars and rent house, invest a little for college, and use the rest as my emergency fund.

38. QUESTION:
    which way would u do this …refi/cashout/payoff? debt?
    Pre-inherit.
    I Make 0 less in income than I need to pay bills.
    All bills are bieng paid in full except cc debt/lineofcreditdebt.

    CC/line are minimum paid right now.
    Debt is about k or so.

    My yearly income is k approximtely.

    New income from inheritance will be 6% of inheritance at 57-55 per month for the next 21 years max.

    Also I have k in IRA’s (part traditional part roth).
    Part could be pulled rule 72T to save on penalty.

    If u knew the income was going to be like above.. would u rule out cashing the ira (w or wo penalty).

    Doing so always me to d afresh start..
    I can immediately rebuild everything & spend the years on a postiive upswing instead of paying on the debt for next 2-5 years.

    Question: knowing the above, why not cash the IRA, one year after the pullout I would be able to contribute the max allowed to iras till I have to stop.
    started last month…I already got payment #1
    Though i was told it would be 55 and it was 57 instead (thats other issues).

    I do figure on not touching the first month or two of trust income.
    Not behind, but will be real quick.
    Even with the extra income…there will be little room to pay off the debt in less than 2-5 years.

    Unless I do nothing and have no life and no enjoyment of life at 49.

    Plus my wifes health is suffering, and the cashflow increase would help avoid problems later on.
    Um… begining last month I get 57-55 per month for the next 21 years…
    I have no intention to renting…around here it actually can cost more to rent than to buy a home. In fact I had hoped to actually buy a new house in 5 years or less…. and actually use the new cash flow to fix up old place for sale.

    • ANSWER:
      I would not start counting your inheritance $ until you see it consistently in your checking account. Do you know how soon this inheritance $ will start showing up. How much time do you have before you see a dime?.. If you can avoid, withdrawing $ from your IRA, you are doing yourself a favor, because typicallly money investing in the stock market doubles every 7 years on average. You can always try cosumer credit counseling.. If you are at the point where you don’t care about your credit anymore and are about give up, I can see why you would want to withdraw $ from you IRA, but keep in mind that money is EXEMPT from creditors. Meaning if you went into consumer counseling or went bankrupt or just stopped paying them, creditors can never go after that money, at least that is the case in most states. If you dont care about your credit score and dont plan on buying a house anytime soon, dont mind renting for a few years that is also an option. You didnt say you are behind in your bills, but it looks like you dont have hardly any $$ left,, You are the ideal candidate for chapter 7 bankruptcy> i am not an attorney but i’ve been through this route before.. and just form my experiece you can save yourself the 19K in your IRA. it is in a retirement account and is treated different, also think of the that 19K, it will be worth much more in 5, 10 , 15 years.. just my 2 cents worth.. id be glad to talk to you more about it , danbarroso@yahoo.com

39. QUESTION:
    Liberals are followers and Bush is a leader. Its better to be right than popular?
    President Bush’s Accomplishments

