The Sun-Sentinel article is available at their website.  

Congress has it hands full again. With the potential of cutting government spending and raising taxes, most Democrats and Republicans have one thing they can agree on – either option could jeopardize an already weak economic recovery. But there is one win-win solution that can encourage economic investment, help small businesses grow, create jobs, and [...]

This is a ConsumerGram was written by Joseph P. Fuhr, Jr. and Steve Pociask.  It can be downloaded as a PDF here– ConsumerGram

What do the Principality of Monaco, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Principality of Liechtenstein have in common? Royal monarchies? Majestic wealth? One thing in common is that some of these countries’ residents own vacation homes here in Florida, and these homes are being subsidized by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, a state-run homeowners insurance [...]

With the start of the legislative session just weeks away, the American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research (ACI) today released the whitepaper “Welfare for the Rich: How Citizens Insurance Corporation Harms Floridians.”  As a nonprofit educational and research institute that seeks to be a better and more reasoned voice for consumers, this paper analyzes [...]

The News-Press Article is available online. Welfare for the Rich Floridians should be outraged and policymakers should be too.  Government-run Citizens insurance, now the biggest insurer in Florida, is Robin Hood in reverse.  Citizens provides artificially low insurance prices to homeowners along the hurricane-prone coast, and requires other homeowners to pick up the cost of [...]

This Op-Ed provides evidence that those benefiting from subsidized homeowners insurance are wealthier and have higher incomes than those Floridians being asked to subsidize this insurance.  The article was published in the Tampa Tribune today and can be read here.

Here are links to recent press on ACI’s testimony in Florida.  In testimony, ACI Exposed the State Insurance Plan as a Subsidy for the Rich. Bigbill—and maybe higher rates—coming soon on Citizens Property Insurance http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FL_CITIZENS_INSURANCE_IG_FLOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=370280&type=insider#.UQKv9S8o4b0 http://www.gainesville.com/article/20130123/APN/1301230566?template=printpicart http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/23/3196033/lawmakers-seek-to-create-ig-for.html http://www.theledger.com/article/20130123/POLITICS/130129667  

Unemployment among 16 to 19 year olds who are in the labor force runs 22%.  Slightly older 20 to 24 year olds face 12.8% unemployment.  Unemployment plummets to 6.6% for 25 to 54 year olds of whom 81% are in the labor force.  Among the employed are 7.9 million working part time who’d rather be [...]

Households are wary for their future due to a cluster of assaults on their pocketbook and sanity; harsh unemployment and underemployment over the last 5 years, high-stakes partisan bickering, energy prices, health care prices, and promises of new taxes.  For many, sources of credit have dried up and loans are available only to those who [...]