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WASHINGTON — Americans could pay billions of dollars more in new taxes for a few years before they're likely to see significant change in the nation's health care system under legislation that Congress is considering. Some analysts said that's not necessarily bad. Delaying major health care changes until at least 2013, as the pending Senate and House of Representatives bills would do, would give the government sufficient money and time to get things right.

Scientists in Norway have identified a mutated form of the swine flu virus that is raising concern because it was found in two patients who died of the flu and a third who was severely ill with the disease, officials announced Friday. In a statement, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said the mutation "could possibly make the virus more prone to infect deeper in the airways and thus cause more severe disease," such as pneumonia.

After months of collaboration on President Obama's attempt to overhaul the nation's health-care system, the insurance industry plans to strike out against the effort on Monday with a report warning that the typical family premium in 2019 could cost $4,000 more than projected. The critique, coming one day before a critical Senate committee vote on the legislation, sparked a sharp response from the Obama administration. It also signaled an end to the fragile detente between two central players in this year's health-care reform drama. Industry officials said they intend to circulate the report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers on Capitol Hill and...

The much-trumpeted "reset" of relations between Russia and the U.S. was dealt a slap in the face last week as Moscow went on the offensive against Ukraine and Georgia. After Russian President Dmitri Medvedev waded into Ukrainian politics with barbed criticism of his Ukrainian counterpart's "anti-Russian" policies, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin embarked on a provocative trip to reaffirm support for Abkhazia, the Moscow-backed territory that enjoys de facto independence from Georgia.

If this doesn't make you want to fly to Washington and slap your legislator, nothing ever will. Congress gives itself a $93,000 raise to stimulate the economy. It must be nice to have that kind of extra petty cash cash laying around. Instead of tightening your belt in this recession, wouldn't you like an extra $90,000? Never mind the record deficits. Never mind that ordinary Americans are struggling to pay their bills. Our Congress thinks it is far more important to be able to dole out perks to itself

Federal judges lose bid for pay raisesA quirk in federal law prevents them from getting automatic cost-of-living increases. A bill before Congress to boost their salaries showed promise -- but that was before the Wall Street meltdown. By David G. Savage January 1, 2009 Reporting from Washington -- Joining the many who felt shortchanged by 2008 are the nation's federal judges. They were the only federal employees who did not receive a cost-of-living pay increase. **SNIP** In his fourth year-end report on the federal judiciary, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said he has been repeating himself. "I suspect many...

One of the debates going on right now in the world of politics has to do with raises. You know, those pesky little pay increases that everyone wants every so often to keep themselves motivated to do their jobs. Take me, for example. I work. And once a year, my efforts are evaluated, and if management comes to the conclusion that my activities merit an increase, then I get a raise. Alternatively, if they do not think I'm doing a good job, then I get no pay increase. The current political firestorm has to do with the raise that Congress...

A crumbling economy, more than 2 million constituents who have lost their jobs this year, and congressional demands of CEOs to work for free did not convince lawmakers to freeze their own pay. Instead, they will get a $4,700 pay increase, amounting to an additional $2.5 million that taxpayers will spend on congressional salaries, and watchdog groups are not happy about it. “As lawmakers make a big show of forcing auto executives to accept just $1 a year in salary, they are quietly raiding the vault for their own personal gain,” said Daniel O’Connell, chairman of The Senior Citizens League...

With a new crop of state lawmakers being sworn in later today, the state council of one of California's biggest unions has launched an ad campaign featuring President-elect Barack Obama and urged new revenues to balance the state budget. With clips of Obama's election night acceptance speech in the background, the screen in the TV ad flashes with the words "small change won't fill a massive deficit."

November 9, 2008 Not everyone is waiting eagerly to hear the details of President-elect Obama's economic stimulus package. Upper-income individuals are seeking shelter from what are likely to be hefty tax increases. Many financial advisors are urging haste -- suggesting their clients make tax-saving moves before the year end, according to Michael Gray, CPA. “The details of tax changes will be negotiated by Congress next year,” says Gray. “According to a summary by the Tax Policy Center, Obama has proposed to restore the 39.6% maximum bracket in 2009 that we had under Clinton for single taxpayers with income exceeding $200,000...

