The problem has not been reversing diabetes. Since 1999, with the breakthrough ‘Edmonton Protocol,’ reversal of diabetes has been clinically proven to work. More than 80 percent of diabetics undergoing this transplant surgery were ‘insulin free,’ after three years. But, the hurdle which has eluded researchers thus far is the ability to provide broad commercial use of these transplant surgeries for the general population. New research may offer hope for a greater number of the 21 million diagnosed and potential diabetic sufferers.

Diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States. More than 200,000 die every year because of complications from diabetes. It is the leading cause of blindness and causes 40 percent of kidney failures. The small narrow organ behind your stomach, called the pancreas, breaks down nutrients by releasing enzymes into your small intestine. The pancreas releases insulin, which moves glucose into your cells to produce energy. In a Type 1 diabetic, the pancreas can no longer produce insulin, and the glucose stagnates in your bloodstream instead of being moved into your body cells to produce energy. About 10 percent of all diabetic cases, known as Type 1 diabetics, are at the highest risk for heart disease, strokes, limb amputations and other vascular disease-related complications. A Type 1 diabetic must inject insulin for his or her entire life.

Before the Edmonton Protocol was developed at the University of Alberta, only eight percent of the 267 pancreatic islet cell transplant patients were able to remain free of insulin injections after a year. In Edmonton, Canadian surgeons developed a technique implanting healthy human islet cells into Type 1 diabetic patients who could then produce their own insulin. The ten-fold success rate increase in success became the industry standard for reversing diabetes, but there was a serious problem with this procedure. Transplantations were limited to high-risk Type 1 diabetics because of supply problems.

In this case, the broad divergence between the number of diabetics – about 80,000 per million, and the number of human donors – roughly 22 per million, made widespread commercialization of the Edmonton Protocol impossible. There simply aren’t enough human donors available. Not by a long shot – at most, there may be less than 6,000 pancreatic donors compared to nearly 2 million Americans suffering from Type 1 diabetes. During a typical transplant, about one million islets would be required for a successful surgery in the average person. To obtain sufficient islets cells to perform this transplant procedure, at least two pancreatic organs are needed. Additional organs could be required to help the patient’s insulin production reach the desired level.

University of Minnesota Reverses Diabetes in Monkeys

How are researchers remedying the supply shortage? Recent research demonstrates top scientists have turned to xenotransplantation to increase the number of islet cell donors. Another milestone took place at the University of Minnesota this past February when researchers at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation islet transplant centers reversed diabetes in monkeys by transplanting islet cells from pigs. Researchers said pig organs are similar to those of humans. Pancreatic organs from pigs are more readily available to help save the life of a Type 1 diabetic. More than 60 million pigs were traded on the Chicago pork belly market last year, offering an abundance of pig islet cells for a much larger number of diabetic transplant surgeries.

The novelty of the Minnesota research included a cocktail of immunosuppressive drugs which prevented the body’s immune system from rejecting the cross-species transplant of the pig’s islet cells. In the control group monkeys, which were not given immunosuppressive drugs, rejected the pig islets after a few days. While the drug mixture helped the lab monkeys survive much longer – a median of more than 140 days, the side effects of those drugs eventually caused their demise. Human subjects may demand a longer survival level after a transplant surgery.

We talked to Dr. David White, Novartis/Stiller Professor of Xenotransplantation at the University of Western Ontario, about the problem of organ rejection and the use of immunosuppressive drugs. “When it comes to animal-to human transplants, the amount of immunosuppressive drugs that you have to give to stop this rejection is dangerous to the patient,” the renowned immunologist told us. “We’ve been looking for a way to transplant these islets without having to give these dangerous drugs.” While at Cambridge University in the 1970s, Dr. White helped research and develop the immunosuppressive drug Cyclosporin A in conjunction with Professor Sir Roy Calne. The drug minimized the risk of organ rejection after transplantation, allowing new developments in transplantation procedures. Dr. White believes his current research may lead to a technique for performing the islet cell transplants without the use of immunosuppressive drugs.

