Court: Massachusetts must cover legal Immigrants
Boston, MA, United States (KaiserHealth) – Massachusetts’ highest court ruled Thursday that the state must offer the same level of subsidized insurance to legal immigrants as to citizens. The decision affects roughly 40,000 residents and could cost the state at least $150 million per year.
In 2009, state legislators in Massachusetts were facing a large budget gap and rising health care costs. After reviewing a number of choices, they opted to trim state subsidized health coverage for legal immigrants who have not been naturalized as citizens. Since the federal government doesn’t share the cost of care for this group, lawmakers reasoned, the state was justified in scaling back its commitment. Health Law Advocates sued, arguing that legal immigrants are entitled to the same health care benefits as citizens are. On Thursday, in a unanimous decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court agreed.
“It is a wonderful day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Justice has prevailed,” says Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, the executive director at Health Care for All.
Legal immigrants are also celebrating. The insurance plan the state created just for them limited where they could get care, had higher co-pays and fewer benefits. Hector Brito and his wife Cesario Reynoso ended up almost $3,000 in debt for lab tests and appointments that weren’t covered.
“This is a relief for me and everybody now,” says Brito. “They know” continues Brito, referring to other legal immigrants, “that in the future they don’t have that kind of problems. They will be covered.”
Well, maybe. Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration estimates the minimum cost of adding 40,000 people to the state’s subsidized insurance plan at $150 million a year. State tax revenues aren’t meeting expectations because of the economic downturn, so finding the money will be difficult.
The state has a several choices: It can look at new taxes or fees to fund coverage for legal immigrants. It can cut other programs. Or it can make subsidized insurance less generous for everyone. Jay Gonzalez, the state’s secretary for administration and finance, says he hopes that won’t happen, but it’s an option he can’t rule out.
“The place we’re at right now,” says Gonzalez, pausing, “is needing to weigh all those options, assess them and come to some decisions.”
Gonzalez is putting the final touches on the fiscal year 2013 budget that Patrick will file in a few weeks. It will have to include coverage for legal immigrants.
One large lingering question is: Will this decision that legal immigrants are entitled to the same health benefits as full citizens affect other government assistance programs that treat legal immigrants and citizens differently?
Gonzalez says “our lawyers are looking at this decision and what the potential impacts might be if it were applied to other places, but the direct impact is on providing health insurance. That’s the immediate challenge we have now, the one we have to face.”
It will be several months at least before these immigrants are enrolled in Commonwealth Care. The decision does not apply to illegal immigrants who are not eligible for state subsidized insurance. If the Affordable Care Act is still in place in 2014, there will be some federal assistance for coverage for legal immigrants.
– Provided by Kaiser Health News.
Israel’s jobless rate falls, but economists refrain from cheering
The Media Line Staff
Jerusalem, Israel David Rosenberg / The Med – Israel’s unemployment rate dropped to a preliminary 5 percent in October, capping a steady decline of two-and-a-half years to its lowest rates since the late 1980s, but even the government’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) was quick to discount the importance of the figure.
Moreover, economists said the trend of declining joblessness – the fruit of nearly eight years of almost non-stop economic growth – is probably reaching an end as the troubles of Europe spread to the global economy and to Israel, whose economy is small and heavily reliant on foreign trade.
“The economy is slowing, maybe not dramatically, but it is slowing. When we look at the composite index, when you look at export figures and certainly housing data, we see slower demand, weakening consumer confidence,” Jonathan Katz, an economist who covers Israel for HSBC Holdings, told The Media Line. “My guess would be that we’ll see unemployment at 5.5 percent or a little higher for all of Q4.”
Israeli gross domestic product will probably grow close to 5 percent this year, but with Europe weighed down by debt woes and bringing the global economy down with it, Israel will have trouble maintaining anything close to that rate. HSBC is forecasting growth of just 2.4 percent this year and Barclays Capital a slightly more optimistic 2.8 percent.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz put a positive spin on the jobless statistics. “We’re proud of the drop in unemployment to a historic [low] of 5 percent, which is testimony to the success of the government’s anti-crisis policy,” he said in a statement. “Nevertheless, in order to preserve this achievement of low unemployment in the future, too, in light of the growing crisis in Europe, we need to encourage investment and growth while maintaining fiscal discipline.”