3.9% Average Pay Raise for Feds in 2009 in Temporary Spending Bill By Ralph Smith Tuesday, September 30, 2008 As of now, it appears that an average 3.9% pay raise for federal employees will become effective in January 2009. Federal retirees are in line to get a COLA that is going to be about 6% in January (the final figure will be calculated in October). full article at: http://www.fedsmith.com/article/1729/

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Governor Jennifer Granholm says the most important thing she learned this year is she's not ever going to raise taxes again to deal with any budget shortfalls.

WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - With the U.S. government fast approaching its current $8.965 trillion credit limit, the Senate on Thursday gave final congressional approval of an $850 billion increase in U.S. borrowing authority. The Senate voted 53-42 to raise the debt ceiling to $9.815 trillion, the fifth increase in the U.S. credit limit since President George W. Bush took office in January 2001. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the higher debt limit earlier this year as part of the overall budget resolution and the legislation now goes to Bush for his signature. "We have no choice but to...

PROVIDENCE, R.I., Sept. 4, 2007 – A light breeze rippled over the dark water of Providence Harbor as two divers sank below the water’s surface, leaving behind a long trail of air hoses and the sound of their breathing through the radio. Navy diver Petty Officer 2nd Class William F. Stetson III, right, gives the “OK” sign to let a fellow sailor know he is receiving proper oxigen flow. The U.S. Army Vessel New Orleans is serving as a diving platform for Navy and Army divers working on raising a Russian submarine in Providence Harbor on the Rhode Island...

Mugabe bans pay rises to push down inflation By Graeme Baker Last Updated: 7:48pm BST 31/08/2007 Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, yesterday banned pay and price rises without his authorisation in an attempt to tackle the country's hyperinflation. "No one can now raise wages, rents, service charges, prices and school fees on account of increases in the official and unofficial exchange rates," the government-controlled Herald newspaper said. "The net effect of the changes will be to push inflation down." Pay rises for the next six months will have to be approved by the national incomes and prices commission, headed...

Despite record-low approval ratings, House lawmakers Wednesday voted to accept an approximately $4,400 pay raise that will increase their salaries to almost $170,000. The cost-of-living raise gets lawmakers back on track for automatic pay raises after a fight between Democrats and Republicans last year and again in January killed the pay hike due this year. That was the first interruption of the annual congressional pay hike in seven years. The blowup came after Democrats last year fulfilled a campaign promise to deny themselves a pay hike until Congress raised the minimum wage. Delays in the minimum wage bill cost every...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2007 – President Bush’s defense budget request for fiscal 2008 includes a 3 percent military pay raise as well as increases for housing, health care and other quality-of-life benefits and programs. Bush’s proposed budget, submitted to Congress this morning, includes $137 billion in pay, benefits and health care for 2.1 million active- and reserve-component troops and their families. That includes $2.1 billion more than this year for military pay, continuing a trend that has boosted military pay an average of 32 percent since 2001. If Congress approves the request, the typical E-6 sergeant or petty officer...

Virginia was once a solidly conservative Republican state, but in recent years it has tilted Democratic. A big reason for the shift is the GOP's recent love affair with higher taxes. In the 1990s Republican Governors George Allen and Jim Gilmore won sweeping victories running as tax cutters. Then in 2004 Richmond Republicans enacted the largest tax increase in the commonwealth's history -- a $1 billion hike in sales and tobacco taxes. Now they are flirting with another tax hike even though the state has a Blue Ridge Mountain-high $900 million budget surplus. Why? The hot political issue in northern...

THE Muslim world's scathing reaction to Pope Benedict's comments on Islam is the biggest challenge to face the pontiff yet and raises concerns over his security, diplomatic and Church sources said today. "My personal reaction was: 'This is a striking statement. Was it a rare slip-up?'" one of the sources said about the Pope's speech in Germany last Tuesday.