Research Innovation Could Lead to
Widely Available Diabetes Reversal

This technique, which Dr. White believes may provide the final piece in the puzzle for insulin-dependent diabetics, is a refinement initially developed by Dr. Rafael, his former Cambridge University student. Valdes, who was featured in a five-part series on Canada’s CTV TV in 2003, developed a subcutaneous tube for inserting Sertoli cells and islet cells into Type 1 diabetics. The Sertoli cells interfere with the immune system’s rejection of the pig islet cells. Sertoli cells are found in the testicles and have, since 1939, been recognized as an ‘immunologically privileged site.’ In other words, surgeons can transplant into the testicles and not suffer organ rejection. By injecting Sertoli cells from pigs along with the pig islet cells, the body can accept the islet cells. The diabetic patient’s rejuvenated pancreas can then produce insulin for his or her human body, successfully reversing the effects of Type 1 diabetes.

For the past six years, the Cambridge University surgeon has used this technique at his clinic in Mexico City, transplanting 24 human patients suffering from Type 1 diabetes. In more than half the cases, Valdes was able to reverse diabetes without the use of immunosuppression drugs. He continues to perform this procedure as authorized by the Mexican health authorities. The combination of Sertoli cells and islet cells from pigs are compatible with the human body’s immune system, which eliminate the necessity of immunosuppression drugs to prevent the body’s rejection of the transplanted cells.

“We’re actually in the curious situation that we already have the clinical trials done, and now we’re working on the pre-clinical studies,” Dr. White told us. But this surgical procedure has not yet gotten FDA approval. “The critical issue is we’re going to have to demonstrate reversal of diabetes in monkeys,” White explained. “The question is how long the FDA will require us to reverse diabetes.” FDA guidelines state 90 days, but Dr. White believes they may require between 6 months to a year of proven diabetic reversal on monkeys before the U.S. government agency will permit human clinical trials.

White presented a recent research breakthrough at the World Transplant Congress in Boston last month. “Along with everybody else, we had been using Sertoli cells taken from neonatal pigs,” White told us. “We have discovered neonatal Sertoli cells are not nearly as effective as Sertoli cells taken from sexually mature adult pigs. We can demonstrate these are much better developed to fulfill their function of preventing rejection, and we have gotten good results with the adult Sertoli cells.” He continues to use the islet cells from neonatal pigs in his innovative research, as did the University of Minnesota with their significant advance in reversing diabetics in monkeys.

While rodent trials are ongoing as a prelude to primate experiments, Dr. White has turned to the financial markets to complete his research and commercialize this treatment option for Type 1 diabetics. On May 25th, the Toronto Venture Exchange approved the Pheromone Sciences (TSX: PHS) joint venture with Sertonex Inc. of London (Ontario) and Sertoli Technologies (Arizona) to develop a commercially viable treatment for Type 1 diabetes. Dr. White serves on the board of Pheromone, has been engaged as the principal researcher on this project and accepted the Chair of the company’s scientific advisory board.

Since then, the company has begun adding scientific and business advisors to bring the project forward to commercialization. Formerly the Assistant Dean of Medicine at the University of Calgary, Dr. Norman Wong joined the Pheromone scientific advisory board in mid July to assist in product development of the diabetes treatment. Wong has published numerous articles on diabetic research and has researched the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus. Two weeks later, Dr. Jannette Dufour joined the scientific board. She had previously worked at the University of Alberta’s Clinical Islet Transplant Program (originators of the Edmonton Protocol for Type 1 diabetes). Dr. Dufour is presently also assistant professor at Texas Tech University.

It may be possible, after the company’s commercialization process advances, that the much larger universe of Type 2 diabetics – especially those who are insulin-dependent – could benefit from this xenotransplantation technique. This number, in the United States alone, could exceed 12 million diabetics. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control about 800,000 new cases of diabetes are diagnosed each year.

About $10 million dollars are spent on health care for diabetics every hour of the day. “We are looking at three to four million recipients initially with the number growing,” said Dr. White of the xenotransplantation technique he is currently developing. As with many pioneering developments, further research, such as the work being conducted by Dr. White, builds upon the initial success of the Edmonton Protocol. In the near future, we may see a widely available treatment which can benefit a greater number of diabetics.

