Northwest Indiana Discussion

April was the fifth consecutive month the state rate declined. The unemployment rate in Indiana has not been below 8 percent since November 2008.

Indiana has added 36,500 jobs this year, the most in a four-month period since late 1998.

Meanwhile, the worthless rag heads are exempt from DUMBOCare.
care to explain why edge?

They're not.
Care to exlain why you're so fukin' gullible and stupid? Don't you ever get embarrassed?
Fact Check: Insurance law does not exempt Muslims

http://jacksonville.com/carole-fader/20 ... ect-member

There is, however, an exemption section that allows an individual to apply for an exemption from the tax "if he is a member of a recognized religious sect or division thereof and is an adherent of established tenets or teachings of such sect or division by reason of which he is conscientiously opposed to acceptance of the benefits of any private or public insurance ... ."

MSNBC reported that the exemption originally was meant for Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonites, who do not buy insurance because they believe God has directed them to take care of their own. The Amish traditionally have not participated in government-run programs such as Social Security (self-employed Amish are exempted from the tax and do not collect benefits) or Medicare.

But could the section of the act be used to grant Muslims an exemption?

The fact-finding groups FactCheck.org and Snopes.com point out that there has been no determination which religious groups' members might qualify for the exemption. The health care law itself uses as its exemption definition Title 26 U.S. Code section 1402(g)(1), which defines the religious groups considered exempt from Social Security payroll taxes. Eligible sects must have established tenets that forbid any "payment in the event of death, disability, old-age, or retirement or makes payments toward the cost of, or provides services for, medical care (including the benefits of any insurance system established by the Social Security Act)." The groups also must be approved by the Social Security commissioner.

FactCheck.org, however, says that it has yet to find any cases in which members of religious groups other than the Old Order Amish were successful in claiming the exemption. In fact, the federal government and the courts have been very strict on such exemptions in the past, even among some Amish, FactCheck.org notes.

For instance, the Supreme Court found in 1982 that a member of the Old Order Amish claiming an exemption was subject to payroll tax for his employees because 1402 (g) applies only to the self-employed. And in two cases where self-employed individuals claimed a religious opposition to Social Security but weren't members of approved sects, they were also ordered to pay the tax, FactCheck.org reports.

The Christian Science Church, a religious group with restrictions on health care use, has stated publicly that members will be subject to the insurance requirement, according to FactCheck.org.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/carole-fader/20 ... z1vdVWS2cz

As sales of existing homes rose 3.4 percent in April from March, prices of those previously owned houses, townhouses, condominiums and co-ops also rose, the National Association of Realtors said this morning.

Sales were 10 percent above the level of April 2011, NAR adds. Last month's pace: a 4.62 million annual rate. The national median price, $177,400, was up 10.1 percent from April 2011

HOUSING PRICES DROP TO 1986 LEVELS

After subtracting for inflation, prices are also back to 1986 levels

[color=#000080]You are a phony as Faux News...

When will U.S. house prices recover? Likely never. But that's no reason not to buy.

The latest S&P / Case-Shiller numbers, reported last week, show that prices in 20 major markets declined 3.5% over the year through February. They're now back to 2002 levels. If we subtract for inflation, they're back to 1998 levels.

But consider: After subtracting for inflation, prices are also back to 1986 levels. And 1955 levels. And 1895 levels (see chart).

That's because the natural rate of price appreciation for houses is zero after inflation. Prices will eventually stop falling. They'll resume rising. But over the long term, they're unlikely to resume rising faster than inflation.