Only the Democrats would think Obama Care isn’t a new tax. Do you agree?

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says requiring people to get health insurance and fining them if they don’t would not amount to a backhanded tax increase.

“I absolutely reject that notion,” the president said. Blanketing most of the Sunday TV news shows, Obama defended his proposed health care overhaul, including a key point of the various health care bills on Capitol Hill: mandating that people get health insurance to share the cost burden fairly among all. Those who failed to get coverage would face financial penalties.

Obama said other elements of the plan would make insurance affordable for people, from a new comparison-shopping “exchange” to tax credits.

Telling people to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase, Obama told ABC’s “This Week.”

If the Senate can’t run a cafeteria, how can they run a country?

WASHINGTON — The famed bean soup served in Senate restaurants is made up of dried navy beans, smoked ham hocks, onions and a million-dollar tab for the taxpayer.

That menu for financial distress could be about to change as the Senate, following the lead taken by the House more than 20 years ago, moves to privatize the restaurants, coffee shops and cafeterias located in the Capitol and Senate office buildings.

The Senate last week passed a bill authorizing Senate restaurants, now run by the Architect of the Capitol, to go private, ending months of back-and-forth between Democrats appalled by the operation’s money-losing ways and other Democrats worried that restaurant workers would get thrown out like the ham bones.

The measure is expected to win easy approval in the House, where privately run restaurants and food courts run profits and draw good crowds every day of House members and employees, tourists and disaffected Senate staff.

By comparison, wrote Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who as chairman of the Senate Rules Committee has spearheaded the privatization drive, the Senate restaurants last year cost taxpayers $1.3 million with food quality and service that is “noticeably sub par.”

She noted that in budget years 2003 through 2007, Senate restaurants racked up deficits of $4.7 million while the House received commissions from the operator estimated at about $1.2 million.

Losses could top $2 million this year, and the restaurants will need a transfer of $250,000 from the Senate’s emergency funds in July to make payroll, she wrote in a letter to other senators.

A private review commissioned by Feinstein found that the Senate operation had no strategy for improvement other than price increases. She said new menu items “have not been remotely reflective of the rapid change in the food industry whether it be health and nutrition or ethnic foods.”

A small Senate take-out on the first floor of the Capitol offers, with its hot dogs and sandwiches, candy bars, pain medicine and, until recently, cigarettes. The sit-down restaurant that once adjoined it has closed, becoming new staff office space. With that, there is no public dining space inside the Capitol; senators and their guests can still eat in an ornate dining room with a staff dressed in jackets and ties.

But Feinstein’s efforts to change the system ran into obstacles from four Democratic senators: Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who questioned whether current workers would face lower wages, reduced benefits and be deprived of union representation.

Feinstein said she was “somewhat dismayed” by the resistance. She stressed that under the proposed contract with Restaurant Associates, the New York-based company that runs the House restaurants and will operate the 550-seat cafeteria in the underground Capitol Visitor Center slated to open this fall, current employees will continue at the same basic rate of pay and receive the same level of health insurance and retirement benefits.

Those not wishing to switch to the new system would be eligible for a voluntary buyout of up to $25,000. She said 47 of the 96 permanent restaurant employees are expected to take the buyout.

The four senators signed off, saying they were pleased that Restaurant Associates was willing to commit in the contract to union neutrality and a reasonable annual cost-of-living adjustment.

Restaurant Associates did not return calls seeking comment, and it was unclear if they were committed to serving bean soup in the new Senate restaurants.

Laser spaying for my female kitten…?

Hi. I’m leaning toward laser spaying. Would love to hear from those that have with their pets, any personal pros’s & con’s. Lola my indoor 7 month old is on the small side (a stray rescued from a drain pipe at 7 weeks) & has had her vaccinations, etc. & givin a clean bill of health. Because of her stature & because i’ve read up on this procedure being less invasive then going under the knife (i’m certain my regular vet that doesn’t do laser surgeries in his practice “yet”.. wouldn’t botch it) I’m more inclined to go this route. Have any of you had the traditional spay with other kitties to have the laser done also…your comparisons on that would be helpful ! I have pet insurance including a wellness plan that covers some laser procedures, need to check if laser neuter/spaying is one of them. The insurance has already saved me money & peace of mind so it’s not a problem if it would fall under certain elective coverage that I might not have. Also if theirs any New Jersey people responding i’m shopping for referrals of vet practices that you trust & used & been happy with for laser surgeries. I know it’s my call but I recently moved here & it can’t hurt to shop around with other caregivers information. I may go with the aspca in Manhattan…a long drive, but they have some of the best. Thanks in advance & give your kitty a big hug from me too!!! Happy Holidays