Word: longer
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...adverse consequences—what in the United States would be called a massive problem of unfunded pension liabilities. The old law permitted retirement for women at age 55 and for men at age 60. The new law increases those ages to 60 and 65, respectively. The impact of longer life expectancy on retirement plans is common in Europe and Japan. However, Cuba is different because, unlike Europe or Japan, it is a rapidly aging but poor country. Plus, unlike China, which is about to age rapidly as well, Cuba lacks a reliable economic growth path of its own that...
...longer they go, it gets even more and more serious for all of us," says David Sanchez, president of the California Teachers Association (CTA). He is expecting schools to potentially take a $10 billion hit this year. Last month the CTA filed its own initiative for a 1? sales-tax increase earmarked solely for public schools and colleges. But Sanchez - like others in the state - says he will not know precisely how to budget for this upcoming year until a legislative solution is passed. "The unknown," he says, "is very scary...
...that includes painfully deep spending cuts and $14 billion in tax increases. Although the proposal is not likely to be the one that finally passes, there is no doubt that few Californians will be untouched by the fiscal crisis. In December, unable to wait for a budget solution any longer, the state pre-emptively canceled $3.8 billion for 2,000 public infrastructure projects, including new prisons, veterans' homes and highways...
...More likely, Obama will simply make sure - through his excellent team of legal appointees - that no such behavior happens again. Still, there should be some official acknowledgment by the U.S. government that the Bush Administration's policies were reprehensible, and quite possibly illegal, and that the U.S. is no longer in the torture business. If Obama doesn't want to make that statement, perhaps we could do it in the form of a Bush Memorial in Washington: a statue of the hooded Abu Ghraib prisoner in cruciform stress position - the real Bush legacy...
...Health care: A $100 billion package features money to expand health insurance for laid-off workers, known as Cobra, for longer periods of time and for those who did not have health insurance with their former employers, as well as funds to help state shortfalls on Medicaid. Of this package, $20 billion would be used as a "down payment" for one of Obama's campaign pledges: a separate $50 billion program to modernize the nation's medical records, most of which sit in filing cabinets instead of being recorded online. While the Medicaid grant to states would be a onetime...