    Abortion & Traditional Values
    1. Banned Partial Birth Abortion — by far the most significant roll-back of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade. 2. Reversed Clinton’s move to strike Reagan’s anti-abortion Mexico Policy. 3. By Executive Order (EO), reversed Clinton’s policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act. 4. By EO, prohibited federal funds for international family planning groups that provide abortions and related services. 5. Upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals. 6. Made million available for abstinence education programs in 2004. 7. Supports the Defense of Marriage Act — and a Constitutional amendment saying marriage is between one man and one woman. 8. Requires states to conduct criminal background checks on prospective foster and adoptive parents. 9. Requires districts to let students transfer out of dangerous schools. 10. Requires schools to have a zero-tolerance policy for classroom disruption (reintroducing discipline into classrooms). 11. Signed the Teacher Protection Act, which protects teachers from lawsuits related to student discipline. 12. Expanded the role of faith-based and community organizations in after-school programs.
    Budget, Taxes & Economy
    1. Signed two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value tax cut in world history. 2. Supports permanent elimination of the death tax. 3. Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession, and deeply shocked as a result of the 9/11 attacks. 4. Is seeking legislation to amend the Constitution to give the president line-item veto authority. 5. In process of permanently eliminating IRS marriage penalty. 6. Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people. 7. Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts. 8. Killed Clinton’s “ergonomic” rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules would have shut down every home business in America. 9. Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals. 10. Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains. 11. Signed trade promotion authority. 12. Reduced and is working to ultimately eliminate the estate tax for family farms and ranches. 13. Fight Europe’s ban on importing biotech crops from the United States. 14. Exempt food from unilateral trade sanctions and embargoes. 15. Provided million to states to help people with disabilities work from home. 16. Created a fund to encourage technologies that help the disabled. 17. Increased the annual contribution limit on Education IRA’s from 0 to ,000 per child. 18. Make permanent the ,000 adoption tax credit and provide billion over five years to increase the credit to ,000. 19. Grant a complete tax exemption for prepaid or college tuition savings plans. 20. Reduced H1B visas from a high of 195,000 per year to 66,000 per year.
    Character & Conduct as President
    1. Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the presidency. 2. Has reintroduced the mention of God and faith into public discourse. 3. Handled himself with enormous courage, dignity, grace, determination, and leadership in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 hijackings and anthrax attacks. He almost single-handedly held this country together during those searing days:
    Just three days after the attacks, in his address at the National Cathedral, the President reassured the nation when he said: “War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing.”
    On Friday, September 14, 2001, President Bush visited Ground Zero. Standing on a crushed and burned fire engine atop the smoldering pile at Ground Zero, he put his arm around a retired firefighter who had volunteered to help, and began speaking to the crowd. Rescue workers shouted that they could not hear him. Someone handed him a small American flag and bullhorn. The President spontaneously shouted: “I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.” The crowd roared with cheers and chants of “USA! USA! USA!” Then he raised that American flag and rallied a nation.
    Education & Employment Training
    1. Signed the No Child Left Behind Act, delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations). The very liberal California Teachers union is currently running radio ads against the accountability provisions of this Act. 2. Announced “Jobs for the 21st Century,” a comprehensive plan to better prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening post-secondary education and job training, and by improving high school education. 3. Is working to provide vouchers to low-income students in persistently failing schools to help with costs of attending private schools. (Blocked in the Senate.) 4. Requires annual reading and math tests in grades three through eight. 5. Requires states to participate in the National Assessment of Education Progress, or an equivalent program, to establish a national benchmark for academic performance. 6. Requires school-by-school accountability report cards. 7. Established a .4 billion fund to help states implement teacher accountability systems. 8. Increased funding for the Troops-to-Teachers program, which recruits former military personnel to become teachers.
    Environment & Energy
    1. Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty. 2. Submitted a comprehensive Energy Plan (awaits Congressional action). The plan works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc. 3. Established a million grant program to promote private conservation initiatives. 4. Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops. 5. Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary cleanup of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger. 6. Part of national forests cleanup: Restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges), and removed the need for an Environmental Impact Statement before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger. 7. Killed Clinton’s CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California. 8. Provided matching grants for state programs that help private landowners protect rare species.
    Defense & Foreign Policy
    1. Successfully executed two wars in the aftermath of 9/11/01: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom. 2. Saddam Hussein is now in prison. His two murderous sons are dead. All but a handful of the regime’s senior members were killed or captured. 3. Leader by leader and member by member, al Maida is being hunted down in dozens of countries around the world. Of the senior al Qaeda leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators the U.S. Government has been tracking, nearly two-thirds have been taken into custody or killed. The detentions or deaths of senior al Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, the mastermind of 9/11, and Muhammad Atef, Osama bin Laden’s second-in-command until his death in late 2001, have been important in the War on Terror. 4. Disarmed Libya of its chemical, nuclear and biological WMD’s without bribes or bloodshed. 5. Continues to execute the War On Terror, getting worldwide cooperation to track funds/terrorists. Has cut off much of the terrorists’ funding, and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network. 6. Initiated a comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, and which accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE capabilities were critical in the 21st Century. 7. Killed the old US/Soviet Union ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses. 8. Has been one of the strongest, if not THE strongest friend Israel has ever hand in the U.S. presidency. 9. Part of the coalition for an Israeli/Palestinian “Roadmap to Peace,” along with Great Britain, Russia and the EU. 10. Pushed through THREE raises for our military. Increased military pay by more than billion a year. 11. Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia. 12. Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia, and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ. 13. Prohibited putting U.S. troops under U.N. command. 14. Paid back UN dues only in return for reforms and reduction of U.S. share of the costs. 15. Earmarked at least 20 percent of the Defense procurement budget for next-generation weaponry. 16. Increased defense research and development spending by at least billion from fiscal 2002 to 2006. 17. Ordered a comprehensive review of military weapons and strategy. 18. Ordered a review of overseas deployments. 19. Ordered renovation of military housing. The military has already upgraded about 10 percent of its inventory and expects to modernize 76,000 additional homes this year. 20. Is working to tighten restrictions on military-technology exports. 21. Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed.
    Globalization & Internationalism
    1. Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become another League of Nations (in other words, showed the UN to be completely irrelevant). 2. Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court. 3. Told the United Nations we weren’t interested in their plans for gun control (i.e., the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty).* 4. The only President since the founding of the UN to essentially tell that organization it is irrelevant. He said: “The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of UN demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?” We all know the outcome and the answer. 5. Told the Congress and the world, “America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country.”
    Government Reform
    1. Improved government efficiency by putting hundreds of thousands of jobs put up for bid. This weakens public-sector unions and cuts undeserved pay raises. 2. Initiated review of all federal agencies with the goal of eliminating federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of the federal government while increasing private sector jobs. 3. Led the most extensive reorganization the Federal bureaucracy in over 50 years: After 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency, the Department of Homeland Security.* 4. Ordered each agency to draft a five-year plan to restructure itself, with fewer managers. 5. Converted federal service contracts to performance-based contracts wherever possible so that the contractor has measurable performance goals.
    Health
    1. Strengthen the National Health Service Corps to put more physicians in the neediest areas, and make its scholarship funds tax-free. 2. Double the research budget of the National Institutes of Health. 3. Signed Medicare Reform, which includes:
    A 10-year privatization option.
    Prescription drug benefits: Prior to this reform, Medicare paid for extended hospital stays for ulcer surgery, for example, at a cost of about ,000 per patient. Yet Medicare would not pay for the drugs that eliminate the cause of most ulcers, drugs that cost about 0 a year. Now, drug coverage under Medicare will allow seniors to replace more expensive surgeries and hospitalizations with less expensive prescription medicine.
    More health care choices: As President Bush stated, “…when seniors have the ability to make choices, health care plans within Medicare will have to compete for their business by offering higher quality service [at lower cost]. For the seniors of America, more choices and more control will mean better health care. These are the kinds of health care options we give to the members of Congress and federal employees. What’s good for members of Congress is also good for seniors.
    New Health Savings Accounts: Effective January 1, 2004, Americans can set aside up to ,500 every year, tax free, to save for medical expenses. Depending on your tax bracket, that means you’ll save between 10 to 35 percent on any costs covered by money in your account. Every year, the money not spent would stay in the account and gain interest tax-free, just like an IRA. These accounts will be good for small business owners, and employees. More businesses can focus on covering workers for major medical problems, such as hospitalization for an injury or illness. At the same time, employees and their families will use these accounts to cover doctors visits, or lab tests, or other smaller costs. Some employers will contribute to employee health accounts. This will help more American families get the health care they need at the price they can afford.
    Homeland Security, Border Enforcement & Immigration
    1. *See Government Reform above. Under President Bush’s leadership, America has made an unprecedented commitment to homeland security. 2. Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first 10 ABM silos in Alaska so that America will have a defense against North Korean nukes. Has ordered national and theater ballistic missile defenses to be deployed by 2004. 3. Announced a 9.7% increase in government-wide homeland security funding in his FY 2005 budget, nearly tripling the FY 2001 levels (excluding the Department of Defense and Project BioShield). 4. Before DHS was created, there were inspectors from three different agencies of the Federal Government and Border Patrol officers protecting our borders. Through DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now consolidates all border activities into a single agency to create “one face at the border.” This not only better secures the borders of the United States, but it also eliminates many of the inefficiencies that occurred under the old system. With over 18,000 CBP inspectors and 11,000 Border Patrol agents, CBP has 29,000 uniformed officers on our borders. 5. The Border Patrol is continuing installation of monitoring devices along the borders to detect illegal activity. 6. Launched Operation Tarmac to investigate businesses and workers in the secure areas of domestic airports and ensure immigration law compliance. Since 9/11, DHS has audited 3,640 businesses, examined 259,037 employee records, arrested 1,030 unauthorized workers, and participated in the criminal indictment of 774 individuals. 7. Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard has conducted more than 124,000 port security patrols, 13,000 air patrols, boarded more than 92,000 vessels, interdicted over 14,000 individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally, and created and maintained more than 90 Maritime Security Zones. 8. Announced the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an internet-based system that is improving America’s ability to track and monitor foreign students and exchange visitors. Over 870,000 students are registered in SEVIS. Of 285 completed field investigations, 71 aliens were arrested. 9. This week, the US-VISIT program began to digitally collect biometric identifiers to record the entry and exit of aliens who travel into the U.S on a visa. Together with the standard information, this new program will confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies. 10. Eliminated INS bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability. 11. Split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two agencies: one to protect the border and interior, the other to deal with naturalization. 12. Signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal aliens. 13. Established a six-month deadline for processing immigration applications. 14. Information regarding nearly 100% of all containerized cargo is carefully screened by DHS before it arrives in the United States. Higher risk shipments are physically inspected for terrorist weapons and contraband prior to being released from the port of entry. Advanced technologies are being deployed to identify warning signs of chemical, biological, or radiological attacks. Since September 11, 2001, hundreds of thousands of first responders across America have been trained to recognize and respond to the effects of a WMD attack.
    Judiciary & Tort Reform
    1. Is urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits. 2. Killed the liberal ABA’s unconstitutional role in vetting federal judges. The Senate is supposed to advise and consent, not the ABA. 3. Is nominating strong, conservative judges to the judiciary. 4. Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims.
    Politics
    1. His leadership resulted in Republican gains in the House and Senate, solidifying Republican control of both houses of Congress and the presidency. 2. Signed an EO enforcing the Supreme Court’s Beck decision regarding union dues being used for political campaigns against individual’s wishes.
    Second Amendment
    1. Ordered Attorney General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, and is NOT a Leftist-imagined “collective” right. 2. Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit. 3. Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers. 4. *See Globalization & Internationalism.
    Traditional Values, Compassion & Volunteerism
    1. Endorses and promotes “The Responsibility Era.” President Bush often speaks of the necessity of personal responsibility and civic volunteerism. He said, “In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you’ve got a problem, blame somebody else — to one in which every single American understands that he or she is responsible for the decisions that you make; you’re responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you’re responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you’re responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you’re responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself.” 2. Started the USA Freedom Corps, the most comprehensive clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities ever offered. For the first time in history, Americans can enter geographic information about where they want to get involved, such as state or zip code, as well as areas of interest ranging from education to the environment, and they can access volunteer opportunities offered by more than 50,000 organizations across the country and around the world. 3. Established the The White House Office and the Centers for the Faith-Based and Community Initiative — located in seven Federal agencies. The faith-based initiative supports the essential work of these important organizations. The goal is to make sure that grassroots leaders can compete on an equal footing for federal dollars, receive greater private support, and face fewer bureaucratic barriers. Work focuses on at-risk youth, ex-offenders, the homeless and hungry, substance abusers, those with HIV/AIDS, and welfare-to-work families. 4. The White House released a guidebook fully describing the Administration’s belief that faith-based groups have a Constitutionally-protected right to maintain their religious identity through hiring — even when Federal funds are involved. 5. Issued an EO implementing the Supreme Court’s Olmstead ruling, which requires moving disabled people from institutions to community-based facilities when possible. 6. Increased funding for low-interest loan programs to help people with disabilities purchase devices to assist them. 7. Revised the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 rent subsidies to disabled people, permitting them to use up to a year’s worth of vouchers to finance down payments on homes. HUD has started pilot programs in 11 states. 8. Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men, women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa. 9. Heeding the words of our own Declaration of Independence, the president laid out the non-negotiable demands of human dignity for all people everywhere. On January 29, 2002, he said, “No nation owns these aspirations, and no nation is exempt from them. We have no intention of imposing our culture. But America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity.” As stated by the President, they are a virtual manifesto of conservative principles:
    Equal Justice
    Freedom of Speech
    Limited Government Power
    Private Property Rights
    Religious Tolerance
    Respect for Women
    Rule of Law

