Taking a Pay Cut to Get Shot At. When a Guard or Reserve service member is called to active duty, he likely makes less money than he did on his civilian job. Congress, the Pentagon, and the White House all brag about raises for active duty troops over the last four years. But they're pretty quiet about making up the pay cut a guard or reserve member has to put up with while defending his country.
You Should Be Happy to Pay More Money. Medicare premiums that seniors have to pay out of pocket for doctor visits will go from $66.60 to $78.20 next year. That‘s a 17% increase -- the largest single jump ever. This after taxpayers already paid more than a half-trillion dollars to overhaul the program last year. The administration has billed this as a benefit to seniors. (USA Today)
A Shot in the Arm. Vaccinating kids against chickenpox saves taxpayers about $100 million a year. The shots keep kids from needing expensive hospitalization and special care in bad cases of the childhood disease. (NYT)
Reading for Free. If scientists get your tax money to pay for their research, then they should publish their results so you can check it out -- for free. That’s a sudden reversal in policy at the National Institutes of Health. I told you last week how you had to pay up to $30 to read each article about research with your tax dollars. (WashPost)
Frances Blown Out of Proportion. Risk Management Solutions, a company that calculates disaster damage, has recalculated its estimates for Hurricane Frances. They originally thought it could be more expensive that Hurricane Andrew. But RMS now believes Frances only did between $2 billion and $6 billion damage. (Reuters)
Getting Back to Business. Congress comes back from summer break and takes up the 9/11 Commission Report. It dominates their business leading up to election day. (NYT)
The Industry's not so Ship Shape. America’s shipbuilding industry faces a body blow. The Navy has a tight budget and now plans to cut its shipbuilding plans. (WashPost)
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