SACRAMENTO California's minimum wage will increase by $1.25 an hour over the next two years under a deal struck Monday between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders. The agreement ends, at least temporarily, a stalemate between the governor and Democratic lawmakers and clears a political hurdle for Schwarzenegger as he seeks re-election. Both sides agreed a raise for the lowest-income workers was necessary but differed over whether it should be accompanied by automatic annual increases. The governor has vetoed two previous attempts to raise California's minimum wage, which is far higher than the federal rate of $5.15 an hour but...

HUACHUCA CITY — Unusually large purchases of cellular phones at a Huachuca City store on April 21 and a Tucson area store last weekend may be part of the growing trend in the United States. The Arizona Counter-Terrorism Information Center on Tuesday issued a statement that said recent information shows a possible increase in suspicious pre-paid cell phone purchases nationwide. “There has been speculation in the national and international media of cell phones being used to detonate explosives by members of terrorist, extremist and separatist groups around the world,” the agency said in its statement. “It is also possible for...

SACRAMENTO State lawmakers are betting that voters eager to avoid a Katrina-style disaster in California will rally behind a $4.1 billion bond on the November ballot to shore up the state's fragile levees. While few experts disagree that California needs to rebuild its aging levee system, an Associated Press review of the bond has found the measure requires voters to take a leap of faith that the state will spend the money the way lawmakers have promised. An extensive examination of the measure, reviews of state and federal studies, and interviews with two dozen water experts, lawmakers and environmentalists have...

AL ASAD, Iraq (July 7, 2006) -- Marines at the Al Asad Ammunition Supply Point came together for a brief banquet laced with ceremony and laughs, staying in tune with Marine Corps tradition. The ASP Marines with Headquarters and Service Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 7, 1st Marine Logistics Group, conducted a field mess night at Al Asad July 1 to honor and recognize the Marines who came before them, as well as to build on to their own camaraderie. "We came over here 24 strong, and we do a lot of things together," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Brian G....

SAN FRANCISCO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to headline a fundraiser for gay Republicans in Hollywood next week in what would be his first appearance in front of a gay audience since he took office, according to the event's organizers. The June 29 fundraiser for Log Cabin Republicans comes as Schwarzenegger considers whether to veto a bill that would require chapters from gay history to be added to public school text books in California. The governor already has indicated he opposes the measure. The governor's stock has been down with gay rights groups since he vetoed a gay marriage bill in...

WASHINGTON - Are you getting a $3,300 pay raise? Congress will. Despite Rep. Jim Matheson's annual argument to have a vote on whether Congress should get a 2 percent pay raise, House members sided with the automatic hike during a debate over a spending bill for several departments. It's the sixth time Matheson, Utah's only Democratic House member, has tried to get a vote on the pay raise and the sixth time he's lost. "We continue to swim in a pool of red ink," Matheson said on the House floor Tuesday. "I don't think it's appropriate to have this ....

HEIDELBERG, Germany (Army News Service, June 6, 2006) – An increase in locally focused contributions from Soldiers and Department of Defense civilians to the Combined Federal Campaign Overseas will bring nearly $100,000 to family and youth programs in U.S. Army, Europe. Brig. Gen. Rusty Frutiger, USAREUR deputy chief of staff for personnel, and Peter F. Sun, IMA-EURO chief of staff, received the $98,895 check, symbolizing the donations designated for Family Support and Youth Programs, from Renee Acosta, worldwide CFC campaign manager. “The FSYP is unique to the CFC-O and is the only way to donate locally while overseas,” said Constance...

