Free Republic

The Pentagon is downsizing or closing 50 medical clinics, including 12 on Air Force bases, in a move the department says will “increase the readiness of our operational and medical forces.” But the change will also force families and retirees away from some USAF facilities and into TRICARE civilian providers. The Fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act called on the Pentagon to analyze its hospital and clinic footprint, and the department screened 343 facilities inside the United States. Of those, 77 were selected for additional assessments and 50 ultimately chosen for “restructuring.” The majority of those facilities will transition from...

<p>AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) A newly revised forecast by an advisory state panel holds potential for enlarging a government revenue shortfall already pegged at about $240 million by $25 million or more, according to legislative analysts.</p> <p>The negative adjustments could make more difficult a task that has bedeviled lawmakers and Gov. Angus King for months: matching current spending levels with available resources.</p>

First off, Gov. King’s plan to fix this year’s half of the state’s two-year, $180 million (give or take) budget shortfall is not, despite the governor’s assertion, free of broad-based tax increases. Three unpaid furlough days for state employees are nothing less than a tax increase of several hundred dollars each for this particular broad-based group of Maine citizens. Yes, the cut in education funding is a reduction of growth, but given the new state and federal mandates school districts still must meet, it’s going to look a lot like a tax increase to an even broader-based group — property...