    • ANSWER:
      First of all you shoud be called a great BIG conservative. To be an American you should have respect for the Constitution and what it stands for. The current admin does not even recognize to Constitution. Mr. Bush considers it “A god damn piece of paper” Cheney cannot even remember that the military oath is to defend the Constitution. (His memory failed during a prepared speech to West Point graduates)
      At the end of your dissertation you requote Mr Bush as stating he he stands firm for non-negotiable demands of human dignity.
      So far during his watch:
      Rescue workers at ground zero were lied to regarding their health.
      Habeus Corpis was revoked after 200 years
      Torture was instituted (including children)
      Americans have had their phone conversations eaves dropped upon.
      The public has been lied to regarding war.
      Thousand of American soldiers have died
      Hundred of thousands of Iraqi citizens have been murdered.
      The deficit is at 3 Trillion dollars and the American dollar may collapse because of the debt.
      Gas prices have risen dramatically and that is not due to the price of oil. The refineries are not working at capacitiy and the oil companies ( this admin. is a part of) have raked in record profits.
      The middle class has eroded. Americans are now putting living expenses on their credit card.
      The government has not been held accoutable to the people.
      Women are certainly not respected when the ban on late-term abortions did not include emergencies concerning the life of the mother.
      Religion is only tolerated if you believe in the approved God.
      Property Rights are not respected when you consider “eminant domain”
      Freedom of speech is only “free” when you agree with the policies of the admin. (or if your FOX noise)
      There is NO equal justice since this current regime has taken power and eroded our civil rights. The same rights that we are supposedly defending with the war on terror.
      The USA has not signed the Kyoto accords.
      The USA has NEVER signed any UN resolutions regarding human rights.
      The USA does not belong to the International Court so none of our leaders can be tried for human rights violations or crimes against humanity.
      Stop listening to the propaganda and do some independent research before you regurgitate the “official line”.
      This president may think he has principles but he certainly does not abide by them. The sheep that are following are fellow Republicans (congress) and certainly NOT liberals!!!
      So whose idea of “right” are you speaking of?

40. QUESTION:
    Foreign Earned Income and Roth IRAs and Roth 401k?
    Hi. I am an expatriate. I file Form 2555 (Foreign Earned Income) and am able to exclude the maximum from my pay. My pay is above that threshold. I also have dividends, capital gains, and a military pension as my sources of income.

    I’ve searched the IRS.gov website and can’t find the answer to my questions, keep in mind I file Form 2555 with our joint Form 1040:

    1. Am I allowed to contribute to a Roth IRA (yes or no) according to the IRS rules?

    2. Am I allowed to contribute to a Roth 401k (yes or no) (my employer offers it along with a traditional 401k) according to the IRS rules?

    3. Am I allowed to open and contribute to a spousal Roth IRA for my wife (yes or no) according to the IRS rules?

    If you have the answers, please, would you also share the reference (title, chapter, page, and paragraph number(s)) so I can research it and have it for reference?

    Again, please keep in mind I file Form 2555 and a joint Form 1040.

    Thanks.

    • ANSWER:
      I am going to assume that you have over ,000 in nonexcluded wages and that you and your spouse are under 50. Add ,000 for each spouse age 50 or older. I am also assuming that your modified AGI is under 6,000 (which includes the excluded income).

      1. Yes
      2. Maybe
      3. Yes

      Answers to 1 and 3 are specifically addressed in IRS Pub 590. If you do not meet my assumptions, this publication details all other cases as well.

      http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p590.pdf

      To answer 2 you need to contact your HR Department. If you meet the rules for participation established by your employer, you may participate.

41. QUESTION:
    Why do libs avoid President Bush’s Accomplishments?
    President Bush’s Accomplishments

    Spotted at Rightnation.us and GOPUSA.com reprinted here for your pleasure. I encourage people who support Bush to learn how effective our President has been, and liberals ought to browse this too. Just remember, the liberal media can’t cover up the truth of his accomplishments. The Bush Administration 2001-2004
    Abortion & Traditional Values
    1. Banned Partial Birth Abortion — by far the most significant roll-back of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade. 2. Reversed Clinton’s move to strike Reagan’s anti-abortion Mexico Policy. 3. By Executive Order (EO), reversed Clinton’s policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act. 4. By EO, prohibited federal funds for international family planning groups that provide abortions and related services. 5. Upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals. 6. Made million available for abstinence education programs in 2004. 7. Supports the Defense of Marriage Act — and a Constitutional amendment saying marriage is between one man and one woman. 8. Requires states to conduct criminal background checks on prospective foster and adoptive parents. 9. Requires districts to let students transfer out of dangerous schools. 10. Requires schools to have a zero-tolerance policy for classroom disruption (reintroducing discipline into classrooms). 11. Signed the Teacher Protection Act, which protects teachers from lawsuits related to student discipline. 12. Expanded the role of faith-based and community organizations in after-school programs.
    Budget, Taxes & Economy
    1. Signed two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value tax cut in world history. 2. Supports permanent elimination of the death tax. 3. Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession, and deeply shocked as a result of the 9/11 attacks. 4. Is seeking legislation to amend the Constitution to give the president line-item veto authority. 5. In process of permanently eliminating IRS marriage penalty. 6. Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people. 7. Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts. 8. Killed Clinton’s “ergonomic” rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules would have shut down every home business in America. 9. Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals. 10. Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains. 11. Signed trade promotion authority. 12. Reduced and is working to ultimately eliminate the estate tax for family farms and ranches. 13. Fight Europe’s ban on importing biotech crops from the United States. 14. Exempt food from unilateral trade sanctions and embargoes. 15. Provided million to states to help people with disabilities work from home. 16. Created a fund to encourage technologies that help the disabled. 17. Increased the annual contribution limit on Education IRA’s from 0 to ,000 per child. 18. Make permanent the ,000 adoption tax credit and provide billion over five years to increase the credit to ,000. 19. Grant a complete tax exemption for prepaid or college tuition savings plans. 20. Reduced H1B visas from a high of 195,000 per year to 66,000 per year.
    Character & Conduct as President
    1. Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the presidency. 2. Has reintroduced the mention of God and faith into public discourse. 3. Handled himself with enormous courage, dignity, grace, determination, and leadership in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 hijackings and anthrax attacks. He almost single-handedly held this country together during those searing days:
    Just three days after the attacks, in his address at the National Cathedral, the President reassured the nation when he said: “War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing.”
    On Friday, September 14, 2001, President Bush visited Ground Zero. Standing on a crushed and burned fire engine atop the smoldering pile at Ground Zero, he put his arm around a retired firefighter who had volunteered to help, and began speaking to the crowd. Rescue workers shouted that they could not hear him. Someone handed him a small American flag and bullhorn. The President spontaneously shouted: “I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.” The crowd roared with cheers and chants of “USA! USA! USA!” Then he raised that American flag and rallied a nation.
    Education & Employment Training
    1. Signed the No Child Left Behind Act, delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations). The very liberal California Teachers union is currently running radio ads against the accountability provisions of this Act. 2. Announced “Jobs for the 21st Century,” a comprehensive plan to better prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening post-secondary education and job training, and by improving high school education. 3. Is working to provide vouchers to low-income students in persistently failing schools to help with costs of attending private schools. (Blocked in the Senate.) 4. Requires annual reading and math tests in grades three through eight. 5. Requires states to participate in the National Assessment of Education Progress, or an equivalent program, to establish a national benchmark for academic performance. 6. Requires school-by-school accountability report cards. 7. Established a .4 billion fund to help states implement teacher accountability systems. 8. Increased funding for the Troops-to-Teachers program, which recruits former military personnel to become teachers.
    Environment & Energy
    1. Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty. 2. Submitted a comprehensive Energy Plan (awaits Congressional action). The plan works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc. 3. Established a million grant program to promote private conservation initiatives. 4. Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops. 5. Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary cleanup of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger. 6. Part of national forests cleanup: Restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges), and removed the need for an Environmental Impact Statement before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger. 7. Killed Clinton’s CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California. 8. Provided matching grants for state programs that help private landowners protect rare species.
    Defense & Foreign Policy
    1. Successfully executed two wars in the aftermath of 9/11/01: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom. 2. Saddam Hussein is now in prison. His two murderous sons are dead. All but a handful of the regime’s senior members were killed or captured. 3. Leader by leader and member by member, al Maida is being hunted down in dozens of countries around the world. Of the senior al Qaeda leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators the U.S. Government has been tracking, nearly two-thirds have been taken into custody or killed. The detentions or deaths of senior al Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, the mastermind of 9/11, and Muhammad Atef, Osama bin Laden’s second-in-command until his death in late 2001, have been important in the War on Terror. 4. Disarmed Libya of its chemical, nuclear and biological WMD’s without bribes or bloodshed. 5. Continues to execute the War On Terror, getting worldwide cooperation to track funds/terrorists. Has cut off much of the terrorists’ funding, and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network. 6. Initiated a comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, and which accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE capabilities were critical in the 21st Century. 7. Killed the old US/Soviet Union ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses. 8. Has been one of the strongest, if not THE strongest friend Israel has ever hand in the U.S. presidency. 9. Part of the coalition for an Israeli/Palestinian “Roadmap to Peace,” along with Great Britain, Russia and the EU. 10. Pushed through THREE raises for our military. Increased military pay by more than billion a year. 11. Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia. 12. Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia, and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ. 13. Prohibited putting U.S. troops under U.N. command. 14. Paid back UN dues only in return for reforms and reduction of U.S. share of the costs. 15. Earmarked at least 20 percent of the Defense procurement budget for next-generation weaponry. 16. Increased defense research and development spending by at least billion from fiscal 2002 to 2006. 17. Ordered a comprehensive review of military weapons and strategy. 18. Ordered a review of overseas deployments. 19. Ordered renovation of military housing. The military has already upgraded about 10 percent of its inventory and expects to modernize 76,000 additional homes this year. 20. Is working to tighten restrictions on military-technology exports. 21. Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed.
    Globalization & Internationalism
    1. Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become another League of Nations (in other words, showed the UN to be completely irrelevant). 2. Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court. 3. Told the United Nations we weren’t interested in their plans for gun control (i.e., the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty).* 4. The only President since the founding of the UN to essentially tell that organization it is irrelevant. He said: “The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of UN demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?” We all know the outcome and the answer. 5. Told the Congress and the world, “America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country.”
    Government Reform
    1. Improved government efficiency by putting hundreds of thousands of jobs put up for bid. This weakens public-sector unions and cuts undeserved pay raises. 2. Initiated review of all federal agencies with the goal of eliminating federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of the federal government while increasing private sector jobs. 3. Led the most extensive reorganization the Federal bureaucracy in over 50 years: After 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency, the Department of Homeland Security.* 4. Ordered each agency to draft a five-year plan to restructure itself, with fewer managers. 5. Converted federal service contracts to performance-based contracts wherever possible so that the contractor has measurable performance goals.
    Health
    1. Strengthen the National Health Service Corps to put more physicians in the neediest areas, and make its scholarship funds tax-free. 2. Double the research budget of the National Institutes of Health. 3. Signed Medicare Reform, which includes:
    A 10-year privatization option.
    Prescription drug benefits: Prior to this reform, Medicare paid for extended hospital stays for ulcer surgery, for example, at a cost of about ,000 per patient. Yet Medicare would not pay for the drugs that eliminate the cause of most ulcers, drugs that cost about 0 a year. Now, drug coverage under Medicare will allow seniors to replace more expensive surgeries and hospitalizations with less expensive prescription medicine.
    More health care choices: As President Bush stated, “…when seniors have the ability to make choices, health care plans within Medicare will have to compete for their business by offering higher quality service [at lower cost]. For the seniors of America, more choices and more control will mean better health care. These are the kinds of health care options we give to the members of Congress and federal employees. What’s good for members of Congress is also good for seniors.
    New Health Savings Accounts: Effective January 1, 2004, Americans can set aside up to ,500 every year, tax free, to save for medical expenses. Depending on your tax bracket, that means you’ll save between 10 to 35 percent on any costs covered by money in your account. Every year, the money not spent would stay in the account and gain interest tax-free, just like an IRA. These accounts will be good for small business owners, and employees. More businesses can focus on covering workers for major medical problems, such as hospitalization for an injury or illness. At the same time, employees and their families will use these accounts to cover doctors visits, or lab tests, or other smaller costs. Some employers will contribute to employee health accounts. This will help more American families get the health care they need at the price they can afford.
    Homeland Security, Border Enforcement & Immigration
    1. *See Government Reform above. Under President Bush’s leadership, America has made an unprecedented commitment to homeland security. 2. Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first 10 ABM silos in Alaska so that America will have a defense against North Korean nukes. Has ordered national and theater ballistic missile defenses to be deployed by 2004. 3. Announced a 9.7% increase in government-wide homeland security funding in his FY 2005 budget, nearly tripling the FY 2001 levels (excluding the Department of Defense and Project BioShield). 4. Before DHS was created, there were inspectors from three different agencies of the Federal Government and Border Patrol officers protecting our borders. Through DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now consolidates all border activities into a single agency to create “one face at the border.” This not only better secures the borders of the United States, but it also eliminates many of the inefficiencies that occurred under the old system. With over 18,000 CBP inspectors and 11,000 Border Patrol agents, CBP has 29,000 uniformed officers on our borders. 5. The Border Patrol is continuing installation of monitoring devices along the borders to detect illegal activity. 6. Launched Operation Tarmac to investigate businesses and workers in the secure areas of domestic airports and ensure immigration law compliance. Since 9/11, DHS has audited 3,640 businesses, examined 259,037 employee records, arrested 1,030 unauthorized workers, and participated in the criminal indictment of 774 individuals. 7. Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard has conducted more than 124,000 port security patrols, 13,000 air patrols, boarded more than 92,000 vessels, interdicted over 14,000 individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally, and created and maintained more than 90 Maritime Security Zones. 8. Announced the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an internet-based system that is improving America’s ability to track and monitor foreign students and exchange visitors. Over 870,000 students are registered in SEVIS. Of 285 completed field investigations, 71 aliens were arrested. 9. This week, the US-VISIT program began to digitally collect biometric identifiers to record the entry and exit of aliens who travel into the U.S on a visa. Together with the standard information, this new program will confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies. 10. Eliminated INS bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability. 11. Split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two agencies: one to protect the border and interior, the other to deal with naturalization. 12. Signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal aliens. 13. Established a six-month deadline for processing immigration applications. 14. Information regarding nearly 100% of all containerized cargo is carefully screened by DHS before it arrives in the United States. Higher risk shipments are physically inspected for terrorist weapons and contraband prior to being released from the port of entry. Advanced technologies are being deployed to identify warning signs of chemical, biological, or radiological attacks. Since September 11, 2001, hundreds of thousands of first responders across America have been trained to recognize and respond to the effects of a WMD attack.
    Judiciary & Tort Reform
    1. Is urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits. 2. Killed the liberal ABA’s unconstitutional role in vetting federal judges. The Senate is supposed to advise and consent, not the ABA. 3. Is nominating strong, conservative judges to the judiciary. 4. Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims.
    Politics
    1. His leadership resulted in Republican gains in the House and Senate, solidifying Republican control of both houses of Congress and the presidency. 2. Signed an EO enforcing the Supreme Court’s Beck decision regarding union dues being used for political campaigns against individual’s wishes.
    Second Amendment
    1. Ordered Attorney General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, and is NOT a Leftist-imagined “collective” right. 2. Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit. 3. Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers. 4. *See Globalization & Internationalism.
    Traditional Values, Compassion & Volunteerism
    1. Endorses and promotes “The Responsibility Era.” President Bush often speaks of the necessity of personal responsibility and civic volunteerism. He said, “In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you’ve got a problem, blame somebody else — to one in which every single American understands that he or she is responsible for the decisions that you make; you’re responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you’re responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you’re responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you’re responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself.” 2. Started the USA Freedom Corps, the most comprehensive clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities ever offered. For the first time in history, Americans can enter geographic information about where they want to get involved, such as state or zip code, as well as areas of interest ranging from education to the environment, and they can access volunteer opportunities offered by more than 50,000 organizations across the country and around the world. 3. Established the The White House Office and the Centers for the Faith-Based and Community Initiative — located in seven Federal agencies. The faith-based initiative supports the essential work of these important organizations. The goal is to make sure that grassroots leaders can compete on an equal footing for federal dollars, receive greater private support, and face fewer bureaucratic barriers. Work focuses on at-risk youth, ex-offenders, the homeless and hungry, substance abusers, those with HIV/AIDS, and welfare-to-work families. 4. The White House released a guidebook fully describing the Administration’s belief that faith-based groups have a Constitutionally-protected right to maintain their religious identity through hiring — even when Federal funds are involved. 5. Issued an EO implementing the Supreme Court’s Olmstead ruling, which requires moving disabled people from institutions to community-based facilities when possible. 6. Increased funding for low-interest loan programs to help people with disabilities purchase devices to assist them. 7. Revised the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 rent subsidies to disabled people, permitting them to use up to a year’s worth of vouchers to finance down payments on homes. HUD has started pilot programs in 11 states. 8. Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men, women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa. 9. Heeding the words of our own Declaration of Independence, the president laid out the non-negotiable demands of human dignity for all people everywhere. On January 29, 2002, he said, “No nation owns these aspirations, and no nation is exempt from them. We have no intention of imposing our culture. But America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity.” As stated by the President, they are a virtual manifesto of conservative principles:
    Equal Justice
    Freedom of Speech
    Limited Government Power
    Private Property Rights
    Religious Tolerance
    Respect for Women
    Rule of Law

    • ANSWER:
      Great post! Libs quake at the thought of people who do things the right way.

42. QUESTION:
    Is this why the libs hate BUSH?
    President Bush’s Accomplishments

    Spotted at Rightnation.us and GOPUSA.com reprinted here for your pleasure. I encourage people who support Bush to learn how effective our President has been, and liberals ought to browse this too. Just remember, the liberal media can’t cover up the truth of his accomplishments. The Bush Administration 2001-2004
    Abortion & Traditional Values
    1. Banned Partial Birth Abortion — by far the most significant roll-back of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade. 2. Reversed Clinton’s move to strike Reagan’s anti-abortion Mexico Policy. 3. By Executive Order (EO), reversed Clinton’s policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act. 4. By EO, prohibited federal funds for international family planning groups that provide abortions and related services. 5. Upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals. 6. Made million available for abstinence education programs in 2004. 7. Supports the Defense of Marriage Act — and a Constitutional amendment saying marriage is between one man and one woman. 8. Requires states to conduct criminal background checks on prospective foster and adoptive parents. 9. Requires districts to let students transfer out of dangerous schools. 10. Requires schools to have a zero-tolerance policy for classroom disruption (reintroducing discipline into classrooms). 11. Signed the Teacher Protection Act, which protects teachers from lawsuits related to student discipline. 12. Expanded the role of faith-based and community organizations in after-school programs.
    Budget, Taxes & Economy
    1. Signed two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value tax cut in world history. 2. Supports permanent elimination of the death tax. 3. Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession, and deeply shocked as a result of the 9/11 attacks. 4. Is seeking legislation to amend the Constitution to give the president line-item veto authority. 5. In process of permanently eliminating IRS marriage penalty. 6. Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people. 7. Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts. 8. Killed Clinton’s “ergonomic” rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules would have shut down every home business in America. 9. Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals. 10. Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains. 11. Signed trade promotion authority. 12. Reduced and is working to ultimately eliminate the estate tax for family farms and ranches. 13. Fight Europe’s ban on importing biotech crops from the United States. 14. Exempt food from unilateral trade sanctions and embargoes. 15. Provided million to states to help people with disabilities work from home. 16. Created a fund to encourage technologies that help the disabled. 17. Increased the annual contribution limit on Education IRA’s from 0 to ,000 per child. 18. Make permanent the ,000 adoption tax credit and provide billion over five years to increase the credit to ,000. 19. Grant a complete tax exemption for prepaid or college tuition savings plans. 20. Reduced H1B visas from a high of 195,000 per year to 66,000 per year.
    Character & Conduct as President
    1. Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the presidency. 2. Has reintroduced the mention of God and faith into public discourse. 3. Handled himself with enormous courage, dignity, grace, determination, and leadership in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 hijackings and anthrax attacks. He almost single-handedly held this country together during those searing days:
    Just three days after the attacks, in his address at the National Cathedral, the President reassured the nation when he said: “War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing.”
    On Friday, September 14, 2001, President Bush visited Ground Zero. Standing on a crushed and burned fire engine atop the smoldering pile at Ground Zero, he put his arm around a retired firefighter who had volunteered to help, and began speaking to the crowd. Rescue workers shouted that they could not hear him. Someone handed him a small American flag and bullhorn. The President spontaneously shouted: “I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.” The crowd roared with cheers and chants of “USA! USA! USA!” Then he raised that American flag and rallied a nation.
    Education & Employment Training
    1. Signed the No Child Left Behind Act, delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations). The very liberal California Teachers union is currently running radio ads against the accountability provisions of this Act. 2. Announced “Jobs for the 21st Century,” a comprehensive plan to better prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening post-secondary education and job training, and by improving high school education. 3. Is working to provide vouchers to low-income students in persistently failing schools to help with costs of attending private schools. (Blocked in the Senate.) 4. Requires annual reading and math tests in grades three through eight. 5. Requires states to participate in the National Assessment of Education Progress, or an equivalent program, to establish a national benchmark for academic performance. 6. Requires school-by-school accountability report cards. 7. Established a .4 billion fund to help states implement teacher accountability systems. 8. Increased funding for the Troops-to-Teachers program, which recruits former military personnel to become teachers.
    Environment & Energy
    1. Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty. 2. Submitted a comprehensive Energy Plan (awaits Congressional action). The plan works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc. 3. Established a million grant program to promote private conservation initiatives. 4. Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops. 5. Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary cleanup of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger. 6. Part of national forests cleanup: Restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges), and removed the need for an Environmental Impact Statement before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger. 7. Killed Clinton’s CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California. 8. Provided matching grants for state programs that help private landowners protect rare species.
    Defense & Foreign Policy
    1. Successfully executed two wars in the aftermath of 9/11/01: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom. 2. Saddam Hussein is now in prison. His two murderous sons are dead. All but a handful of the regime’s senior members were killed or captured. 3. Leader by leader and member by member, al Maida is being hunted down in dozens of countries around the world. Of the senior al Qaeda leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators the U.S. Government has been tracking, nearly two-thirds have been taken into custody or killed. The detentions or deaths of senior al Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, the mastermind of 9/11, and Muhammad Atef, Osama bin Laden’s second-in-command until his death in late 2001, have been important in the War on Terror. 4. Disarmed Libya of its chemical, nuclear and biological WMD’s without bribes or bloodshed. 5. Continues to execute the War On Terror, getting worldwide cooperation to track funds/terrorists. Has cut off much of the terrorists’ funding, and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network. 6. Initiated a comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, and which accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE capabilities were critical in the 21st Century. 7. Killed the old US/Soviet Union ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses. 8. Has been one of the strongest, if not THE strongest friend Israel has ever hand in the U.S. presidency. 9. Part of the coalition for an Israeli/Palestinian “Roadmap to Peace,” along with Great Britain, Russia and the EU. 10. Pushed through THREE raises for our military. Increased military pay by more than billion a year. 11. Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia. 12. Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia, and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ. 13. Prohibited putting U.S. troops under U.N. command. 14. Paid back UN dues only in return for reforms and reduction of U.S. share of the costs. 15. Earmarked at least 20 percent of the Defense procurement budget for next-generation weaponry. 16. Increased defense research and development spending by at least billion from fiscal 2002 to 2006. 17. Ordered a comprehensive review of military weapons and strategy. 18. Ordered a review of overseas deployments. 19. Ordered renovation of military housing. The military has already upgraded about 10 percent of its inventory and expects to modernize 76,000 additional homes this year. 20. Is working to tighten restrictions on military-technology exports. 21. Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed.
    Globalization & Internationalism
    1. Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become another League of Nations (in other words, showed the UN to be completely irrelevant). 2. Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court. 3. Told the United Nations we weren’t interested in their plans for gun control (i.e., the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty).* 4. The only President since the founding of the UN to essentially tell that organization it is irrelevant. He said: “The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of UN demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?” We all know the outcome and the answer. 5. Told the Congress and the world, “America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country.”
    Government Reform
    1. Improved government efficiency by putting hundreds of thousands of jobs put up for bid. This weakens public-sector unions and cuts undeserved pay raises. 2. Initiated review of all federal agencies with the goal of eliminating federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of the federal government while increasing private sector jobs. 3. Led the most extensive reorganization the Federal bureaucracy in over 50 years: After 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency, the Department of Homeland Security.* 4. Ordered each agency to draft a five-year plan to restructure itself, with fewer managers. 5. Converted federal service contracts to performance-based contracts wherever possible so that the contractor has measurable performance goals.