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger revived a commission he once considered part of the wasteful bureaucracy yesterday to push his own plan to raise the minimum wage and circumvent the Legislature. Schwarzenegger appointed four new members to the Industrial Welfare Commission, which met yesterday to consider his petition to raise the minimum wage by $1 an hour, but without the automatic increases that Democratic lawmakers want. For the past two years, the Republican governor and the Democrat-controlled Legislature have battled to a standstill over the issue. The Legislature has twice sent Schwarzenegger bills to raise the current $6.75 hourly minimum...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N. C. (May 24th, 2006) -- Junior Marines with Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, Special Operations Support Group held a picnic for their unit May 24th that left some of the troops with more food on their faces than in their stomach. As part of an effort to help raise funds for the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, some of ‘The Few and The Proud’ sacrificed the latter and took one for the team during a pie-in-the face auction. “This picnic was all about building camaraderie and showing thanks to all the Marines and Sailors...

Adopting a new tactic in a fight over the minimum wage, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked a dormant state commission Thursday to raise the wage by $1 an hour without the annual cost-of-living increases sought by Democrats. The Republican governor sent a letter to Bill Dombrowski, chairman of the Industrial Welfare Commission, and asked the panel to consider raising the wage from $6.75 to $7.75 in two steps over a nine-month period. A decision by the commission to grant the increase could give Schwarzenegger political cover if, as expected, he vetoes legislation later this year raising the wage and requiring subsequent...

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (May 13, 2006) -- Service members serving in the Al Anbar Province recently lent their support to women's cancer research, participating in the 13th annual Revlon Run/Walk For Women, held here for the first time in a combat zone May 13, 2006. The run-walk was organized to mirror the stateside event held in New York and Los Angeles, which started in 1993 to raise awareness and funding for cancer research and outreach programs for women. Nearly 70 runners showed up for the 6:30 a.m. start time and raised almost $2,500 in pledges from people in the United...

Counting on victory in November, Democrats outline plansHomeland security, a boost to the minimum wage and White House investigations top legislative agenda By Jonathan Weisman WASHINGTON POST Posted on Sun, May. 07, 2006 WASHINGTON - Democratic leaders, increasingly confident they will seize control of the House in November, are laying plans for a legislative blitz during their first week in power that would raise the minimum wage, roll back parts of the Republican prescription drug law, implement homeland security measures and reinstate lapsed budget deficit controls. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said last week that a Democratic House...

CORINTH, Maine - The Maine Department of Public Safety has no plans to change the state's Web-based sex offender registry despite the killings of two sex offenders whose addresses were apparently obtained online. A Canadian man used the registry to obtain personal information about the victims, authorities said, renewing fears that such lists expose ex-convicts to vigilante violence. "The events of the weekend will obviously be reviewed, but there are no plans to change the Web site at this point," Stephen McCausland, Maine Public Safety spokesman, said Monday. The gunman, Stephen A. Marshall, a 20-year-old from Nova Scotia's Cape Breton,...

At least four San Diego fire officials have moved in and out of top management posts in recent years, allowing them to boost their future retirement checks by as much as $30,000 a year. The four battalion chiefs with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department were promoted to deputy chief or division chief. After a year or two, they returned to their previous positions, according to internal documents reviewed by The San Diego Union-Tribune. About this series This is the 19th article in a series examining San Diego's finances and decision-making. High pressure and lean budgets make it tough for the...

WOODBRIDGE, Va., April 9, 2006 – The Landstuhl Hospital Care Project added $4,400 to its coffers April 7 to buy items needed by wounded, injured and sick servicemembers at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, and hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Karen Grimord, the project's coordinator. Karen Grimord, founder and coordinator of the Landstuhl Hospital Care Project, poses with Ed "Hook" Hidgins - the "Hook" in Hook & C's Karaoke, during a benefit at American Legion Post 364 to raise money to purchase items for wounded servicemembers at Landstuhl and hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan. Photo by Rudi...

SAMARRA, Iraq (March 27, 2006) – The Army has a catchphrase; “Adapt, improvise and overcome,” and that is just what medics at Forward Operating Base Brassfield-Mora are doing. 2nd Lt. Edward C.F. Lau, Evacuation Platoon Leader, 690th Medical Company in support of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, FOB Brassfield-Mora in Samarra had an idea to implement the design for a new medical evacuation platform. “My chain of command gave the opportunity to implement a new ground evacuation doctrine, and depending on its success, it will be the new standard for ground patient movement in Iraq,” says...

