Free Republic

As President Donald Trump searches for ways to cut costs at the White House, he has set his sights on the first lady’s office. Trump is considering reducing the number of jobs in that office, which has grown to up to 20 employees in recent administrations, according to three people with knowledge of the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly about the deliberations. Anita McBride, who served in the last three Republican White Houses, including as chief of staff to former first lady Laura Bush, said any potential cutbacks might be consistent with the limited number of projects...

Employees on Wall Street, and those working at other financial institutions, are concerned about keeping their jobs. But a recent survey showed that financial services companies may underrate the value employees put on job security. This comes as the threat of layoffs is seen at many top banks. For instance, JPMorgan is laying off hundreds of tech-support workers, and the Bank of America is letting staff go, too, as well as Citigroup and Bank of New York Mellon. Laura Sejen, a managing director at Towers Watson, which released the recent survey, told eFinancialCareers, “US employees working in financial services indicate...

Cost Cutters Fix Sights on F-35 Fighter By NATHAN HODGE Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is considering pulling back the Pentagon's commitment to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the costliest procurement project in the department's history, defense officials said. At issue is how many of the supersonic, stealthy aircraft the U.S. is willing to buy, how much it will to pay for them and how long it will wait for them to enter service. While the program isn't at risk of outright cancellation, a more exotic version of the aircraft is in the budget-cutting crosshairs. And with the Department of...

It's probably just coincidental that bad numbers about President Obama's much-coveted healthcare legislation came out late last week when few people were paying attention. This is the absolutely crucial healthcare reform plan that simply had to be drafted, discussed, debated, amended and passed before early August. It's supposed to cover millions more Americans and reduce the nation's soaring medical costs. Turns out, not. Here's a little chapter review before semester finals:

An open letter to medical insurers and the healthcare community at large: There is a window that is open, ever so narrowly, but about to close. You have the opportunity to take matters into your own hands, or risk the survival of private medical insurance in the United States, probably forever. It's no secret that between President Obama and Congress, the Democrat-controlled government has a public healthcare provider as a goal. Mr. Obama asserts that this will "foster competition" with private providers, even though this concept is laughable...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The New York Times unveiled plans on Thursday to eliminate several weekly sections of the newspaper in the latest cost-cutting move at the prestigious but financially troubled daily. The Washington Post, meanwhile, announced a sweeping editorial reorganization at the newspaper and details of its plan to merge its currently separate print and online operations into a single newsroom. The Times said it was doing away with several weekly sections "in a bid to save millions of dollars" in ink, paper and freelance reporter costs, absorbing them into other parts of the newspaper. On the chopping board are...

May 27, 2006 Disney Said to Be Considering Cost Cuts That Include Layoffs By LAURA M. HOLSON LOS ANGELES, May 26 — Walt Disney Studios is expecting a big summer with the release of the highly anticipated animated film "Cars" and the next installment in the popular "Pirates of the Caribbean" series. But not all is well in movieland — and changes are afoot. With a decline in DVD sales and the rising cost of making movies, Hollywood in general has been tightening its belt. And now Disney, as part of a long-term review, is contemplating layoffs, looking to rein...

<p>Frito-Lay is closing its Louisville potato- and corn-chip plant as part of a nationwide cost-cutting strategy that will cost 326 local employees their jobs.</p> <p>Frito-Lay, a unit of PepsiCo, said it plans to close the plant Jan. 7. PepsiCo announced the move as part of an effort to streamline its operations and cut 750 jobs.</p>

Texas agencies eliminate costs to rid state of budget deficit ASSOCIATED PRESS Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick asked state agencies to try to save $700 million by cutting the rest of their 2003 budgets by 7 percent. What agencies are doing or plan to do: Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board says $26.3 million in cuts would mean taking money away from the Texas Grants scholarship program, and reducing funding to the Baylor College of Medicine, the Centers for Teacher Education and two chiropractic colleges. Texas Lottery Commission said its $24.7 million in cuts...