COPYRIGHT © 2007 by StockInterview, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

James Finch contributes to StockInterview.com and other publications. StockInterview’s “Investing in the Great Uranium Bull Market” has become the most popular book ever published for uranium mining stock investors. Visit stockinterview.com stockinterview.com

Not owning an asset does not mean that you do not have equal rights as the asset-owners. Instead, non-asset owners are given other privileges so that they can build their assets and come at par with others. When a tenant or non-homeowner wants to borrow money, he need not worry as special loans called tenant loans have been designed to help them.

Tenant loans can be borrowed by tenants or non-homeowners to take care of any needs like debt consolidation, wedding expenses, college education funding, a vacation etc. tenant loans can also be borrowed by children who are living with their parents as they themselves do not own a house and have to be dependent on them for shelter.

As tenants do not have any assets to place as security, tenant loans are unsecured loans i.e. they do not require any assets, making it easier for tenants to borrow money collateral-free.

An amount of ₤1000-₤25000 can be borrowed through tenant loans. For its repayment, duration of 5-10 years is allowed. The rate of interest charged on tenant loans is higher due to its unsecured nature but that can be brought down by various factors like good credit history, a good repayment plan, etc.

Bad creditors are not barred from taking tenant loans. Their bad credit history can be compensated if they furnish good repayment ability to the lender. Though the rates offered are higher to make up for the risk, they can be lowered by proper research and comparison. Bad creditors can benefit from tenant loans as by timely repayment of tenant loans, they can improve their credit history.

An online application for tenant loans is suitable as:

• It helps in cutting down the rate of interest
• Comparison can be done and then the deal can be selected
• Saves time and effort of the borrower

Tenant loans act as a support for tenants and non-homeowners and they should be availed after clear forethought about the repayment. When this is done, tenant loans prove to be highly advantageous.

Peter Taylor is a senior financial analyst at Best Tenant Loans UK with an acumen for finance and insurance. In recent years he has taken up to provide independent financial advice through his informative articles. To find besttenantloansuk.co.uk Tenant loans, Bad credit tenant loans, Low cost tenant loans, Self employed tenant loans, Personal tenant loans visit besttenantloansuk.co.uk besttenantloansuk.co.uk

Australian debt consolidation systems work very well both for businesses and individuals, but the right plan is often a bit difficult to find. A debt consolidation loan basically replaces a high interest loan and often gives you the option of combining all your different monthly payments into a single payment that is much easier to manage. A debt consolidation loan is not a permanent solution to your debt problems and should never be seen as such. Debt consolidation loans are meant to enable you to replace high interest with lower interest payment so that you can set your financial life on track again and be able to pay off your debts. As the credit card interest debts are often in the 15% area in Australia, you will notice the benefits of paying off credit card debt with a consolidation loan that may go as low as 5% yearly interest. Many credit card owners that have two or three different cards find it difficult to manage payments as well, and the unified monthly debt consolidation loan takes care of much of these issues. The company which issues the debt consolidation loan will be willing to negotiate with you a monthly or weekly payment for the loan, which will allow for more payment flexibility. One of the most important merits of such a loan is that it diminishes the stress that appears when creditors are constantly calling about your debt and allows you to focus on improving your finances and paying off your debts.

Credit Card Debt Consolidation

The difference between the interest rates of the credit cards and those of the debt consolidation loan may just be the extra breath of air your financial life was looking for. In some cases you can save up to 10% of your interest rates, which is a lot of money when calculated on a yearly basis. Although the general trend for Australian credit cards is to lower interest rates, credit card debt consolidation is still a viable alternative. While low interest rate cards will probably be quite competitive when compared to a credit card debt consolidation, some reward program credit cards also have higher interest. In such cases, debt consolidation loans are a good method of benefiting from the points and rewards that the card offers while also keeping interest rates low. The loan however must not be seen as a perpetual solution for your financial difficulties – it should actually enable you to notice gradual improvements in your earnings and spendings balance. In many cases, a credit card debt consolidation loan should be accompanied by a life style change and a sense of determination that will help you pay off your debts soon, but without any major sacrifices.