But, in fact, the government faces a dilemma as slower growth will almost certainly raise the jobless rate even as it struggles to design a more “social” economic policy after last summer’s tent cities and mass protests against the high cost of living and housing. A package of recommendations by the so-called Trajtenberg committee remains trapped in political controversies and has only been enacted in part.
Last week, the Knesset Finance Committee approved an additional 780 million shekels ($206 million) to the 59.5 billion-shekel defense budget, taking funding from welfare and housing to pay for it. Meanwhile, the Ha’aretz daily reported on Monday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has decided not to cut the army’s 2012 budget, which virtually ensures that two Trajtenberg proposals – free pre-school education and longer school days – are unlikely to become part of the 2012 budget.
The Israeli jobless rate is much lower than most Western economies. Unemployment among countries belonging to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) rose to 8.3 percent in October 2011 from 8.2 percent the month before, with Euro-area joblessness at 10.3 percent. The U.S. rate was 8.6 percent.
The CBS itself doesn’t put much stock in its monthly unemployment report. It is based on a smaller sampling of people than its more accurate quarterly labor reports and this October the sample was even smaller due to the timing of the Jewish High Holidays this year.
Ori Greenfeld, macro-economist at Tel Aviv’s Psagot Investment House, suggested that the lower unemployment rate signals that people are dropping out of the workforce. When they do, they are no longer counted among unemployed.
There is already some evidence that that is happening, although Israel won’t be publishing fourth-quarter labor data until the first quarter of 2012. CBS figures show the percentage of the population in the labor force has been easing lower in recent quarters from a peak of 57.7 percent in the second half of 2010 to 57.4 percent in the third quarter of 2011, the latest for which figures are available.
The CBS reported two weeks ago that the number of job vacancies had declined almost 11 percent to 60,200 in November compared with October. Meanwhile, GDP grew 3.4 percent, similar to its growth rate in the previous quarter. However, consumer spending growth slowed to just 0.9 percent annual rate, compared with 1.3 percent in the previous quarter, while exports plunged 16.9 percent rate, compared with growth of 1.5 percent in the previous quarter.
The Bank Hapoalim consumer confidence index increased in October to a level of 50.7, marking the first time in three months that the figure has been above the 50-point level. But the Bank of Israel composite state-of-the economy index rose only 0.2 percent in November, compared with more than double that pace a year ago.
“Israel is highly dependent on the global environment and as we go into a global slowdown we’ll see the impact more and more,” said Katz of HSBC. “We’re already seeing it on exports and we’ll see unemployment approaching 6.5 percent or 7 percent by end of 2012.”
Saudis assume role as banker of counter-revolution
Jerusalem, Israel David Rosenberg – Saudi Arabia and the other oil-rich kingdoms of the Gulf are emerging as bankers of counter-revolution, dispensing aid to governments, investing in business, making charitable donations and selling subsidized oil to countries under pressure from Arab Spring street protests and sagging economies.
Jordan, whose king is fending off calls for democracy, is the latest beneficiary of the largesse. On Monday, it received a $1 billion check from Saudi Arabia to cover its budget deficit and help prop up its economy. The donation brings total aid to Jordan this year to $1.4 billion and more is likely to come, including selling it oil at reduced prices, the Amman-based daily Al Arab Al-Yawm reported today.
“Saudi Arabia and the GCC as a whole want to insulate themselves from the secular and tribal and sectarian forces that are being unleashed by the revolt,” Theodore Karasik, director for research at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, told The Media Line. “They are watching with extreme caution in their near abroad because of the impact it has on their own states.”
The Arab Spring has created both threats and opportunities for Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf monarchies. On the one hand, it is has toppled old allies, like Egyptian President Husni Mubarak, and made other autocrats are vulnerable to an increasingly vociferous street. The mass protests and violence have undermined economies, increasing pressure on regimes.
On the other hand, the Arab Spring has raised oil prices – benchmark Brent crude was trading at $118 on Wednesday, filling the coffers of Saudi Arabia and other oil exporters, enabling them to disburse money to allies. At home, Riyadh has committed to spending $125 billion on created jobs and other programs just in a bid to keep its population content.
Jordan’s King Abdullah is a prime candidate for aid. A moderate pro-Western monarch, he has been buffeted by protests that call for everything from an end to corruption to his job. Meanwhile, Jordan’s economy is sinking. Tourism and construction, two mainstays of the economy, are contracting and unemployment rose above 13 percent in the second quarter. Inflation is accelerating and gas imports from Egypt needed to power generating plants have been repeatedly interrupted.
