Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Passing a Grim Milestone in Iraq

Adding up Losses as Attacks Increase. The death toll for American forces in Iraq has reached 1,000. (FOX News)

Since March, insurgent attacks have risen from around 750 a month to more than 2,500 last month. The Pentagon now says insurgents are in control of portions of central Iraq and it’s unclear when or if coalition forces will regain control of those areas. (NYT)

A Fine Would be Just Fine. You order an underling to hide the true price of Medicare reform from Congress, knowing it’s really going to cost $100 billion more than you claimed. Then you go on drawing a salary from the taxpayers. Sweet deal. Not quite. The General Accountablity Office says Washington should have kept former Medicare chief Thomas A. Scully's salary last year as punishment. Senator Frank Lunenburg (D-NJ) now wants Scully to return his $145,600 salary. That‘s not much compared to what taxpayers are out. (WashPost)

Stopped in Traffic. America’s traffic problems are getting worse faster than America can fix them. The average commuter spent 46 hours stuck in traffic last year. That’s 187% more than back in 1982. (NYT)

Winds of Change. After two hurricanes in less than a month, Floridians are finding out they’re still paying for one back in 1992. Insurance companies changed the way they replace houses after Hurricane Andrew. Those who lost homes in Charley and Frances are finding out they have to pay a bigger share of replacement costs than they expected. (WashPost)

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