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state GOP collected an estimated $2.5 million Monday at a fundraiser headlined by Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), as scores of union members protested outside the event calling for the governor's ouster in November. For Schwarzenegger, the closed-door dinner begins to replenish a political fund drained last year by his costly and losing campaign to enact ballot proposals to slow state spending and curb public union power in Sacramento. Top donors kicked in as much as $100,000 to attend the dinner and reception. But the event was reminiscent of...

UN force in Sudan 'will raise al-Qa'eda threat' By Mike Pflanz (Filed: 02/03/2006) Al-Qa'eda's presence in Sudan is likely to soar if the United Nations takes over peacekeeping operations in Darfur from the current African Union force, Jan Pronk, the UN's leading envoy to Sudan, has warned. Deploying peacekeepers drawn from Nato countries, including America, would be a "recipe for disaster" causing terrorist agents to stream in to fight a "jihad" against the blue berets, Mr Pronk said this week. "The climate in Khartoum against the UN is heating up very strongly. There are threats, warnings of recolonisation, invasion, imperialism,...

LARRY HOMSHER IS RUNNING AS A REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE IN THE 95TH STATE HOUSE DISTRICT AS A REPUBLICAN. THE INCUMBENT HERE IS PAY RAISE SUPPORTER STEVE STETLER, A DEMOCRAT. HOMSHER RAN AS A REPUBLICAN FOR CITY COUNCIL BUT YOU HAVE TO WATCH OUT, THE DEMS ARE SO NASTY AND POWERFUL IN THE CITY THAT THEY HAVE PLANTED PEOPLE AS GOP CANDIDATES SO THEY COULD WIN ELECTIONS. I DON'T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS ON THIS ONE, BUT QUESTIONS BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE WITH CITY POLITICS..... Excerpt from NEXTRUSH

Stetler won't return raise He's opting to give to charity CARL LINDQUIST The York Dispatch State Rep. Steve Stetler hasn't returned the pay raise money he received before the raise was repealed in November. Instead, the Democratic legislator -- who is in his eighth term representing York City -- said he is giving the money to charities and nonprofits. Although Stetler said he's not sure exactly how much of a pay boost he got before the raise was repealed in November, state records show he made about $9,190 extra during the four months lawmakers could get the increase. Stetler said...

SACRAMENTO – Most California lawmakers Monday will get a 12 percent pay raise that will bump their annual salaries to $110,880 and assure their place as the best paid state legislators in the country. Of the Legislature's 120 members, 14 have turned down the raise, citing the state's lingering budget problems. "I didn't feel right accepting the raise at a time when there was a state budget deficit," Assemblywoman Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park said yesterday. "I felt I needed to set an example for fiscal prudence." Assembly members Shirley Horton, R-Bonita, George Plescia, R-La Jolla, and Juan Vargas, D-San Diego,...

Congress Plans to Raise Budget for Census By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer 32 minutes ago WASHINGTON - The census always been about more than just counting people and divvying up seats in Congress. The first one, in 1790, was used to find out how many "free white males" were available for military service. The 1870 census documented freed slaves who had been denied the right to vote. In 1940, it assessed housing conditions following the Great Depression. Times change and so does the census, evolving over two centuries to reflect America's shifting economy and values. Today, it is on...

Coloradans have no commonsense. Within one year we reelected a financially incompetent, liberal Ken Salazar, then raised our own taxes and legalized marijuana. What is wrong with my neighbors? Well, they want to smoke pot and pay more taxes. One problem explains the other. Drug abuse is a large cause of liberal thinking. This is proven historically as we look at the ‘60s and ‘70s. Drug abuse and modern liberalism are synonymous. Person becomes rebel. Rebel smokes pot. Pot affects mind, causing liberal thinking. Liberals raise taxes. Its simple! Fortunately state and federal law will ensure that nothing in Denver...