    Health
    1. Strengthen the National Health Service Corps to put more physicians in the neediest areas, and make its scholarship funds tax-free. 2. Double the research budget of the National Institutes of Health. 3. Signed Medicare Reform, which includes:
    A 10-year privatization option.
    Prescription drug benefits: Prior to this reform, Medicare paid for extended hospital stays for ulcer surgery, for example, at a cost of about ,000 per patient. Yet Medicare would not pay for the drugs that eliminate the cause of most ulcers, drugs that cost about 0 a year. Now, drug coverage under Medicare will allow seniors to replace more expensive surgeries and hospitalizations with less expensive prescription medicine.
    More health care choices: As President Bush stated, “…when seniors have the ability to make choices, health care plans within Medicare will have to compete for their business by offering higher quality service [at lower cost]. For the seniors of America, more choices and more control will mean better health care. These are the kinds of health care options we give to the members of Congress and federal employees. What’s good for members of Congress is also good for seniors.
    New Health Savings Accounts: Effective January 1, 2004, Americans can set aside up to ,500 every year, tax free, to save for medical expenses. Depending on your tax bracket, that means you’ll save between 10 to 35 percent on any costs covered by money in your account. Every year, the money not spent would stay in the account and gain interest tax-free, just like an IRA. These accounts will be good for small business owners, and employees. More businesses can focus on covering workers for major medical problems, such as hospitalization for an injury or illness. At the same time, employees and their families will use these accounts to cover doctors visits, or lab tests, or other smaller costs. Some employers will contribute to employee health accounts. This will help more American families get the health care they need at the price they can afford.
    Homeland Security, Border Enforcement & Immigration
    1. *See Government Reform above. Under President Bush’s leadership, America has made an unprecedented commitment to homeland security. 2. Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first 10 ABM silos in Alaska so that America will have a defense against North Korean nukes. Has ordered national and theater ballistic missile defenses to be deployed by 2004. 3. Announced a 9.7% increase in government-wide homeland security funding in his FY 2005 budget, nearly tripling the FY 2001 levels (excluding the Department of Defense and Project BioShield). 4. Before DHS was created, there were inspectors from three different agencies of the Federal Government and Border Patrol officers protecting our borders. Through DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now consolidates all border activities into a single agency to create “one face at the border.” This not only better secures the borders of the United States, but it also eliminates many of the inefficiencies that occurred under the old system. With over 18,000 CBP inspectors and 11,000 Border Patrol agents, CBP has 29,000 uniformed officers on our borders. 5. The Border Patrol is continuing installation of monitoring devices along the borders to detect illegal activity. 6. Launched Operation Tarmac to investigate businesses and workers in the secure areas of domestic airports and ensure immigration law compliance. Since 9/11, DHS has audited 3,640 businesses, examined 259,037 employee records, arrested 1,030 unauthorized workers, and participated in the criminal indictment of 774 individuals. 7. Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard has conducted more than 124,000 port security patrols, 13,000 air patrols, boarded more than 92,000 vessels, interdicted over 14,000 individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally, and created and maintained more than 90 Maritime Security Zones. 8. Announced the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an internet-based system that is improving America’s ability to track and monitor foreign students and exchange visitors. Over 870,000 students are registered in SEVIS. Of 285 completed field investigations, 71 aliens were arrested. 9. This week, the US-VISIT program began to digitally collect biometric identifiers to record the entry and exit of aliens who travel into the U.S on a visa. Together with the standard information, this new program will confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies. 10. Eliminated INS bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability. 11. Split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two agencies: one to protect the border and interior, the other to deal with naturalization. 12. Signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal aliens. 13. Established a six-month deadline for processing immigration applications. 14. Information regarding nearly 100% of all containerized cargo is carefully screened by DHS before it arrives in the United States. Higher risk shipments are physically inspected for terrorist weapons and contraband prior to being released from the port of entry. Advanced technologies are being deployed to identify warning signs of chemical, biological, or radiological attacks. Since September 11, 2001, hundreds of thousands of first responders across America have been trained to recognize and respond to the effects of a WMD attack.
    Judiciary & Tort Reform
    1. Is urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits. 2. Killed the liberal ABA’s unconstitutional role in vetting federal judges. The Senate is supposed to advise and consent, not the ABA. 3. Is nominating strong, conservative judges to the judiciary. 4. Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims.
    Politics
    1. His leadership resulted in Republican gains in the House and Senate, solidifying Republican control of both houses of Congress and the presidency. 2. Signed an EO enforcing the Supreme Court’s Beck decision regarding union dues being used for political campaigns against individual’s wishes.
    Second Amendment
    1. Ordered Attorney General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, and is NOT a Leftist-imagined “collective” right. 2. Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit. 3. Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers. 4. *See Globalization & Internationalism.
    Traditional Values, Compassion & Volunteerism
    1. Endorses and promotes “The Responsibility Era.” President Bush often speaks of the necessity of personal responsibility and civic volunteerism. He said, “In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you’ve got a problem, blame somebody else — to one in which every single American understands that he or she is responsible for the decisions that you make; you’re responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you’re responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you’re responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you’re responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself.” 2. Started the USA Freedom Corps, the most comprehensive clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities ever offered. For the first time in history, Americans can enter geographic information about where they want to get involved, such as state or zip code, as well as areas of interest ranging from education to the environment, and they can access volunteer opportunities offered by more than 50,000 organizations across the country and around the world. 3. Established the The White House Office and the Centers for the Faith-Based and Community Initiative — located in seven Federal agencies. The faith-based initiative supports the essential work of these important organizations. The goal is to make sure that grassroots leaders can compete on an equal footing for federal dollars, receive greater private support, and face fewer bureaucratic barriers. Work focuses on at-risk youth, ex-offenders, the homeless and hungry, substance abusers, those with HIV/AIDS, and welfare-to-work families. 4. The White House released a guidebook fully describing the Administration’s belief that faith-based groups have a Constitutionally-protected right to maintain their religious identity through hiring — even when Federal funds are involved. 5. Issued an EO implementing the Supreme Court’s Olmstead ruling, which requires moving disabled people from institutions to community-based facilities when possible. 6. Increased funding for low-interest loan programs to help people with disabilities purchase devices to assist them. 7. Revised the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 rent subsidies to disabled people, permitting them to use up to a year’s worth of vouchers to finance down payments on homes. HUD has started pilot programs in 11 states. 8. Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men, women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa. 9. Heeding the words of our own Declaration of Independence, the president laid out the non-negotiable demands of human dignity for all people everywhere. On January 29, 2002, he said, “No nation owns these aspirations, and no nation is exempt from them. We have no intention of imposing our culture. But America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity.” As stated by the President, they are a virtual manifesto of conservative principles:
    Equal Justice
    Freedom of Speech
    Limited Government Power
    Private Property Rights
    Religious Tolerance
    Respect for Women
    Rule of Law

    ________________________________________
    TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
    KEYWORDS: bushlegacy; bushrecord; georgewbush; gwb2004
    ________________________________________

    1 posted on 03/12/2004 4:23:27 AM PST by Cincinatus’ Wife
    [ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies ]
    ________________________________________
    To: Cincinatus’ Wife
    Bush is our President. He fixed our country. He brought back family values. He made us strong in the face of danger. He is looing out for my childrens education. He has reduced my income tax.