Copyright 2006 Virtual Office Space

About The Author
Roland Bleyer runs the Credit World group of web sites. You can subscribe to our FREE monthly Credit Newsletter at: creditworldaustralia.com” target=”_new creditworldaustralia.com

Your success depends a lot on your personality. Your looks help you a lot in your promotion and day to day life. A good looking person is more confident than his counterpart. You can also make yourself beautiful and good looking with the help of cosmetic surgery. But cosmetic surgery is very costly. Not everyone can afford cosmetic surgery with his/her salary alone. But as the saying goes if “if there’s a will there’s a way”, you can also bear the expense of cosmetic surgery with the help of UK cosmetic surgery loans.

UK cosmetic surgery loans are available in both secured and unsecured forms. Cost involved in minor surgery can be easily met with unsecured UK cosmetic surgery loans. Unsecured UK cosmetic surgery loans can be availed without placing any collateral against the loans amount. The loan amount that can be availed with unsecured UK cosmetic surgery loans ranges from £1000 – £25,000. The repayment duration of unsecured UK cosmetic surgery loans ranges from 1 – 10 years. The interest rate is a bit higher but that is quite obvious because lenders take risk by advancing loans without any security.

But if you want to go through major surgery unsecured UK cosmetic surgery loan will not be of much help to you. You can opt for secured UK cosmetic surgery loans. With secured UK cosmetic surgery loans you will be able to avail large amount of money. To avail secured UK cosmetic surgery loan you will have to place one of your properties as collateral with the lender. This can be any of your personal property like home, car, jewelry etc. the loan amount that can be availed with secured UK cosmetic surgery loans ranges from £ 5000 – £ 75000. The repayment duration of secured UK cosmetic surgery loans is quite flexible. You can avail it for a period ranging form 5 – 25 years. Secured UK cosmetic surgery loans carry very low interest rate compared to unsecured UK cosmetic surgery loans.

Applying for UK cosmetic surgery loans is very easy. You can visit various banks, financial institutions and lending firms to apply for UK cosmetic surgery loans or you can also apply online. Online application method has many advantages. It requires less time to get approved, less paperwork; transaction is faster and is hassle free. Also you don’t need to visit lenders personally. To apply you just have to fill up an online application form providing your contact details.

So get set to look stunning and mesmerize others with UK cosmetic surgery loans.

Richard Pasic has been associated with Easy Cosmetic Surgery Loans. He is offering loan advice for quite some time. He writes on various types of loans. To know more about cosmetic surgery loans, bad credit cosmetic surgery loans, easy cosmetic surgery loans visit easycosmeticsurgeryloans.co.uk easycosmeticsurgeryloans.co.uk

Majority of the population nowadays needs loans to fulfill their personal desires. What prevents a common man from applying for a loan is the huge cost involved in it. But now you will be glad to know that there are low cost secured loans existing in the market which will cater to your financial requirements involving relatively less cost.

Low cost secured loans are attached to the clause of collateral. A fixed asset like an automobile, house or any other property can serve the purpose. Make sure that you use the property of the highest value as collateral. This is one of the most common methods to reduce interest rates.

A variety of lenders such as banks and other financial institutions are available in the market to offer you low cost secured loans. Normally, the borrowers limit their options only to those lenders with whom they have done business earlier. This in turn limits the scope of loan offers that they may get. Therefore the appropriate way is to approach different lenders and compare the interest rates to get the best possible deal.

Dealing with banks and other loan providing organizations is quite a messy affair. It
involves lot of paper work and effort. Moreover, the cost involved in getting the loan is relatively high. Getting the loan application, collecting loan quotes from different lenders and wandering from one place to another in search of the best loan involves a huge expenditure. An individual finds it really difficult to meet these expenses.

Other formalities involved in searching the secured loan might annoy a borrower so much that he may actually give up the idea of applying for the loan. In order to prevent an individual from facing all such grievances, there is the provision of online loan providers. Most of the loan providing organizations have their proposed websites dealing in low cost secured loans. The plans and procedure of applying for a loan can be viewed in detail from the internet sitting in any corner of the world. Just an online loan application form needs to be filled up. It includes details like name, phone no, address, loan amount, loan purpose and a few more which helps the lender to find out the most appropriate loan for the borrower. The borrower can also collect online loan quotes for free or at certain nominal charges.