Saudi aid, however, has enabled the government to contain its budget deficit even as it has increased subsidies to pacify the population.
“Saudi Arabia’s stand at Jordan’s side during the difficult global economic circumstances, that witnessed a sharp rise in oil prices that adversely affected Jordan’s economy, underscores your true vision for the nation’s solidarity,” Abdulla said in a statement on Monday.
Not surprisingly, Egypt has been the biggest recipient of financial aid. The Arab world’s most populous and influential country, Egypt faces critical choices about how much freedom and democracy will prevail, the role of Islam and economic policy even as the country struggles with chronic strikes and protests, rising unemployment and inflation and a growing budget deficit. The results may well set the direction of the Arab Spring throughout the region.
In the last several weeks, it has been offered $4 billion in aid from the Saudis, including a $1 billion deposit at the Central Bank of Egypt, $500 million in bond purchases, $500 million for budgetary purposes and a soft loan worth another $500 million. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is kicking in another $3 billion in aid and soft loans to boost job opportunities and housing projects. Qatar announced that it will fund projects amounting to $10 billion or more.
Other have benefited as well. Tunisia, the cradle of the Arab rebellion, is getting a part of a $10 billion package from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait to be shared with Egypt that was announced at the end of May. The poorer Gulf countries that have witnessed unrest have been helped, too. Bahrain and Oman have been promised $10 billion each over a decade.
Not all autocrats are being helped. Syria Bashar Al-Assad, an ally of Saudi Arabia’s arch-foe Iran who has failed to douse a four-month rebellion, isn’t known to have received any aid, nor has Libyan strongman Muammar Al-Qaddafi. In fact, in Libya, the rebels have been getting humanitarian aid and advice from Qatar and the UAE on how to use the oil under their control.
“On the Qatari side, there appears to be old family connections with the folks in Benghazi,” Karasik said. “The UAE is doing this because of proactive foreign policy regarding revolts in the region.”
Government-to-government funding isn’t the only way Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf monarchies give aid. Jordan as well as Morocco, whose king has so far succeeded on containing demands for reforms, were invited in May to join the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a grouping of six Gulf countries. Membership would not only include more aid but make it easier for jobless Jordanians and Moroccans to work in the Gulf.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh is scheduled to fly to Saudi Arabia next week for talks with the GCC on a framework for Jordan’s membership.
Some analysts and activist contend that private donations coming out of Saudi Arabia through government-supported charities are being used to create pro-regime messages via Islamic groups that assert that Muslims must obey their rulers and regard democracy as a violation of religion.
What do the Saudis want in return for their help?
That is left unstated, at least publicly. But it has been a source of concern for opposition leaders in recipient countries. When Egypt turned down help from the International Monetary Fund in June and agreed to take assistance from Gulf countries instead, its then-finance minister, Samir Radwan, had to defend the deal.
Asked in an interview with Al-Jazeera television whether money from the Arabian Peninsula came with any conditions, he answered: “None whatsoever.”
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Brown to unveil revised California budget, tax proposal
Sacramento, CA, United States (AHN) – California Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday was set to unveil an updated budget plan to close a record $26.6 billion deficit while taking into account better-than-expected April tax receipts and Republican opposition to a June ballot on tax extensions.
The announcement will come as the end of the fiscal year looms, and teachers and students in the state, which has the nation’s largest university system and the world’s eighth-largest economy, protest further cuts.
Brown early this year proposed a plan reducing spending by $12.5 billion, including $1.4 billion in cuts to higher education, and generating $12 billion from an extension of taxes that are due to expire this summer.
The tax extensions require a June ballot that in turn, must first be approved by two Republicans from the Assembly and two from the state Senate. The deadline for including the extensions in the ballot has passed, and unions have asked lawmakers to instead pass a bill allowing the ballot.
The governor’s revised budget plan is expected to seek at least some of his revenue-generating tax hikes even as Republicans point out the state’s more than $2 billion in unanticipated April tax revenue.
Last week, Brown announced drastic measures such as eliminating the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and shuttering 70 of 278 state parks, including the governor’s mansion.
Eliminating the appeals board, which is composed of appointees who preside over appeals on disputes about jobless and disability claims, would save the state $1.2 million.
