The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether decades-old maternity leaves should count in determining pensions. ...more

June 24, 2008

Florida has the nation's best state pension fund. It's one of a very few that is fully funded, meaning if its investments continue to do well, taxpayers won't have to pay more than they're paying now to cover promised benefits. ...more

May 20, 2008

SEBRING – The persistence of one man looks like it will pay off in an additional tax break for Highlands County's 1,500 low-income, senior-citizen homeowners. Frank Parker got the proverbial cold shoulder from the Highlands County Commission in November when he asked commissioners to raise the "Save Our Seniors" homesteaded tax exemption from $5,000 to $50,000 for seniors meeting federal household low-income thresholds. ...more

February 13, 2008

A comment heard on the radio aroused a compelling response. The caller said that both parties contributed to the serious crisis facing the country today, and contributed to the enormous $9 trillion national debt, and severe Social Security, Medicare-Medicaid crises. It is ironic that the caller cited the last 40-50 years. Consider this. It took 200 years (1787 to 1980) for the national debt to reach $1 trillion. It took 27 years for it to balloon to $9 trillion (1980 to 2007). Ergo: $6 trillion (1980-1992); +$2 trillion (1992-2001); -$5 trillion (2001 to 2007). Total: $9 trillion. So, who was in charge during those years? Who caused the $7 trillion hit on the economy in 2000? Who provided the prescription drug bill that was to cost $400 billion, but ballooned to $1 trillion and caused health care cost to increase 10 to 15 percent each year? Who allowed the corporations to duck their obligations for pensions all across this country? Who sat by while the banks and mortgage corporations manipulated the hapless home buyers to sign those sub-prime mortgages? As an immediate first step to resolve the crisis, who bought $2 millions of those egregious loans, then reduced interest rates for the banks and mortgagors, but left those hapless mortgagees swinging in the wind? Who is being held accountable? Where are those trillions and trillions of dollars? The answers? Corporations and our government! ...more

February 2, 2008

There is a new way for people older than 62 to acquire access to their home equity without enduring the pending nightmare of paying off loans. ...more

December 29, 2007

Regarding "2 Inspectors Under Inquiry Quit" (front page, Dec. 18): The two fire inspectors under inquiry are being rewarded for their misdeeds. By resigning, and the city accepting their resignation, they will receive their pensions and accrued sick and vacation time. Their actions are nothing less than criminal and could have resulted in the loss of lives, the life of someone's son or daughter, husband, mother etc. ...more

December 19, 2007

TAMPA - Tampa fire inspectors Toy Pelaez and Manuel Perrone resigned from their positions effective at noon today. They are the subjects of criminal and administrative investigations into whether they inappropriately accepted favors from Advanced Engineered Systems, a company that does business with the city. ...more

December 17, 2007

The celebration of Labor Day is muted this year for most workers. Union membership is down, pay is flat and pensions are rare. ...more

September 3, 2007