Free Republic

Jan. 1, 2014, will find the fat lady singing for my husband and me. That is when smokers will have to "cough up" extra money for their health insurance because of a provision of the Affordable Health Act. I am 60, which means that I will pay $5,000 extra. My husband at 54 will pay more than $4,000 extra each year. Mind you that this is on top of the insurance payments we already make.

<p>Mayor Bloomberg, who's facing a projected $5 billion budget deficit next year, revealed for the first time yesterday that the financial storm may hit sooner - in the current city budget. "Depending on what happens in [the current fiscal year of ] '03, we may even have a slight shortfall in '03 to take care of," the mayor said.</p>