The closure of parks would reduced spending by $11 million in the fiscal year starting in July, and another $22 million the following year. Parks with the least attendance and cultural and environmental significance were chosen for the closure, which will not affect 92 percent of public attendance in parks.
Brown, who served as governor for two terms nearly three decades ago, also plans to merge the state’s two personnel agencies into a single human resources department to save at least $5.8 million.
Previously, he ordered a hiring freeze and slashed the number of state cars and cell phones by 50 percent.
Republicans, who released an alternative budget plan last week, have railed against the latest proposals as “posturing” and ” misguided threats.”
State GOP spokesman Mark Standriff called the planned closure of parks “a ‘Washington Monument Strategy’ that is both cynical and manipulative, and shows little respect for the taxpayers.”
The Republican plan relies on the higher April revenue to prevent cuts to education and law enforcement. It does not raise taxes and calls on state workers to “do their part” with a 10 percent reduction in pay, benefits and other employee costs, which the GOP says would provide the government with $1.1 billion in savings.
The California Teachers Association, which held statewide protests last week, said the GOP’s alternative proposal would leave a $14.7 billion budget gap and fails to provide “real solutions.”
The San Francisco Chronicle said in its editorial on Monday that the GOP plan “should be dismissed as a nonstarter,” because it “included a heavy dose of borrowing and reliance on ‘savings.’ ” The newspaper also blasted Republicans for pushing “a ridiculously long wish list that strayed far from the subject of the budget.”
In March, Brown ended negotiations with Republicans after what he said was “an ever changing list of collateral demands” in return for support for a special election, such as giving a $1 billion tax break to out-of-state corporations so the companies would bring jobs to California.
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Wisconsin Democrats don’t plan to return until collective bargaining assured
Madison, WI, United States (AHN) – Wisconsin Democrats are refuting a report that they plan to end their boycott in the state Senate and allow an anti-union bill to pass. Gov. Scott Walker plans to curb collective bargaining despite protests, which have caused security issues in the capitol and a Democratic lawmaker to be tackled to the ground by police.
Rallies by thousands of pro-union protesters at the capitol entered its fourth week on Monday as the impasse in the Senate continued.
The Wall Street Journal cited Democratic Minority Leader Mark Miller as saying Democrats plan to return soon and to let the full Senate vote on the budget bill that has ignited nationwide labor unrest.
According to the Journal, Miller said voter discontent and increasing opposition to the budget plan would give Democrats more leverage to seek amendments to the bill.
But state Sen. Chris Larson issued a statement on Facebook saying Miller’s statements were “taken out of context.”
“Dems will return when collective bargaining is off the table,” Larson said. That could be soon based on the growing public opposition to the bill and the recall efforts against Republicans.”
“The WSJ fished for the quote they wanted, skipping this key step in logic: we won’t come back until worker’s rights are preserved,” he added.
All 14 Democratic senators have fled to Illinois to prevent a quorum from being established in their chamber. The GOP holds the majority and needs only one Democrat to establish a quorum of 20 to pass the budget bill.
Senate Republicans voted on a measure last week citing the “Fab 14,” as they are called by protesters, for contempt and authorizing police to detain them when they return to the state. In addition, Republicans approved a $100 fine against Democrats for every day of their absence.
Democrats accuse the governor and Republicans of refusing requests to discuss the bill, which would eliminate collective bargaining rights of public workers except on discussions about wages.
The proposal would also increase payments public employees make for health premiums to 12 percent, and payments for pensions to 5.8 percent. It gives workers the option not to pay union dues, and requires unions to seek certification every year.
Police, fire and state patrol workers are exempted from the union reforms.
Workers have offered to agree to increasing their pension and health premium payments if they are allowed to keep their bargaining rights. Last week, they filed petitions to recall eight Republican senators.
The governor has shown little interest in the offer, saying collective bargaining is a fiscal issue. He says his proposal, which also reduces aid to local governments by $1.25 billion and aid to schools by nearly $900 million, prevents layoffs.
Walker is seeking to close a budget deficit of $137 million this year, and a projected deficit of $3.6 billion in 2013 without increasing taxes. He says he has received more than 19,000 emails supporting his proposal but has refused to release the messages, prompting the Isthmus newspaper to sue after being denied repeated open records requests.
Demonstrations at the capitol have so far been peaceful despite the highly-charged debate. Officials began limiting access to the building on the second week of protests by having police confirm first if visitors have appointments with lawmakers, then “badging” visitors and escorting them to their appointments.
