8.  Income Taxes

For the three months ended March 31, 2012, our effective tax rate was 44.7%, compared to 40.0% for the three months ended March 31, 2011.  The provisions for both periods differ from the expected federal statutory rate of 35.0% as a result of state and foreign income taxes and certain non-deductible expenses.  Our effective rate increased primarily due to (i) a reduction in our taxable income which causes our non-deductible expenses to have a larger percentage impact on our effective tax rate, and (ii) an increase in our effective state income tax rate as a result of a shift in taxable income from jurisdictions with lower tax rates to jurisdictions with higher tax rates.