http://news.yahoo.com/…

First you paid to insure your car. Soon you may have to add health insurance premiums to that stack of monthly bills as well.

In a revamped health care system envisioned by senators, people would be required to carry health insurance just like motorists must get auto coverage now. The government would provide subsidies for the poor and many middle-class families, but those who still refuse to sign up would face fines of more than $1,000.

The details were unveiled Thursday in a health care overhaul bill supported by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated the fines would raise around $36 billion over 10 years. Senate aides said the penalties would be modeled on the approach taken by Massachusetts, which now imposes a fine of about $1,000 a year on individuals who refuse to get coverage. Under the federal legislation, families would pay higher penalties than individuals.

Called “shared responsibility payments,” the fines would offset at least half the cost of basic medical coverage, according to the legislation. The goal is to nudge people to sign up for coverage when they are healthy, not wait until they get sick.

In 2008, employer-provided coverage averaged $12,680 a year for a family plan, and $4,704 for individual coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s annual survey. Senate aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the cost of the federal plan would be lower but declined to provide specifics.

The legislation would exempt certain hardship cases from fines, which would be collected through the income tax system.

Tying it into the income tax is really really sneaky. It makes it very difficult to protest against. If the federal government wanted to fine me for not participating in the census they’d have to bring me to court. If this bill is passed the IRS handles the fine. It’s tied into your income taxes. If you don’t pay you don’t go to a normal court… but likely a tax court. You won’t be able to seperate the fine from the rest of their bill. It makes it easier for them to catch and easier to collect.

If they passed a bill requiring healthcare without this IRS enforcement of the fine I would seriously consider canceling my health insurance just to incure a fine and test the system. If it passes as currently is however only those who don’t pay income tax could really get out of this demand and if they ever got caught the fine would be the least of their problems.

Love how they talk about how much the fines will make them too. Scumbags.

http://bergennow.com/…

RAMSEY, NJ – A large-scale prostitution ring operating throughout the Bergen and Rockland County areas was shut down yesterday, authorities say.

The reported ringleader, John Lanza, 42, of the Bronx, was arrested on Wednesday, June 3 at approximately 3:30 p.m. on the charge of promoting prostitution. Also arrested, on the charge of engaging in prostitution, were Wol Lee, 28, of Queens, NY, and Hye Yeun Bang, 37, also of Queens.

According to authorities, the arrest stemmed from an investigation in which John Lanza was operating a large scale prostitution organization throughout the Bergen and Rockland County areas. Utilizing Internet advertisements and area hotels, Lanza would arrange for encounters where persons would either engage in or facilitate prostitution.

The arrests came about as a result of an investigation conducted by members of the Ramsey Police Department, under the direction Chief Bryan Gurney; numerous local law enforcment officers from the Bergen County Police Department and the police departments of Fort Lee, Saddle River, Hillsdale, Rochelle Park, River Vale, Park Ridge, Ridgewood, Bogota, and Tenafly; and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Computer Crimes Task Force.

The suspects have all been released on their own recognizance.

And where’s the victim?

No victim, no crime. Aren’t there some actual crimes these cops could be investigating? Some theft or murder cases they could be working on? I somehow doubt all natural crime in the Bergen and Rockland County area has been eradicated.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/…

Facing crippling budget cuts, a California district attorney says his hands are tied. Forced to lay off 20 percent of his staff, Contra Costa County District Attorney Bob Kochly said his department will stop prosecuting many misdemeanor crimes.

“This is a no-win situation for me, for the communities in this country — it’s a terrible thing to have to do,” he said.

The layoffs mean that those carrying less than a gram of cocaine or half a gram of heroin won’t be charged for drug possession. And criminals who commit petty theft, embezzlement, burglary, non-DUI traffic offenses or trespassing, among other crimes, could face little or no consequences.

“The last thing I want to do is say someone could commit a particular kind of crime — even if it’s only a misdemeanor — and they can get away with it in my county,” said Kochly. “That just is absolutely devastating to me.”

I have mixed feelings about this. I’m all for them not prosecuting the victimless crimes but the property infringements should be dealt with. If they cut back more non-violent, victimless prosecutions they could pick up the theft, burglary, trespassing, etc.

What I hope happens is that the public arms themselves or install defensive technologies and they realize the police as they currently exist are unnecessary.

I figured this was appropriate given the day.

http://www.nytimes.com/…

On these taxing days, when we become a defiantly bipartisan nation of whiners convinced that we are handing over to the Internal Revenue Service our blood and sweat and mother’s milk, our pound of flesh and firstborn young, maybe it’s time for a little perspective.

Legions before us have donated all these items and more to the public till, and not just metaphorically speaking, either. Benjamin Franklin was right to equate paying taxes with a deeply organic behavior like dying. It turns out that giving up a portion of one’s income for the sake of the tribe is such a ubiquitous feature of the human race that some researchers see it as crucial to our species’ success. Without ritualized taxation, there would be precious little hominid representation.

Moreover, plenty of nonhuman animals practice the tither’s art, too, demanding that individuals remit a portion of their food, labor, comfort or personal fecundity for the privilege of group membership. And just as the I.R.S. depends on threat of audit as much as it does on anybody’s sense of civic responsibility, so do other toll-collecting species ensure compliance by meting out swift punishment against tax cheats.
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