RALEIGH, N.C. - Scores of illegal immigrants working as cooks, laborers, janitors, even foreign-language instructors have been seized at military bases around the country in the past year, raising concerns in some quarters about security and troop safety. The immigrants did not work directly for the military but for private contractors, as part of a large-scale effort by the Pentagon to outsource many routine rear-echelon jobs and free up the troops to concentrate on waging war. Some worry that this fast-growing practice could make U.S. military installations more vulnerable to security breaches. "We can't let down our guard," said Rep....

Unique flagstones of Rabat Tepe Raise QuestionsThe discovery of 3000-year-old flagstones in Rabat Tepe has surprised archaeologists. Tehran, 20 October 2005 (CHN) -- The first season of archaeological excavations in Rabat Tepe led to the discovery of 3000-year-old 180x180 cm flagstone, which have never been seen before in any Urartu historical sites. Similar flagstones have been found in Ancient Rome and Ancient Iran historical sites. Rabat Tepe is located near the town of Sardasht in West Azarbaijan province of Iran. It is believed that hill used to be the capital of Musasir government about 3000 years ago. Before setting on...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Army News Service, Oct. 14, 2005) -- Wounded warriors sat center field Oct. 7 at the Alamodome, watching the New Orleans Saints practice for their ill-fated game against the Green Bay Packers. The New Orleans Saints invited Brooke Army Medical Center’s amputee care patients to attend practice at San Antonio’s Alamodome. Saints' owner Tom Benson extended his thanks by inviting the wounded warriors to the next home game, Oct. 16, against Buffalo. With the Alamodome empty, the Soldiers had an up-close and personal view of the work that goes into game day. In the empty Alamodome, each...

<p>Nine months before Hurricane Katrina made landfall, three emergency-preparedness officials from Louisiana were indicted, accused of obstruction and lying in connection with the mishandling of $30.4 million in disaster-relief money. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has tried unsuccessfully to recover the money following an investigation of a program to buy out homeowners in flood-prone areas.</p>

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2005 – Washington's young professional crowd turned out in droves at the Hard Rock Café here Sept. 16 to show support for the military and to raise money for military families affected by Hurricane Katrina. The benefit, "D.C. Rocks for the Troops," included appearances by former cast members of MTV's "The Real World," daytime television stars and the Redskinettes. New York's famous cover band, Café Wha, coaxed people out to the dance floor with a lively mix of music. The event was organized by a few young D.C. professionals and was supported by the Armed Forces Foundation,...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two California House members from opposite parties are asking a federal elections panel for permission to raise unlimited money to oppose Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting measure. Reps. Howard Berman, D-North Hollywood, and John Doolittle, R-Rocklin, are seeking an advisory opinion from the Federal Election Commission that would allow them to collect "soft money" from unions, corporations and other donors to support or oppose ballot measures in the Nov. 8 special election. Both oppose Schwarzenegger's redistricting initiative. Berman's chief of staff, Gene Smith, said the request was motivated by their desire to raise money to fight it. Schwarzenegger's...

A conservative group's test-marketing of the power of the anti-pay-raise message against entrenched legislative leaders is starting at the top: radio ads attacking Senate President Pro Tem Robert Jubelirer, R-Blair, as "Bob Jubelirer, raising our taxes and his salary since 1975," will start airing Aug. 15 in the lawmaker's district. And a billboard will go up on I-70 near Altoona in the next 10 days showing Jubelirer's face and the words "Sen. Jubelirer voted to raise his own pay to $145,463. A 34% increase. Bigger pay for bigger government. InformedPA.com ." ... The anti-Jubelirer billboard and the radio ads are...

SACRAMENTO — A little-known state board sat down this spring to ponder this ticklish question: What does a California legislator deserve to be paid these days? What the members decided caused more than a few people to scratch their heads, considering that: • California legislators were already the highest-paid state lawmakers in the land, with an annual salary of $99,000 on top of benefits that include daily expenses, auto rentals, car repairs, gasoline and staff expenses. • In a Field Poll last month, their job rating hit a low for the year, with only 24% of voters approving and only...