Analysis: Democrats' discord undercuts Obama estate tax push

 Divisions among Democrats are undermining President Barack Obama's push to raise the U.S. estate tax on inherited wealth, just weeks before the arrival of the "fiscal cliff" could drive the present estate tax rate even higher than Obama proposes.Action on the estate tax could be postponed. But in his successful re-election campaign, Obama called for wealthy Americans to pay more in taxes - and...

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Canadian year-to-date budget deficit narrows in September

 Canada's federal budget deficit dropped in the first six months of the fiscal year, falling to C$8.9 billion ($9.0 billion) in April to September from a C$11.8 billion shortfall in the same period of last year, the Department of Finance said on Friday.The monthly deficit in September fell slightly to C$2.69 billion from C$2.75 billion in September 2011.Revenues in the first six months of the...

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Number of ND 'income millionaires' jumps by 102

A record number of North Dakotans reported seven-figure incomes last year, many of whom are benefiting from the state's oil bonanza, the state Tax Department says.Figures released to The Associated Press show a record 634 people reported incomes of more than $1 million on their 2011 individual tax returns, up from 532 in 2010 and 384 in 2009. In 2006, while North Dakota's oil boom was in its infancy,...

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Obama says Republican "fiscal cliff" plan out of balance

 President Barack Obama rejected a Republican proposal to resolve a looming fiscal crisis on Tuesday as "still out of balance" and insisted any deal must include a rise in income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans.Obama told Bloomberg Television that the Republicans' reliance on eliminating tax deductions instead of letting taxes rise on Americans making more than $250,000 a year would not...

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Republicans see some leverage in "fiscal cliff" talks

U.S. Republicans may have some leverage in their fiscal cliffhanger with President Barack Obama: the threat of forcing a disproportionate number of Democrats to pay the so-called alternative minimum tax.Under U.S. law, taxpayers each year must pay the greater of regular federal income tax, or the AMT. The latter requires taxpayers to give up certain tax breaks, typically exemptions and deductions...

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Buying your own botnet costs as little as $250

Botnets used to be the exclusive domain of high-powered hackers looking to rake in cash from spam operations or to conduct highly effective DDoS attacks. But now Symantec has found that botnets are increasingly becoming available to less sophisticated hacker wannabes and are being sold for as little as $250. [More from BGR: BlackBerry 10 browser smokes iOS 6 and Windows Phone 8 in comparison test...

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Samsung will patch malware exploit affecting Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II

Samsung (005930) Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II owners had a big scare last week when it was discovered the smartphones are vulnerable to app-based attacks stemming from a security hole with their Exynos-4 processors. Samsung confirmed to Android Central that it has investigated the “potential security issue” and re-states that the “issue may arise only when a malicious application is operated on...

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Kodak in $525 million patent deal, eyes bankruptcy end

Eastman Kodak Co agreed to sell its digital imaging patents for about $525 million, a key step to bringing the photography pioneer out of bankruptcy in the first half of 2013.The deal for the 1,100 patents allows Kodak to fulfill a condition for securing $830 million in financing.The patent deal was reached with a consortium led by Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corp, and which includes some of the...

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Kodak acuerda venta patentes por 525 mln dlr, busca fin bancarrota

 La firma Eastman Kodak Company acordó vender sus patentes de imágenes digitales en una operación valuada en 525 millones de dólares, un paso clave para que la empresa pionera de la fotografía pueda salir de la bancarrota en el primer semestre del 2013.El acuerdo por 1.100 patentes permite a Kodak cumplir una condición para conseguir 830 millones de dólares de financiamiento.El acuerdo sobre...

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Kodak sells digital imaging patents for $525M

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Eastman Kodak is selling its digital imaging patents for about $525 million, money the struggling photo pioneer says will help it emerge from bankruptcy protection in the first half of next year.Apple Inc., Google Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Research In Motion Ltd., Microsoft Corp., China's Huawei Technologies, Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. are among the 12 companies...

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