During the governor’s speech last week detailing his budget plan, Democratic state Rep. Kelda Helen Roys was denied entry after the budget speech and had to climb into a window to re-enter the building. On Sunday, another Democrat, state Rep. Nick Milroy, was tackled to the ground by police while he was trying to return to his office.
A judge has ordered officials to allow the public more access while requesting workers to hold rallies only during normal business hours.
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Wisconsin governor to outline budget plan Tuesday as protest continues
Madison, WI, United States (AHN) – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday will outline a budget plan curbing collective bargaining rights to close a gaping deficit. Unions have protested since early this month, offering to pay more for healthcare premiums and pensions but standing firm on their right to collectively negotiate for benefits.
The governor makes his budget address before a joint session of the state legislature, where thousands of public employees have descended with tents and sleeping bags to convince lawmakers not to pass the measure.
The state’s 14 Democratic senators have been staying in Illinois to keep Republicans, who hold the majority, from establishing a quorum and “ramming” the bill through without debate.
Walker is seeking to close a $137 million deficit this year, and a projected deficit in 2013 of $3.6 billion, without increasing taxes. He has repeatedly denied Democratic requests to meet and discuss the plan, yet has publicly urged lawmakers to “return and debate the bill.”
The governor has also shown little interest in the offer by unions to agree to his proposal increasing workers’ payments for retirement plans and health premiums while dropping the plan to strip collective bargaining rights.
On Monday, the governor gave Democratic senators a day to return to the capitol, warning that a savings of $165 million would be lost if they did not do so.
“According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, if Senate Democrats refuse to return… the option to refinance a portion of the state’s debt will be off the table,” a statement from the governor’s office said.
Democratic Senate minority leader Mark Miller, however, also cited the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, saying the non-partisan bureau has prepared an alternative budget plan that, unlink the governor’s proposal, does not require a refinancing $165 million in debt.
Under the alternative Democratic budget plan, Wisconsin would need to complete $79 million in remaining agency lapses.
“Workers have come forward to offer the governor the economic concessions he said he needs to balance his budget,” Miller said. “Senate Democrats have offered yet another alternative to balance the budget and move forward.”
“Reasonable compromises are on the table. All that we need now is for the governor and Republicans to be willing to negotiate and find a middle ground,” Miller added.
The governor announced details of his budget on Feb. 15, igniting concerns among teachers that soon grew to massive labor rallies in the capitol and beyond into nearby states.
The proposal increases the payments of public workers for their health care premiums to 12 percent, and for their pensions to 5.8 percent.
Under the plan, collective bargaining would only cover base pay, which means public workers would have no power to negotiate other compensation such as benefits. The bill allows workers to opt out of paying dues to unions. It requires unions to conduct yearly certification.
Local police, fire and state patrol are exempted from the collective bargaining reforms.
Three Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the bill during a sudden, midnight-hour vote last Friday in the state Assembly. The vote was 51-17, but dozens of lawmakers were unable to cast their vote in a process that took seconds.
Democrats believe workers should not carry a heavier load of the state’s fiscal problems by having their cash wages reduced along with their ability to collectively negotiate terms of their employment.
They also cite the refusal of Republicans, including the governor, to engage in meaningful discussions about compromises, such as the union’s agreement to Walker’s plan for higher pension and health contributions.
“Workers have already had years of pay freezes, pay cuts, furloughs, and paying more into their health care and pensions,” state Kelda Helen Roys, a Democrat who has actively engaged constituents online and in the capitol, responded to a comment on Facebook.
“They make less (including benefits) than their private sector counterparts even though they are more educated – comparing similar employees,” Roys explained. “Average workers, making $25-$50,000/gross income per year stand to lose several thousand dollars by agreeing to these harsh concessions – it’s a punitive tax on the middle- and working-class, disguised as a ‘cost-saving’ measure.”
The governor has said his budget fix prevents more painful cuts and layoffs. He argues that collective bargaining reform is a fiscal issue, rather than a debate on workplace rights.
“It’s important to remember that many of the rights we’re talking about don’t come from collective bargaining,” Walker said in a television address last week. “They come from the civil service system in Wisconsin. That law was passed in 1905 (long before collective bargaining) and it will continue long after our plan is approved… Our bill is about protecting the hardworking taxpayer.”
