Costs Soaring as the US Gets Fatter

British no-frills airline easyJet said on Tuesday that net losses widened to £114 million (131 million euros, $187 million) during the group's first half, hit by soaring fuel costs.EasyJet said losses after tax for the six months to March 31 compared with a net loss of £59 million during the group's first half in 2009/10."The past six months has been tough with sharply rising fuel costs combined with cautious behaviour by consumers and an adverse impact from taxes on passengers," easyJet chief executive Carolyn McCall said in a statement.

Insurers say rising medical costs justify a 24.4% rate hike, but employers and the governor oppose it. Soaring medical costs may drive up premiums paid by already beleaguered California employers for workers' compensation insurance -- after rates plunged 65% over the last six years.

Growing numbers of elderly and sick Germans are being sent overseas for long-term care in retirement and rehabilitation centres because of rising costs and falling standards in Germany. The move, which has seen thousands of retired Germans rehoused in homes in eastern Europe and Asia, has been severely criticised by social welfare organisations who have called it "inhumane deportation".

The costs to employees for health insurance keep increasing, even as employers pay more also. A Premium Sucker Punch:

The gold-mining industry, which has underperformed the precious metal for each of the past six years, is pledging to report costs more accurately as part of its efforts to win back investor confidence. Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc., the two biggest producers by market value, have begun reporting “all-in sustaining costs” for the first time. The new measure averaged $941 an ounce between the two companies in the fourth quarter. That’s 50 percent higher than the $626 average so-called cash cost they disclosed in the preceding three months.

Tim Pawlenty’s got a Union Leader op-ed that I guess is supposed to illustrate his resumé as a Presidential contender. But amidst all the fulminations, we get to the point that anytime people decide to stop playing stupid political stunts and start talking about real issues, the differences in our politics narrow considerably: