Word: taxing
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...Washington Home Sales on the Upswing At last, some good news on the housing front. In June, sales of new U.S. one-family homes saw their strongest increase in more than eight years as buyers hurried to take advantage of bargain-basement prices, low interest rates and a federal tax credit for first-time homeowners. Home prices are still dropping, however, with the median June figure of $206,200 down 12% from $234,300 a year earlier. And with a huge backlog of unsold homes, analysts continue to disagree on whether the higher-than-expected increase signals a coming recovery...
...there is discomfort in her voice too. Even though the Robertses represent one of the great forces working to bring the country's housing market back to health - nearly a third of home sales are now to first-time buyers, thanks to a federal tax credit and a glut of foreclosed and other cheap properties - they are constantly being reminded of how sick the rest of the system still is. The couple rattle off houses in their new neighborhood that are for sale by desperate, underwater owners. Through the Robertses' kitchen window, they can see tall weeds in the empty...
...Suny Bruun, a mother of two in Winner, S.D., this summer bypassed the PTA and formed an independent parent fundraising group, Keeping Intelligent Determined Students (KIDS). Its goal is not only to raise money for the local school district but also to lower the amount of a $500,000 tax hike the town proposed to cover teacher and aide salaries. In early July, a radiothon raised $42,066 through donations ranging from $10 to $2,000, and the group has planned both an online sale and a concession stand for later in the summer. Bruun has even made overtures...
Ways and Means is one of Congress's most powerful clubs, the guardian of the federal tax code and the body responsible for finding a way to pay for anything Congress wants to do. The Obama Administration had counted on Rangel's committee to be a key linchpin in its push for health-care reform - which would also rank as Rangel's crowning legislative achievement. It hasn't worked out that way, at least not yet. Deeply split along party lines, the Ways and Means panel has become a target for critics who say Obama has allowed congressional Democrats...
...Means Committee is probably as close to being a major figure in a European monarchy as we have to offer," says Ross Baker, a political-science professor at Rutgers University. "The chairman is subject to the largest numbers of entreaties and colossal deference because everybody has got a tax angle. It means you are paid court by every lobbyist in Washington." (Read TIME's 1970 article about Rangel, "New Man from Harlem...