    That’s why he gets my vote.

    2 posted on 03/12/2004 4:43:46 AM PST by EQAndyBuzz (60 Senate seats changes the world!! Bury Kerry in 04!)
    [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]
    ________________________________________
    To: Cincinatus’ Wife
    someone one point to the Medicare section and the savings accounts, someone scream at the conservatives who cry about drugs and point out ,000 for ulcer surgery vs 0 for medicine; Medical Savings Accounts as a way to have larger deductibles and more patient responsibility. THESE ARE CONSERVATIVE PROGRAMS!!
    Newt was all over TV praising this program one week after they passed it but RUSH who is a headline reader has gotten it wrong and cost Bush 10 points in the polls.

    3 posted on 03/12/2004 4:53:54 AM PST by q_an_a
    [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]
    ________________________________________
    To: Cincinatus’ Wife
    Bookmark for future reference

    4 posted on 03/12/2004 5:05:46 AM PST by Semper Vigilantis (1 democrat + 1 democrat = 5 opinions, 6 tax increases, 2 more welfare programs & 0 solutions.)
    [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]
    ________________________________________
    To: Cincinatus’ Wife
    wide open borders that allow narco terrorists al qaeda and chi coms open easy access to CONUS?

    5 posted on 03/12/2004 5:26:59 AM PST by joesnuffy (Moderate Islam Is For Dilettantes)
    [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]
    ________________________________________
    To: Cincinatus’ Wife
    Abortion & Traditional Values 1. Banned Partial Birth Abortion — by far the most significant roll-back of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade.
    2. Reversed Clinton’s move to strike Reagan’s anti-abortion Mexico Policy.
    3. By Executive Order (EO), reversed Clinton’s policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act.
    4. By EO, prohibited federal funds for international family planning groups that provide abortions and related services.
    5. Upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals.
    6. Made million available for abstinence education programs in 2004.
    7. Supports the Defense of Marriage Act — and a Constitutional amendment saying marriage is between one man and one woman.
    8. Requires states to conduct criminal background checks on prospective foster and adoptive parents.
    9. Requires districts to let students transfer out of dangerous schools.
    10. Requires schools to have a zero-tolerance policy for classroom disruption (reintroducing discipline into classrooms).
    11. Signed the Teacher Protection Act, which protects teachers from lawsuits related to student discipline.
    12. Expanded the role of faith-based and community organizations in after-school programs.
    Budget, Taxes & Economy
    1. Signed two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value tax cut in world history.
    2. Supports permanent elimination of the death tax.
    3. Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession, and deeply shocked as a result of the 9/11 attacks.
    4. Is seeking legislation to amend the Constitution to give the president line-item veto authority.
    5. In process of permanently eliminating IRS marriage penalty.
    6. Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people.
    7. Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts.
    8. Killed Clinton’s “ergonomic” rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules would have shut down every home business in America.
    9. Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals.
    10. Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains.
    11. Signed trade promotion authority.
    12. Reduced and is working to ultimately eliminate the estate tax for family farms and ranches.
    13. Fight Europe’s ban on importing biotech crops from the United States.
    14. Exempt food from unilateral trade sanctions and embargoes.
    15. Provided million to states to help people with disabilities work from home.
    16. Created a fund to encourage technologies that help the disabled.
    17. Increased the annual contribution limit on Education IRA’s from 0 to ,000 per child.
    18. Make permanent the ,000 adoption tax credit and provide billion over five years to increase the credit to ,000.
    19. Grant a complete tax exemption for prepaid or college tuition savings plans.
    20. Reduced H1B visas from a high of 195,000 per year to 66,000 per year.
    Character & Conduct as President
    1. Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the presidency.
    2. Has reintroduced the mention of God and faith into public discourse.
    3. Handled himself with enormous courage, dignity, grace, determination, and leadership in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 hijackings and anthrax attacks. He almost single-handedly held this country together during those searing days:
    Just three days after the attacks, in his address at the National Cathedral, the President reassured the nation when he said: “War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing.”
    On Friday, September 14, 2001, President Bush visited Ground Zero. Standing on a crushed and burned fire engine atop the smoldering pile at Ground Zero, he put his arm around a retired firefighter who had volunteered to help, and began speaking to the crowd. Rescue workers shouted that they could not hear him. Someone handed him a small American flag and bullhorn. The President spontaneously shouted: “I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.” The crowd roared with cheers and chants of “USA! USA! USA!” Then he raised that American flag and rallied a nation.
    Education & Employment Training
    1. Signed the No Child Left Behind Act, delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations). The very liberal California Teachers union is currently running radio ads against the accountability provisions of this Act.
    2. Announced “Jobs for the 21st Century,” a comprehensive plan to better prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening post-secondary education and job training, and by improving high school education.
    3. Is working to provide vouchers to low-income students in persistently failing schools to help with costs of attending private schools. (Blocked in the Senate.)
    4. Requires annual reading and math tests in grades three through eight.
    5. Requires states to participate in the National Assessment of Education Progress, or an equivalent program, to establish a national benchmark for academic performance.
    6. Requires school-by-school accountability report cards.
    7. Established a .4 billion fund to help states implement teacher accountability systems.
    8. Increased funding for the Troops-to-Teachers program, which recruits former military personnel to become teachers.
    Environment & Energy
    1. Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty.
    2. Submitted a comprehensive Energy Plan (awaits Congressional action). The plan works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc.
    3. Established a million grant program to promote private conservation initiatives.
    4. Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops.
    5. Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary cleanup of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger.
    6. Part of national forests cleanup: Restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges), and removed the need for an Environmental Impact Statement before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger.
    7. Killed Clinton’s CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California.
    8. Provided matching grants for state programs that help private landowners protect rare species.
    Defense & Foreign Policy
    1. Successfully executed two wars in the aftermath of 9/11/01: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom.
    2. Saddam Hussein is now in prison. His two murderous sons are dead. All but a handful of the regime’s senior members were killed or captured.
    3. Leader by leader and member by member, al Maida is being hunted down in dozens of countries around the world. Of the senior al Qaeda leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators the U.S. Government has been tracking, nearly two-thirds have been taken into custody or killed. The detentions or deaths of senior al Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, the mastermind of 9/11, and Muhammad Atef, Osama bin Laden’s second-in-command until his death in late 2001, have been important in the War on Terror.
    4. Disarmed Libya of its chemical, nuclear and biological WMD’s without bribes or bloodshed.
    5. Continues to execute the War On Terror, getting worldwide cooperation to track funds/terrorists. Has cut off much of the terrorists’ funding, and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network.
    6. Initiated a comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, and which accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE capabilities were critical in the 21st Century.
    7. Killed the old US/Soviet Union ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses.
    8. Has been one of the strongest, if not THE strongest friend Israel has ever hand in the U.S. presidency.
    9. Part of the coalition for an Israeli/Palestinian “Roadmap to Peace,” along with Great Britain, Russia and the EU.
    10. Pushed through THREE raises for our military. Increased military pay by more than billion a year.
    11. Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia.
    12. Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia, and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ. 13. Prohibited putting U.S. troops under U.N. command.
    14. Paid back UN dues only in return for reforms and reduction of U.S. share of the costs.
    15. Earmarked at least 20 percent of the Defense procurement budget for next-generation weaponry.
    16. Increased defense research and development spending by at least billion from fiscal 2002 to 2006.
    17. Ordered a comprehensive review of military weapons and strategy.
    18. Ordered a review of overseas deployments.
    19. Ordered renovation of military housing. The military has already upgraded about 10 percent of its inventory and expects to modernize 76,000 additional homes this year.
    20. Is working to tighten restrictions on military-technology exports.
    21. Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed.
    Globalization & Internationalism
    1. Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become another League of Nations (in other words, showed the UN to be completely irrelevant).
    2. Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court.
    3. Told the United Nations we weren’t interested in their plans for gun control (i.e., the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty).
