Free Republic

I'm considering buying a new pick-up. Why new? Because it will most likely be the last vehicle I'll ever buy and I want it to last. So, I was looking at Ford F150s last night and my jaw dropped. One of the trucks was priced at $66,000!! For crying out-loud! $66K?? The one I liked the best was priced at $49,000! I'm in real estate and you can buy property cheaper! I thought perhaps some of the more experienced, wiser freepers could answer this question: Just how much does it actually cost to manufacture/produce one of these? (Or any other...

Only months before the opening of its $1-billion Star Wars expansion, the Disneyland Resort announced price increases of up to 25% for daily tickets, annual passes and parking. The increases, which took effect Sunday, come less than a year after the resort adopted price hikes of up to 18%. Under the latest increases, the cheapest daily ticket will be more than $100. Daily parking prices are rising to $25 from $20 — a 25% increase. Disneyland’s annual ritual of charging more is partly aimed at crowd control, although price hikes in the last few years have not diminished the throngs...

The Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) may seem to be anything but affordable to many average Americans. Take a middle class, middle aged couple earning a combined income of $65,000 a year. Under Obamacare, this couple would have to pay $19,400 before receiving a single dollar of benefits from their “bronze plan.” This is a total comprised of a $9,400 annual premium and a $10,000 deductible. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius disputed the contention that “merely because some people are paying more than they previously paid doesn’t make the overall program unaffordable. Many of those signing up are...

THE Anthem Blue Cross representative who answered my call told me that there was a silver lining in the cancellation of my individual P.P.O. policy and the $5,400 annual increase that I would have to pay for the Affordable Care Act-compliant option: now if I have Stage 4 cancer or need a sex-change operation, I’d be covered regardless of pre-existing conditions. Never mind that the new provider network would eliminate coverage for my and my son’s long-term doctors and hospitals. The Anthem rep cheerily explained that despite the company’s — I paraphrase — draconian rates and limited network, my benefits,...

MIAMI (AP) -- Dean Griffin liked the health insurance he purchased for himself and his wife three years ago and thought he'd be able to keep the plan even after the federal Affordable Care Act took effect ... The Griffins, who live near Philadelphia on the Delaware border, pay $770 monthly for their soon-to-be-terminated health care plan with a $2,500 deductible. The cheapest plan they found on their state insurance exchange was a so-called bronze plan charging a $1,275 monthly premium with deductibles totaling $12,700. It covers only providers in Pennsylvania, so the couple wouldn't be able to see the...

**SNIP** Other Democrats now say they agree with Republicans that a delay of the individual mandate may be the only way to salvage the disaster and save face. "I think the administration is going to have to look at it [delay of the individual mandate]. and I'd encourage them to do so," said Rep. Gene Green (D-TX). Five Democrats have now asked for the Obama Administration to seek a refund from the contractors responsible for the Obamacare website fiasco. Reps. Ron Barber (D-AZ), William Enyart (D-IL), Pete Gallego (D-TX), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and Filemon Vela (D-TX) wrote a letter to...

Wanted to share something with everyone here....not necessarily so much schadenfreude as it is educational and entertaining to see the lights come on for an Obama supporter. Simply put, a liberal pseudo-intellectual colleague has decided to start a small business....very small. Only himself working out of his home. He apparently wants to use his skills and talents to create wares in his own home and do business over the 'net. He is the only employee.... But lo and behold, hardly a week goes by when this young man, who looked admiringly at BO and called him "a genius", now bemoans...

It's been clear to anyone paying attention that the October "rollout" of Obamacare has been a turbulent, confusing disaster. Sloppy IT systems and technological failures combined to cripple Obamacare's sign-up systems. Security flaws put Americans at risk for identity theft. In an almost comical understatement, President Obama summarized these massive failures as "a few glitches." I think that Luke Chung, IT expert and president of database solutions firm FMS, explained the situation much more accurately: "What should clearly be an enterprise quality, highly scalable software application felt like it wouldn't pass a basic code review. It appears the people who...

