Free Republic

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Workers at a circuit-board factory here just saw their health insurance premiums rise 20 percent. At Buddy Zaremba’s print shop nearby, the increase was 37 percent. And for engineers at the Woodland Design Group, they rose 43 percent. The new federal health care law may eventually “bend the cost curve” downward, as proponents argue. But for now, at many workplaces here, the rising cost of health care is prompting insurance premiums to skyrocket while coverage is shrinking. As Congress continues to debate the new health care law, health insurance costs are still rising, particularly for small businesses....

Madison -- Administration Secretary Michael Huebsch estimated Wednesday that law enforcement costs to provide security at the State Capitol through February would likely total $4 million to $5 million.

(snip)Filing taxes takes too long, costs too much money and is far too overwhelming a process for taxpayers. (snip)"If tax compliance were an industry, it would be one of the largest in the United States," the report says. "To consume 6.1 billion hours, the 'tax industry' requires the equivalent of more than three million full-time workers."

<p>You can't blame New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie if he feels some satisfaction over news out of the MTA.</p> <p>A new report by Inspector General Barry Kluger found that the transit agency's major development projects -- the Second Avenue subway, the LIRR link and the Fulton Transit Center -- are five years late and $2 billion over budget.</p>

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- At least 17 people have been detained as students at the largest public university in the Caribbean clashed with police during an indefinite strike over a new fee, officials said Tuesday. Hundreds of students launched the strike a week ago to demand that university officials eliminate an $800 yearly fee that will be imposed next year to help reduce the system's budget deficit. ... A similar strike in April over the fee and other issues paralyzed the university for nearly two months. The violent clash Monday afternoon began when several people threw smoke bombs inside...

Cape Wind has outlasted a decade of government review, a slew of court brawls and fierce opposition from mariners, fishermen, Indian tribes and Kennedys just to win the right to sell its wind-fueled electricity. Now, all it needs are customers. Last month, the nation's first offshore wind farm nailed down its first buyer when the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved a deal that sees Cape Wind selling half its power to National Grid, the state's largest electric utility. But the other half of the Cape Wind project's electricity remains available with no obvious takers, raising the possibility of a...

It has become a trend among Chinese traveling abroad to go shopping for products such as iPads, laptops and cameras. The Christmas and New Year season will see more people from the Chinese mainland looking for bargains in Hong Kong and Macao, and other places. Ironically, most of the these products are made on the mainland. So why this craze? Because - ironically again - they cost more on the mainland. Take 16 gigabyte iPads, assembled in Shenzhen, Guangzhou province, for instance. Their launch price was $499 (3,326 yuan) each in the United States and HK$3,888 (3,336 yuan) in Hong...

We know illegal immigration is no longer really unlawful, but is it moral? Usually Americans debate the fiscal costs of illegal immigration. Supporters of open borders rightly remind us that illegal immigrants pay sales taxes. Often their payroll-tax contributions are not later tapped by Social Security payouts. Opponents counter that illegal immigrants are more likely to end up on state assistance, are less likely to report cash income, and cost the state more through the duplicate issuing of services and documents in both English and Spanish. Such to-and-fro talking points are endless. So is the debate over beneficiaries of illegal...

In the City of Jackson, the discussion at city hall involves cutting police and fire by as many as 35 positions while the city runs two public pools that are swimming in red ink. Jackson is among many cities in the state that operates recreational opportunities - at a loss - while other core services are put on the chopping block. According to the city's budget, Jackson lost about $132,000 in 2008-09 by operating its two pools. The city also lost another $7,500 on its golf center. Jackson owns one 18-hole golf course, but its expenses are grouped in with...

The big aircraft maker Boeing Co. says "cost pressures" from the new health care law are part of the reason it's asking employees to pay more for their medical benefits next year. In a letter mailed to employees late last week, Boeing said deductibles and copayments are going up significantly for some 90,000 nonunion workers. The company cited three major reasons for the cost shift, including untamed health care inflation, the effects of the new law, and lifestyle issues including being overweight and lack of exercise. Spokeswoman Karen Forte said Boeing is concerned that its relatively generous plan will get...

