8.  Income Taxes

For the six months ended June 30, 2012, our effective tax rate was 45.3%, compared to 41.3% for the six months ended June 30, 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.  For 2012, we currently expect an annual effective tax rate of about 40% of income before income taxes.