Benefits of low cost secured loans:

·Simple and hassle free loan procedure
·Reduced paper work
·Can be applied easily via internet

Hence, low cost secured loans not only provide you loans at a relatively low cost but also assist you in repaying the loan as early as possible by arranging reasonable monthly installments. Opting for the loan online will save your valuable time and money, keeping you away from all hassles and inconvenience.

Peter Taylor is a senior financial analyst at easyfinance4u with an acumen for finance and insurance. In recent years he has taken up to provide independant financial advice through his informative articles. To find Secured loans, Unsecured loans, secured debt consolidation loans in UK that best suits your need visit

Commodity brokers are either individuals or firms that act as intermediaries between buyers and sellers. Commodity brokers offer a range of services such as creating an account, management of the account and executing the orders of the traders. Traders need to be very careful while choosing their brokers, as it can make all the difference regarding successful commodity trading. There are many types of commodity brokers out of which discount commodity brokers are quite popular.

Discount commodity brokers are brokers that offer their clients almost all the services regarding managing their accounts except providing regular advice regarding trading and are also less personalized than a full-service stock broker. Traders prefer them, as their charges are considerably lower than that of a full service broker. Deep discount commodity brokers offer minimum service and only trade stocks and options for a flat fee. A full service broker offers all the standard services such as investment advise, price quotes and keeps the trader updated with all current trends. With a discount broker, the trader has to take care of all buying and selling decisions.

Deep discount commodity brokers only accept and execute orders, and do not offer any sort of advice. For this, they charge a fixed amount of fee for any size or kind of transaction. These prices are generally for one way trades, that is, for a buy order or a sell order. Almost all deep discount commodity brokers own websites through which a trader can access and manage his or her account. Traders who have a good idea of the market and like to manage their trading accounts by themselves without any interference of the broker prefer this option.

Most discount commodity brokers require a fixed initial deposit for opening an account. This can be anywhere from five hundred to two thousand dollars. After opening the account, the deposits can be of any amount. To select the best-suited deep discount broker, traders ought to research online and also ask fellow traders about their experiences with different brokers. The commission charged by the broker must also be understood perfectly for the actual dollar cost per trade.

e-CommodityBrokers.com Commodity Brokers provides detailed information on Commodity Brokers, Discount Commodity Brokers, Online Commodity Brokers, Full Service Commodity Brokers and more. Commodity Brokers is affiliated with e-CommodityTrading.com Commodity Futures Trading.

Put this way, no teletrack loans are a boon for people who have bad credit history and face a financial emergency. Teletrack is a system used to check the borrower’s checking account and credit history. The system usually exposes your bad credit history, including bankruptcy and outstanding checks against current loans, etc. Fortunately, there are many loan companies who do not use teletrack as part of their requirements to giving you a loan. These companies offer cash loan until payday, meaning that you will get cash advance and simply return it when you receive your next pay.

The loans are called payday loans or cash advances. They are short-terms loans and usually ranging between $100 and $1000 for the duration of two weeks or more. These companies do not feel the need to verify information provided by the prospective borrowers in term of their credit history as they will mainly check your employment to ensure that you have regular income deposited into your bank account.

How to Apply for a No Teletrack Loan?

The easiest way is to go to a payday lender’s website. If they don’t say anything about teletrack usually they do not bother checking your account with that system. You will then simply complete the application form online with some basic personal information, employment details, and your bank account information. Once submitted, a loan officer will do verification by either contacting you directly or checking your details with your employer.

These days, you can be sure that you would not need to fax any document when submitting a payday loan application online. To improve the speed in loan processing, payday lenders have been able to cut-off the need of checking paperwork manually, which otherwise creates much hassles from your end to submit documents through fax.

After approval, the funds are transferred to your checking or savings account directly the next day or even the same day as you submit the application. The loan repayment is also simply. On the due date, the lender will take the loaned amount plus fees automatically out of your bank account. You just to make sure that the funds are available that day to be deducted as otherwise it will cause an overdraft for you.

Instant Solution with No Teletrack Loans

Whatever may be your income, a payday loan would meet your expenditure requirements and short tern financial needs. After you have gone through the existing loan programs of different cash advance lenders you can go for the one which offers you the best loan amount at a discounted rate.

Click here to compare and find ezypaydayadvance.com/noteletrack-short-term-loans.html no teletrack payday loans. Check out how to get ez-loan.biz/no-denial-badcredit-loan.html no denial bad credit payday loans. Are you in Canada? Visit this site to apply for speedypaydayloan.ca/ pay day loans in Canada.

When I was a preschooler, I’d hang out at home without much to do, so sometimes, I’d just imitate what my brother or sister were up to.

Sis was the artist in the family, and everybody encouraged her.

On weekends, she’d draw pictures with crayons, and upon completion she’d receive praise and a few pennies, or even a nickel, if her works were especially meritorious.

I noticed, and I wanted in on the action.

So, without any talent to speak of I started drawing, too, and yes, I received a penny here and there, but not as much as Sis.

But unlike her, I was a budding businessman, and I sniffed opportunity.

I decided to streamline the process, laying off the thick use of color, sticking increasingly to monochromes, and leaning heavily toward the abstract.

In other words, my stuff was simple and completely unrecognizable, but it was FAST.

I became a one-boy assembly line, churning out pictures galore in record numbers and short order. My cash flow increased, much to the consternation of Sis, the true artist.

Anyway, this is quite a long way to go to make a point about the martial arts, isn’t it?

As you know, there are some dojos and purported gurus out there who teach the way I drew. They’re banging out huge numbers of students, transforming them into Black Belts in record time, because they too see a commercial advantage in it.

Who wouldn’t? I’m sure nearly every new student asks the key question: “How long does it take to reach Black Belt?”

If you can abbreviate the time it takes, you can satisfy more customers, right?

So, enter a dojo, or better yet, enter ten of them and ask this question, and you might hear this, uttered at one Tae Kwon Do studio, in Southern California:

“We have a two-year Black Belt program.”

“So, if Junior joins, he’ll get his Black Belt in two years?”

“Yes.”

Wow. What if Junior is a non-talent, as I, the artist, was?

Will he still achieve this top honor?

You bet.

A genuine dojo will not make this kind of guarantee for several reasons:

(1) Talent varies, and some folks don’t have agile enough bodies or enough stamina to make it.

(2) Commitment varies, and some simply won’t get into the dojo 3-4 times a week, or more.

(3) Character varies, and many don’t have the right type to be “knighted.”

(4) A dojo is a place of enlightenment first, and a place of business, second, and only reluctantly.

(5) The belt system is subjective. There is no universal standard for achieving a given level, despite the fact that you must master a certain number of techniques and learn kata. In the West, we love objective criteria; they suggest fairness to us. But most martial arts are from the East, where the rapport between student and master determines progress, in addition to verifiable physical ability.

My Black Belt took eight years to earn, and on average I was training EVERY day, in and out of the dojo.

No one guaranteed me a Black Belt, or any other color, for that matter.

Sis knew the difference between being a true artist and something else, like a mere businessman.

You should too.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations from Santa Monica to South Africa. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: mailto:gary@customersatisfaction.com gary@customersatisfaction.com.

For information about coaching, consulting, training, books, videos and audios, please go to: customersatisfaction.com customersatisfaction.com

If you’ve been writing off your property taxes on your federal income tax form every year, you may need to be more careful with your figures if the recommendations of a report are accepted and adopted into legislation by Congress. A congressional committee recently suggested that many homeowners have been deducting more property tax than they should from their taxes, which, according to the report, has been costing the government hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

Joint Committee on Taxation Report

The report was generated by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), and proposes a way for the government to plug loopholes in the tax system. If the report’s recommendations are adopted, Congress may soon put greater limitations on the amount of property tax homeowners have legally been able to deduct at tax time.

However, the difficulty hasn’t been the fault of individual taxpayers. It has to do with how most local governments report their property taxes to their citizens. The report encourages Congress to require local governments or mortgage lenders to report to the IRS the exact itemized details of property tax payments paid by homeowners each year. The committee suggests that incorrect property tax deductions cost the federal government some $20 billion a year. Back in 1993, a federal study revealed that nearly $400 million of that year’s property tax write-off figures were too high, and the JCT report estimates that today’s figures could easily be twice that much.