Unions say Walker’s proposal highlights his close corporate ties by allowing the sale of state-owned power plants without a bidding process. The governor was also caught on tape speaking to a blogger posing as billionaire industrialist and GOP donor David Koch about planting troublemakers among protesters, and of refusing to negotiate with Democrats.
Despite national editorials calling him out for accepting a 20-minute phone call from a donor while refusing to meet with Democrats, Walker has dismissed the the phone conversation as a distraction.
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Fed chair: Unemployment rate will take years to drop, deficit ‘unsustainable’
Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke says the unemployment rate in the United States will not drop to pre-financial crisis levels for a number of years.
Bernanke made that statement Thursday in answer to questions about the economy from the Congressional Committee on the Budget.
In addition, he said that it was impossible to consider the economic recovery to be established until there is a strong and sustained creation of jobs.
The U.S. economy only created 36,000 net jobs in January. That was not sufficient to cover population growth and did little to help the millions of people who lost their jobs during the recession or in its aftermath. For example, the economy needs to create from 120,000 to 200,000 jobs monthly just to absorb new workers entering the labor force for the first time.
Moreover, Bernanke said that the long-term challenges presented by the high federal deficit were “daunting” and that the present high deficit was “unsustainable.”
The total government debt is now 60 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and forecast to rise to 150 percent of GDP by 2030. The total federal budget deficit is 9 percent of current GDP.
By contrast, European Union nations try to keep budget deficits to 3 percent of GDP.
GDP is the total amount of goods and services consumed in the nation. The budget deficit is the amount the government spends each year in excess of its income, expressed as a percentage of the national GDP.
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Flaherty assures Canadians of balanced books by 2015
Vaughn, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Finance Minister Jim Flaherty assured Canadians that the federal government will have a balanced budget by 2015. He based his bold forecast on Ottawa’s two-year $60-billion stimulus program.
Flaherty said that the removal of the deficit within the next four years will happen as a result of the Economic Action Plan that will create 222,000 jobs brought about by tax reduction, unemployment benefits, infrastructure spending and industry support.
He said the new employment prospects will be spread in utilities with 5,000 jobs, construction 53,000, manufacturing 37,000 and service sector 127,000.
Flaherty stressed that the optimism for a balanced budget is not the result of just a bright outlook and hope, but supported by prudent policies made in the past and fiscal discipline.
The finance minister was, however, questioned by former Finance officials Scott Clark and Peter DeVries, who maintained Flaherty’s goal is difficult to attain because of Ottawa’s permanent structural deficit. Their basis is an International Monetary Fund report that Canada will have a small structural deficit equivalent to 0.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2015.
Canada’s eyes are on the budget as the minority-led Conservative government tries to convince MPs to support the federal budget. Opposition groups are hinting of a March election if the Tories fail to have Parliament pass the budget.
However, despite the budget deficit problems and the opposition’s portrayal of the current administration as inept, polls show the majority of Canadians would still prefer a Tory minority government than a coalition government. The survey said 55 percent of voters want a Conservative majority over 45 percent who prefer a coalition between the Liberals and the New Democratic Party.
The pollsters attributed the survey results to Canadians’ bad experience with coalitions.
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News Analysis: Arizona Medicaid Cuts Seen as a Sign of the Times
A decision to eliminate coverage for certain transplants is testament to both the severity of fiscal pressures on the states and the bloodlessness of budget-cutting in Arizona.
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Britain’s Budget Office Forecasts Inflation To Outpace Income Growth
London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – Britain’s Office for Budget Responsibility warned Monday that the country’s inflation rate would likely outpace income growth over the next two years.
The OBR forecasts 2011 inflation rate at 2.8 percent, while average earnings will rise by only 2.2 percent. The higher Consumer Price Index outlook is based on significant increases in food prices and household energy bills since summer.
However, by 2012 the OBR foresees a slight improvement in the financial situation with inflation likely slowing to 1.9 percent, while average earnings would rise by 2.4 percent.
Despite the bleak OBR outlook, Chancellor George Osborne said the British coalition government would still go ahead with spending cuts, tax hikes and austerity measures that would have an impact on economic recovery if export weakens and unemployment rises faster than expected.
Osborne is still optimistic that Britain can avoid a double-dip recession in 2011 and achieve a growth rate of 1.8 percent this year. He told MPs that while there is uncertainty, Britain’s recovery is on track and 1 million jobs are still expected to be created by the private sector as a result of the recovery.
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