Adam Weldzius, a nurse practitioner, considers himself better informed than most when it comes to the inner workings of health insurance. But even he wasn't prepared for the pocketbook hit he'll face next year under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. If the 33-year-old single father wants the same level of coverage next year as what he has now with the same insurer and the same network of doctors and hospitals, his monthly premium of $233 will more than double. If he wants to keep his monthly payments in check, the Carpentersville resident is looking at an annual deductible for...

Video at link. Andy Mangione, who lives in Louisville, Ky. with his wife Amy and their two boys, is doing the same thing millions of people are doing --trying to figure out how much his insurance will cost under ObamaCare. Before the exchanges opened, his insurance company said his rates would soar. But now that there are subsidies, he's been trying for days to find out how much he would get. "To logically compare plans, I've been calling them every day since October 1st," says Mangione, "several times a day on some occasions. Sometimes enduring 45, 50 minute holds, half...

<p>Irony: While President Obama refuses to consider any delay of ObamaCare, his liberal base is waking up to the fact that "free" health care is awfully expensive. And that they're the ones getting stuck with the bill.</p> <p>This would be funny if it weren't so hazardous to the country. The news is full of stories of people — many of them ObamaCare supporters — who are only now discovering what Democrats managed to impose on the country.</p>

Even loyal Obama supporters are raising their eyebrows at the very pricey fundraising -- like that exclusive $35,800-per-person dinner in San Francisco -- planned as part of the President's April 20 visit to the Bay Area. The April Western U.S. swing by the President, which includes a stop in Reno and Los Angeles as well as San Francisco, is part of Obama's 2012 re-election kickoff campaign. But also scheduled .. a jobs and economy event in the Bay Area on April 20. On April 21, Obama heads to Los Angeles. ... Obama supporters acknowledge that the $35,800 per person San...

It's not your imagination. Orange juice is not going as far as it used to. Same for toilet paper. Dish soap. And cheese slices. You are making more trips to the store. In fact, a Consumer Reports investigation found that while many products have reduced their packaging size; their prices have actually increased. It how businesses are dealing with higher prices for wholesale food and energy. Instead of raising prices significantly, companies are shrinking the packaging. They are hoping you do not notice too much. Consumer Reports (paid subscription required) first noticed the trend when they started hearing complains about...

The long-anticipated Chevrolet Volt, General Motors' electric car, will cost $41,000, the company announced Tuesday, leaving consumers to decide whether its environmental appeal is worth a price far above that of similarly sized conventional autos. Electric-car technology has been around for years, but the high cost to make the vehicles has prevented automakers from producing them for the mass market. The price announcements for the Volt and its electric rival, the Nissan Leaf, have been highly anticipated as a result. Nissan, the only other major manufacturer expected to bring such a vehicle to market this year, said the Leaf will...

WASHINGTON – The price tag for comprehensive immigration reform was not a key issue when the Senate passed its bill last May. But it is now. One reason: It took the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) - the gold standard for determining what a bill will cost - until last week to estimate that federal spending for this vast and complex bill would hit $127 billion over the next 10 years. At the same time, federal revenues would drop by about $79 billion, according to the CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation. If lawmakers fix a tax glitch, that loss...

Ontario families already grappling with $1-a-litre at the pumps and higher natural gas prices are about to get squeezed again, this time on their electricity bill. Last year's blistering hot summer and the rising cost of powering the province means Toronto households will be paying an average of 5.8 per cent or $81 more over the next year to keep the lights on and air conditioners humming under new rates, effective May 1, unveiled yesterday by the Ontario Energy Board. Toronto got off relatively easy. The impact on homeowners bills will vary wildly across the province, depending on what local...

The lone bid for the new Bay Bridge's soaring single-tower suspension span came in more than a billion dollars over the Caltrans' estimate Wednesday. The news left transportation officials scrambling to figure out how to handle the bank-breaking bid. "We expected bad news,'' said state Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, "but this is terrible news.'' Only the eastern side of the Bay Bridge is being rebuilt, in two sections. The first section, which begins on the Oakland shore, is made up of the 1.5- mile twin concrete viaducts now under construction. The viaducts will connect to the 1,860-foot single-tower suspension span...