How many in our county are paid $30.00 to $45.00 or more an hour, including benefits? A number of them are two teacher families, and have an RV and boat parked in their driveway. The IEA is a UNION!
While, there are many dedicated, excellent teachers, a lot only look at the bottom line, and are able to hold our children hostage until they get more salary and benefits.

Arpie: I just got out my December 06 pay stub so I could tell you what last year looked like. At age 48, having taught since 1981, my gross pay was a little less than $46,000 last year. Subtract from that $7,000 in taxes, including social security: $6,000 for my familys health insurance, and $3,000 for my half of my retirement, and the total dwindles quickly as it does for anyone that is trying to support a family.

VAP Cholesterol Test Covers 90 Percent Of Arizona Insured

Largest private insurers in Arizona as well as Medicare, Medicaid and the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program now cover the VAP (Vertical Auto Profile) Test, the most comprehensive cholesterol test available. That means almost 90 percent of all insured lives in Arizona now have insurance coverage for the VAP Test, which finds twice as many people at risk than the standard cholesterol test."The state of Arizona is extremely progressive in preventive health," said Atherotech Chief Medical Officer James Ehrlich, M.D. "The highly accurate VAP Test allows the clinician to target high-risk patients for specific therapy that could help prevent millions of future heart attacks and strokes. I am confident that the VAP Test will continue to be regarded as the best and most cost-effective laboratory method to precisely identify vulnerable individuals who may be at risk for the nation's leading killer, cardiovascular disease."People with a family history or an existing condition of diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease -- or who are already taking cholesterol lowering medication -- are candidates for the comprehensive VAP Test.

Perry Brown: Sali's vote shows lack of compassion for uninsured ...

Congress recently once again failed to stand up for children. On Jan. 23, U.S. Rep. Bill Sali joined with 151 other U.S. representatives to uphold President Bush's veto of legislation that would have provided health care coverage for millions of children across the United States, including 12,479 children in our own state (2005 census), who have no health insurance at all. For these million-plus families across the United States, the new year doesn't bring new opportunities. For them, 2008 is beginning to look a lot like 2007. Sali's vote to uphold the veto, means these families - our neighbors, our children's friends - will continue to hope daily that their children won't become ill or get injured, and that even a minor illness won't spiral their family into financial disaster.Just today, I cared for an uninsured child whose family could not afford asthma medications that cost $100 per month; as a result of not having these medications, the child is now hospitalized, at the cost of several thousand dollars.

On Native Groynd

DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- The prevailing philosophy of conservatives - that government is the problem and the free market is the solution for every ill - consistently bumps up against the reality that this philosophy rarely works as designed.

Here in Vermont, we are about to launch a program called Catamount Health, a program designed to provide coverage to the roughly 10 percent of working Vermonters who cannot afford health insurance. The state will subsidize the cost of the policy on a sliding scale for those making 300 percent of the federal poverty level - currently $62,000 for a family of four.

It's not a perfect solution to the problem of the uninsured in Vermont, but it is a good start toward the goal of universal health coverage. But that is something that the Bush Administration does not want to see.

Nobody's winning this war of words

Among recurring questions asked in the build-up to the writers strike (starting with "Will there be one?," and I got that right) has been which side is "winning" the battle of public opinion.

Since perspective is invariably the first casualty in such an emotional dispute, let's answer that with another question: Who did you passionately support during the strike-shortened 1999 NBA basketball season or the 2004 NHL lockout that body-checked hockey?

If the knee-jerk response is "A pox on both their houses," bingo.

Comparisons to sports -- where billionaire owners square off with millionaire talent -- are admittedly imprecise, but the obvious parallels include careers with extremely lucrative potential that tend to be equally fleeting. Moreover, the irritation associated with depriving people of a beloved pastime is fundamentally the same.

Michael Price Buys HearstArgyle Television Inc., AutoNation Inc., Hilltop Holdings Inc., Sells BristolMyers Squibb ...

Billionaire investor Michael Price's value approach is to buy stock in out-of-favor small cap companies that are of good values. This strategy has made him the 271st richest person in the world. These are his buys and sells during the fourth quarter. He owns 81 stocks with a total value of $511 million.

Michael Price buys HearstArgyle Television Inc., AutoNation Inc., Hilltop Holdings Inc., GLG PARTNERS, INC., Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., Marlin Business Services Corp., Leggett & Platt Inc., Miller Industries Inc., ZEP INC, FIRST FINANCIAL NORTHWEST, INC., AmeriCredit Corp., Journal Communications Inc., Thomas Properties Group Inc., Bassett Furniture Industries Inc., Finish Line Inc., sells BristolMyers Squibb Company, Covidien Ltd., Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc., Freedom Acquisition Holdings Inc, Liberty Media Corp.

Gap Widens in the Last Bush Budget

The $3.1 trillion budget President Bush sent to Congress yesterday promises to bring the federal deficit to near-record levels due to a $145 billion economic stimulus package and plunging corporate tax receipts. The budget deficit is expected to reach $410 billion in this fiscal year, just shy of the record set four years ago. The deficit for fiscal year 2009, which begins in October, is estimated at $407 billion.

The budget, which is for the 2009 fiscal year, is a 6% increase from projected spending in this year's $2.9 trillion budget.

Girl 'devastated' by mob beating

Well if that was a child of mine and the police took no action(the girl was kicked from pillar to post for gods sake)i would lower myself to the level of these scum and knock seven bells out of them and then id want a word with the parents or parent.If the law cant help then im afraid its the law of the jungle.I know people will chide on about im no better than the thugs who did this but im sorry i would not let them get away with it.A sixteen year old and two fourteen year olds on to an eleven year old GIRL,god they are so brave and the parents should be so proud of how theyve turned out.....god help us all. .