    4. The only President since the founding of the UN to essentially tell that organization it is irrelevant. He said: “The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of UN demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?” We all know the outcome and the answer.
    5. Told the Congress and the world, “America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country.”
    Government Reform
    1. Improved government efficiency by putting hundreds of thousands of jobs put up for bid. This weakens public-sector unions and cuts undeserved pay raises.
    2. Initiated review of all federal agencies with the goal of eliminating federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of the federal government while increasing private sector jobs.
    3. Led the most extensive reorganization the Federal bureaucracy in over 50 years: After 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
    4. Ordered each agency to draft a five-year plan to restructure itself, with fewer managers.
    5. Converted federal service contracts to performance-based contracts wherever possible so that the contractor has measurable performance goals.
    Health<
    1. Strengthen the National Health Service Corps to put more physicians in the neediest areas, and make its scholarship funds tax-free.
    2. Double the research budget of the National Institutes of Health.
    3. Signed Medicare Reform, which includes:
    A 10-year privatization option.
    Prescription drug benefits: Prior to this reform, Medicare paid for extended hospital stays for ulcer surgery, for example, at a cost of about ,000 per patient. Yet Medicare would not pay for the drugs that eliminate the cause of most ulcers, drugs that cost about 0 a year. Now, drug coverage under Medicare will allow seniors to replace more expensive surgeries and hospitalizations with less expensive prescription medicine.
    More health care choices: As President Bush stated, "…when seniors have the ability to make choices, health care plans within Medicare will have to compete for their business by offering higher quality service [at lower cost]. For the seniors of America, more choices and more control will mean better health care. These are the kinds of health care options we give to the members of Congress and federal employees. What's good for members of Congress is also good for seniors.
    New Health Savings Accounts: Effective January 1, 2004, Americans can set aside up to ,500 every year, tax free, to save for medical expenses. Depending on your tax bracket, that means you'll save between 10 to 35 percent on any costs covered by money in your account. Every year, the money not spent would stay in the account and gain interest tax-free, just like an IRA. These accounts will be good for small business owners, and employees. More businesses can focus on covering workers for major medical problems, such as hospitalization for an injury or illness. At the same time, employees and their families will use these accounts to cover doctors visits, or lab tests, or other smaller costs. Some employers will contribute to employee health accounts. This will help more American families get the health care they need at the price they can afford.
    Homeland Security, Border Enforcement & Immigration
    1. *See Government Reform above. Under President Bush's leadership, America has made an unprecedented commitment to homeland security.
    2. Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first 10 ABM silos in Alaska so that America will have a defense against North Korean nukes. Has ordered national and theater ballistic missile defenses to be deployed by 2004.
    3. Announced a 9.7% increase in government-wide homeland security funding in his FY 2005 budget, nearly tripling the FY 2001 levels (excluding the Department of Defense and Project BioShield).
    4. Before DHS was created, there were inspectors from three different agencies of the Federal Government and Border Patrol officers protecting our borders. Through DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now consolidates all border activities into a single agency to create "one face at the border." This not only better secures the borders of the United States, but it also eliminates many of the inefficiencies that occurred under the old system. With over 18,000 CBP inspectors and 11,000 Border Patrol agents, CBP has 29,000 uniformed officers on our borders.
    5. The Border Patrol is continuing installation of monitoring devices along the borders to detect illegal activity.
    6. Launched Operation Tarmac to investigate businesses and workers in the secure areas of domestic airports and ensure immigration law compliance. Since 9/11, DHS has audited 3,640 businesses, examined 259,037 employee records, arrested 1,030 unauthorized workers, and participated in the criminal indictment of 774 individuals.
    7. Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard has conducted more than 124,000 port security patrols, 13,000 air patrols, boarded more than 92,000 vessels, interdicted over 14,000 individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally, and created and maintained more than 90 Maritime Security Zones.
    8. Announced the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an internet-based system that is improving America's ability to track and monitor foreign students and exchange visitors. Over 870,000 students are registered in SEVIS. Of 285 completed field investigations, 71 aliens were arrested.
    9. This week, the US-VISIT program began to digitally collect biometric identifiers to record the entry and exit of aliens who travel into the U.S on a visa. Together with the standard information, this new program will confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies.
    10. Eliminated INS bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability.
    11. Split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two agencies: one to protect the border and interior, the other to deal with naturalization.
    12. Signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal aliens.
    13. Established a six-month deadline for processing immigration applications.
    14. Information regarding nearly 100% of all containerized cargo is carefully screened by DHS before it arrives in the United States. Higher risk shipments are physically inspected for terrorist weapons and contraband prior to being released from the port of entry. Advanced technologies are being deployed to identify warning signs of chemical, biological, or radiological attacks. Since September 11, 2001, hundreds of thousands of first responders across America have been trained to recognize and respond to the effects of a WMD attack.
    Judiciary & Tort Reform
    1. Is urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits.
    2. Killed the liberal ABA's unconstitutional role in vetting federal judges. The Senate is supposed to advise and consent, not the ABA.
    3. Is nominating strong, conservative judges to the judiciary.
    4. Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims.
    Politics
    1. His leadership resulted in Republican gains in the House and Senate, solidifying Republican control of both houses of Congress and the presidency.
    2. Signed an EO enforcing the Supreme Court's Beck decision regarding union dues being used for political campaigns against individual's wishes.
    Second Amendment
    1. Ordered Attorney General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, and is NOT a Leftist-imagined "collective" right.
    2. Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit.
    3. Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers.
    4. *See Globalization & Internationalism.
    Traditional Values, Compassion & Volunteerism
    1. Endorses and promotes "The Responsibility Era." President Bush often speaks of the necessity of personal responsibility and civic volunteerism. He said, "In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you've got a problem, blame somebody else — to one in which every single American understands that he or she is responsible for the decisions that you make; you're responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself."
    2. Started the USA Freedom Corps, the most comprehensive clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities ever offered. For the first time in history, Americans can enter geographic information about where they want to get involved, such as state or zip code, as well as areas of interest ranging from education to the environment, and they can access volunteer opportunities offered by more than 50,000 organizations across the country and around the world.
    3. Established the The White House Office and the Centers for the Faith-Based and Community Initiative — located in seven Federal agencies. The faith-based initiative supports the essential work of these important organizations. The goal is to make sure that grassroots leaders can compete on an equal footing for federal dollars, receive greater private support, and face fewer bureaucratic barriers. Work focuses on at-risk youth, ex-offenders, the homeless and hungry, substance abusers, those with HIV/AIDS, and welfare-to-work families.
    4. The White House released a guidebook fully describing the Administration's belief that faith-based groups have a Constitutionally-protected right to maintain their religious identity through hiring — even when Federal funds are involved.
    5. Issued an EO implementing the Supreme Court's Olmstead ruling, which requires moving disabled people from institutions to community-based facilities when possible.
    6.Increased funding for low-interest loan programs to help people with disabilities purchase devices to assist them.
    7. Revised the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 rent subsidies to disabled people, permitting them to use up to a year's worth of vouchers to finance down payments on homes. HUD has started pilot programs in 11 states.
    8. Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men, women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa.
    9. Heeding the words of our own Declaration of Independence, the president laid out the non-negotiable demands of human dignity for all people everywhere. On January 29, 2002, he said, "No nation owns these aspirations, and no nation is exempt from them. We have no intention of imposing our culture. But America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity." As stated by the President, they are a virtual manifesto of conservative principles:
    Equal Justice
    Freedom of Speech
    Limited Government Power
    Private Property Rights
    Religious Tolerance
    Respect for Women
    Rule of Law

    • ANSWER:
      Have you ever heard of the terms short and concise? And to the point?