Tax Must Benefit Entire Community

Under the tax code as it currently exists, homeowners can legally write off local and state property taxes that have been assessed based on their local property valuations. However, other special levies and user fees, such as those that are designed to benefit individual households or particular neighborhoods, and not the entire community, aren’t deductible. The problem occurs when sewers, sidewalks, and other special improvement projects are funded by tax levies on property owners who will be directly affected. When local governments send out tax bills each year, they don’t generally send an exact breakdown to the federal government of how the money was allocated.

If such a property tax breakdown was provided to the IRS, the government would be in a better position to audit each homeowner’s tax form to make certain they’re only claiming that part of their property tax that benefited their entire community. Since lenders already are required to provide mortgage rate figures to the IRS, the committee contends that it wouldn’t be that much more difficult to also report itemized figures for annual property taxes.

Tax Bill

Make no mistake. This report isn’t just idle talk. The JCT is a highly influential group of legislators that carries considerable clout on Capital Hill. That means their report will be given a serious look by fellow legislators, and that their recommendations are likely to make their way into a tax bill in the near future. Once that bill has been debated, don’t be surprised if it’s voted into law and becomes a part of the tax code as early the following tax season.

Do you need a fancy home to be happy? Maybe a less expensive home, which would cost you less in taxes, could bring piece of mind. Explore the residentialdesignguide.com Residential Design Guide and find out why your “dream home” might be a cottage instead of a mansion.

Jeanette Fisher, americasdreamhomemaker.com America’s “Dream Home” Maker, teaches five ways to make your home support your happiness. Free ebooks and interior design newsletter.

Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher

If you have ever gone shopping for a new car or made an attempt to purchase a new home then you are probably familiar with your credit score. Even if you haven’t made any type of purchase that required you to obtain a loan or credit due to the amount of money involved you’ve probably still seen or heard the words credit score mentioned on the television or in a business or financial article. The reason for this is because our financial well being in today’s complicated credit/loan society revolves around that very powerful three digit number known as our credit score.

There are many ways to explain what exactly our credit score is, but frankly trying to sort out the scientific and mental calculations involved only serves to give me one big giant financial headache. The main point to remember here is that the credit score determines an individual consumer’s credit worthiness as seen in the eyes of the three main credit score companies or bureaus as they are sometimes called. The score is based on a combination of a consumer’s current credit situation and their previous credit history with many additional mitigating factors.

The three main credit bureaus are Trans Union, Equifax and Experian. Each company has developed (with the Fair Isaacs Company) their own unique method to determine your FICO (credit) score. Don’t be alarmed by this because although each credit bureau has their own method for determining your credit score the numbers remain standardized across all three companies. For instance a 700 with Trans Union is equal to a 700 with Equifax and Experian.

So what exactly constitutes a good credit score? In order to determine that we first need to know the scoring parameters that makes up the scoring scale. As previously mentioned your credit score is influenced by a variety of factors such as outstanding debt, your credit history, the types of credit you current have or use and your payment history. These factors when analyzed form a score that can run anywhere from a low of 375 to a high of 830 or 900 depending on which expert you ask. These numbers generally serve as a guideline that a credit lender can then use to incorporate into their own credit rules that are tailored to their company’s in-house credit program. However generally speaking a credit score higher then 650 has the potential to be considered good credit in most cases. The national average for the FICO credit score varies. I’ve seen it as high as 723 and as low as 676. With that said a consumer with a credit score higher then 700 is considered excellent, a credit score between 601 – 699 is decent and anything less then 600 could probably use a financial makeover in order to raise the credit score.

Keep in mind that these categories could fluctuate depending on the national average and also remember these numbers just represent a guideline for lenders to use when determining your credit worthiness based on the FICO credit score. It’s their in-house line of credit rules and regulations that will ultimately decide if you have a high enough credit score to obtain financing at the most favorable terms offered by their company. Once thing is for sure the higher the credit score number the easier it is to receive credit and the more favorable the repayment terms are as far as interest rates go.

Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster and publisher of