President Obama prom ised that his health reform would "fix" our rising med ical costs and a growing legion of uninsured Americans priced out of coverage. Fix it in which direction? Data out last week shows that the price of insurance is rising even faster than before, the number of uninsured Americans is spiraling upward, and the choices people have of doctors and health plans are being sharply constrained as a result. Welcome to ObamaCare, Year One. This is the change we should start believing in. The Obama team blames the recession or the "greedy" insurance industry for these ills....

Rate Increases Are Blamed on Health-Care Overhaul; White House Questions Logic Health insurers say they plan to raise premiums on some Americans as a direct result of the health overhaul as soon as next month, complicating Democrats' efforts to trumpet their signature achievement before the midterm elections. Aetna Inc., some BlueCross BlueShield plans and other smaller carriers have asked for premium increases of between 1% and 9% to pay for extra benefits required under the law, according to filings with state regulators. These and other insurers say Congress's landmark refashioning of U.S. health coverage, which passed in March after a...

Amid high unemployment and a weak economy, employers have been shifting health care costs to workers, according to a study released Thursday. The premiums that employees pay for employer-sponsored family coverage rose an average of 13.7 percent this year, while the amount that employers contribute fell by 0.9 percent, the survey found. For family coverage, workers are paying an average of $3,997, up $482 from last year, while employers are paying an average of $9,773, down $87, according to the survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust.

As the educational establishment makes every effort to push Western Civilization down a memory hole, a hearty band of activists is proving, once again, that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. One of these brave souls is Leigh A. Bortins, a home-schooling mom who started her own company in order to show the parents of public, private and home-schooled children how to pass a classical education through the generations. Two tips that the CEO and founder of Classical Conversations, Inc., passed on in a recent appearance at the Heritage Foundation: * Have your kids draw maps;...

College is back in session, and students have a bigger voice than ever on the topic of costly textbooks. University of Arizona students start classes today. Pima Community College students will go back to class on Wednesday. Here are three new trends that students will see in the changing world of college textbooks. 1. Book prices are listed in class schedules - by law Federal law now requires publishers to disclose textbook prices to professors and requires them to sell compact discs and other extras separately instead of as a bundle. It also requires colleges to list the prices of...

If Congress pushes through amnesty, hold onto your wallets. Taxpayers will get robbed and illegal aliens rewarded. The 11 million illegal aliens who get legalized will then qualify for many taxpayer-funded government programs, including health premium subsidies, the Earned Income Tax Credit and Medicaid. This redistribution of wealth will add billions to the government’s red ink—not to mention deprive productive Americans of their own money. To get a handle on the size of amnesty’s fiscal consequences, consider the impact on a single program: Medicaid.

There's a big push in some corners of the US transportation industry to "bring high speed rail to America". Visions of relaxed, latte-sipping trips over the nation, no lines for security, low cost trips are certainly heady ideas, but do they bear out? Let's take a critical, cold, calculating look at the reality of the situation. As many know, I split my time between the US (Seattle, WA area) and Asia (predominantly Shanghai, China). China's been on a high speed rail building frenzy recently, and there are thousands of kilometers of line laid, with thousands more to come. Soon most...

An attempt in Scott County to tally up the price of illegal immigrants who break the law is being both praised and panned. In response to inquiries from two county commissioners who face reelection challenges this year, County Attorney Pat Ciliberto told the County Board not long ago that it costs a fortune. University of Minnesota immigration expert Katherine Fennelly said the county's top prosecutor is "creating lots of smoke where there's no fire."

The actuary for Oregon's Public Employee Retirement System confirmed Friday what is already a common-knowledge piece of the state's looming budget shortfall: the cost of funding PERS will increase sharply in 2011. As of Dec 31, the retirement system had 76 cents in assets for every $1 in liabilities, excluding prepaid contributions. The system's investments declined about 1 percent year through May 31, Mercer said. If they finish the year at this level, the system's overall funded status, excluding prepaid contributions, will decline to about 70 percent

Oregon Public Employee Retirement Costs Will DOUBLE Next Year Mike "Mish" Shedlock Jul. 24, 2010, 10:08 AM OregonLive reports PERS rates for state agencies will more than double in 2011. The actuary for Oregon's Public Employee Retirement System confirmed Friday what is already a common-knowledge piece of the state's looming budget shortfall: the cost of funding PERS will increase sharply in 2011. Mercer Inc. told the PERS board Friday that systemwide, the payroll rates paid by cities, counties, school districts and state agencies to cover their employees' pension and health care benefits will more than double in 2011, from their...