Free Republic

Even as Florida struggled with massive budget shortfalls, lawmakers and top state employees have received health-insurance perks costing taxpayers $45 million a year. Top Florida lawmakers are balking at Congress' plans to help more poor people get healthcare, though they've protected an entitlement of their own: free insurance premiums. Taxpayers have been stuck with covering the premiums -- at a cost of about $45 million a year -- even while lawmakers pledged to scrimp as they grappled with three straight years of budget shortfalls. Florida doesn't limit the subsidies to statewide officeholders like Gov. Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer...