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Imagine you're driving in a city, trying to find a place to park your car for the whole day. A parking garage costs $30. Right next to the parking garage entrance, you eye a parking spot on the street. Next to the curb is a sign that says, "No parking. Fine $5. No-tow zone." Many people wouldn't choose the garage. Likewise, imagine if you saw a sign that says, "Health insurance for sale: $200 a month," and right next to it was another sign. This one says, "Fine for not buying insurance: $33 a month -- but you can still...

A Christian organization in Maine has filed a lawsuit to challenge a bureaucratic decision to impose a $4,000 fine for its "criticism" of Islam, expressed in a mailing to supporters. The issue developed following a Christian Action Network fundraising letter several months ago. The letter exposed "how some public schools were promoting Islalm by providing instruction on the Five Pillars of Islam and the Quran," according to the complaint against the state.

Two things every American should know about Health Care Reform proposed by President Barry Soetoro and Democrats. If you chose not to buy Health Care Insurance you would face legal action from the Internal Revenue Service, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. That would be in the form of a mandated penalty as high as $1,900 dollars for non-compliance. If you chose simply not to pay the penalty then you could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face up to a year in jail or a $25,000 penalty. America, Obamacare just transformed into Jailcare! Working on behalf of...

The great thing about fixing healthcare is not missing the opportunity to turn a bunch of regular people into criminals. You don't want healthcare, too damn bad. You're now a criminal. You don't have a choice. You are going to forcibly be made to enter a legal contract against your will. (This is against the law by the way). All contract law is void unless both parties entered into the contract voluntarily. There's little terms like "COERCION" and "AGAINST THEIR WILL" and stuff like that. How about someone gives you an abortion against your will? Didn't want it? Too bad....

WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans would be fined up to $3,800 for failing to buy health insurance under a plan that circulated in Congress on Tuesday as President Barack Obama met Democratic leaders to search for ways to salvage his health care overhaul.[snip] ......The fines pose a dilemma for Obama. As a candidate, the president campaigned hard against making health insurance a requirement, and fining people for not getting it. "Punishing families who can't afford health care to begin with just doesn't make sense," he said during his party's primaries. At the time, he proposed mandatory insurance only for children............"

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When city officials cut street sweeping in more than 20 neighborhoods in August to save cash, they knew that the change would lead to a loss in revenue from parking tickets. They probably didn't anticipate that the city would lose four times more money than it saved - money that would have gone to the struggling Municipal Transportation Agency, which is considering cutting transit service and increasing fares to balance its budget. Street-sweeping tickets, at $50 a pop, dropped 26 percent on the affected routes from October to December, compared with the previous year, according to city figures. If that...

A million motorists with unpaid parking fines face being stopped from leaving the country. They risk being caught up in plans to recoup almost £1billion in outstanding fines and court orders imposed for criminal offences as well as driving ones. Ministers are examining whether to use powers to track the travel plans of everyone leaving the country under a system known as e-Borders to deal with the problem of unpaid fines. As disclosed by The Daily Telegraph, the scheme will track anyone leaving Britain including day-trippers, leisure sailors and even channel swimmers. The idea of using the system to detain...

US Department of Transportation study finds only five percent of crashes caused by excessive speed.As lawmakers around the country continue to consider speed limit enforcement as the primary traffic safety measure, the most comprehensive examination of accident causation in thirty years suggests this focus on speed may be misplaced.

If you’re having trouble figuring out what Gov. Deval Patrick’s really trying to do with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, just keep in mind the ABC’s of Beacon Hill budgeting: Anything But Cuts. While your wages have likely remained flat the past five years, state government spending has gone up 8 percent each year. During the past year, while the private sector was losing 1.4 million jobs, USA Today reports that state and local governments added 160,000 - the second-fastest growing sector of the economy. So when you hear that Patrick is “getting rid of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority,” you should...

SACRAMENTO -- -- The state's ethics agency announced fines Monday against former state Sen. Martha Escutia of Whittier for failing to properly disclose at least $340,000 in payments made by 17 special-interest firms and campaigns to her then-husband's political consulting firm. The state Fair Political Practices Commission also announced fines against former Gov. Gray Davis, related to the campaign fund he used to fight the 2003 recall that removed him from office. He failed to fully disclose $187,381 in unpaid expenses and a late contribution, and he did not keep some records required for donors who gave $5,000 or more,...

The Illinois State Police are using vans with cameras and radar guns to photograph motorists and other drivers who speed through highway construction zones, and are enforcing strict penalties for alleged offenders. Citations for a first offense are $375, and a second offense can cost $1,000 and a 90-day suspension of driver’s license. State Police officials said four white vans, which are equipped with radar guns, cameras and a monitor to show drivers their speed, have been deployed at different construction zones in the state. As of Thursday, June 5, those vans are deployed at the widening project on the...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is instructing state fire officials to begin fining rural homeowners who fail to clear their properties of brush, trees and dry grass. Schwarzenegger says clearing around homes is particularly important because of this year's dry conditions throughout the state. A 2005 law required that homeowners who live near forests or grasslands increase the so-called "defensible space" around their houses from 30 feet to 100 feet. State Fire Marshal Kate Dargan says inspectors have issued few citations to homeowners who ignore the law. Instead, firefighters have focused on educating them about the dangers of overgrown properties. During a...

The driver of the car that struck and killed a police officer on a Howard County highway last year was traveling 16 mph over the speed limit at the time of the accident and swerved at the last moment. Police Chief William J. McMahon said Grissom was traveling 71 mph in the 2007 Nissan Sentra that hit Cpl. Scott Wheeler that June afternoon. The speed limit at the site of the accident - Route 32 near Interstate 95 - is 55 mph. In a written statement, Wheeler's widow, Tracy, said: "We are disappointed that the grand jury chose not to...

Uninsured Mass. residents face monthly fines starting in January BOSTON—Come Jan. 1, Massachusetts residents who still haven't signed up for health insurance will start racking up fines on a monthly basis.

WASHINGTON - A union-financed advocacy group that played a major role in the 2004 elections has agreed to pay a $580,000 fine after the Federal Election Commission concluded it illegally ran advertising against President Bush and in favor of Democrat John Kerry. In an agreement announced Monday, the FEC said the now inactive Media Fund spent $53.4 million during the contest on television, radio and newspaper ads and direct mail that made reference to Bush or Kerry. The FEC said the fund violated campaign finance laws because it accepted unlimited donations from labor unions and expressly advocated the defeat or...

HARRISON, N.Y. (AP) - Even the dead apparently have to pay the fines on their overdue books at one Westchester County library. Elizabeth Schaper said she was charged a 50-cent late fee while turning in a book that her late mother had checked out of a Harrison Public Library branch. "I was in shock," Schaper said. "This has rocked me to my core." Schaper's mother, Ethel Schaper, died at the age of 87 on Sept. 16 after suffering a massive stroke. A few days later, Schaper said she found a library book, "The Price of Silence," by Camilla Trinchieri, that...

It's the No. 1 complaint in county government. The reality is, we all speed," said Del. Guy Guzzone, a former county councilman. Guzzone, like other state legislators, is expecting another General Assembly debate over legislation to allow local governments to install automated speed cameras that can safely catch more speeders - who would get expensive tickets but would not get points on their licenses - than any police radar team in history. State Sen. James N. Robey, a former county executive and county police chief, hopes to help spearhead the move for speed-camera authority next year, he said. Howard County...

Public urination is fast becoming something of a cash cow for Sweden, garnishing the state coffers with 1.8 million kronor ($264,000) so far this year. Though fines for peeing in public were increased from 500 kronor to 800 kronor last October, this does not appear to have had any dampening effect on the practice, Metro reports. This year's crop of outdoors types are well on the way to smashing last year's record of 3,328. Figures for the first seven months of 2007 show that 2,252 people have already been find for public peeing this year. This can be compared to...

Coasting through the legislature on a slogan “speed kills,” a new law in the state allows police to get tough with drivers caught exceeding the posted limits. The measure seeks to both make an example of those “who refuse to comply with the law” and raise revenue to fund “vital government functions.” State Highway Patrol spokesman, Captain Robert Morris defended the law as “the stick we have long needed to beat some sense into those who speed or drive improperly. Year-after-year the vast majority of drivers have ignored the posted limits. Fines and points have failed to achieve compliance. More...

NEW YORK - Authorities issued more than three dozen summonses — including at least one to an ice cream truck driver — in the first five days of a new noise ordinance, a newspaper reported Friday. Some 38 citations were issued Sunday alone, according to The New York Times. The report said authorities did not provide a complete tally of summonses issued since the regulations took effect July 1. Costas "Gus" Vamvakas received a citation while on his rounds in a Mr. Softee truck in Queens on Wednesday. The new rules require the popular ice cream chain to stop playing...

For the second straight year, San Diego police officers are writing fewer traffic tickets. The reason: fewer cops. Not the reason: better drivers. “We are down about 200 officers,” San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne said. The force is spread thin because so many officers have retired or quit over pay and benefit issues. To make up the shortfall, officers have been diverted for training, court appearances, special details and police calls, which take priority. It all adds up to less time spent on traffic enforcement. Less ticket writing also means less revenue for the city. Ticket fines range from...

4x4 drivers face £300 bill to park outside home By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor Last Updated: 1:38am BST 26/10/2006 Millions of drivers of sports cars and 4x4s face hefty charges to park outside their own homes under a scheme being pioneered by a local council. Town hall chiefs across the country were said last night to be closely watching a move by Liberal Democrats in Richmond upon Thames, south-west London, to target the owners of so-called "gas-guzzlers". Owners of these 4x4s parked in Richmond could face hefty charges The borough wants to introduce a sliding scale of charges for...

Keith Ellison's Excuse Brigade -- the "don't touch Keith" crowd in the DFL, the media and the blogosphere -- has gone into overdrive for the man who is the DFL's choice to represent Minnesota's Fifth Congressional District in our nation's capital. The Brigade cut its teeth on Ellison's 40 or so unpaid parking tickets, and his nine moving violations since 2000. Its candidate hit the campaign trail in June with a suspended driver's license, thanks to his failure to pay his fines. This was nothing new for Ellison, who seemed unfazed. "I don't know how many prior suspensions I've had,"...

Up in Smoke City Hall and the Greater Houston Restaurant Association once again threaten the right to light up in bars Health nuts are gonna feel pretty stupid someday, lying in hospitals, dyin' o' nothin'. -- Redd Foxx Here we go again...City Hall is a-rumble once more with talk of a smoking ban in bars. And no, they aren't responding to a groundswell of popular support -- they are acting at the behest of the Greater Houston Restaurant Association, which has now officially flip-flopped from its partial-ban position from last year. You'll recall that sensible, live-and-let-live legislation -- it banned...

CROMWELL -- Local worm salesmen, beware. As 13-year-old Joe Cadieux learned recently, Cromwell can be a hostile environment for those looking to break into night crawler vending - particularly if they advertise with a yard sign. A worm business that Joe has operated since he was 10 was shut down two weeks ago when Cromwell's planning and zoning commission issued a cease-and-desist order because the teenager's sign violated local zoning regulations It's ridiculous," said the middle school student, who made $5 to $10 a month selling worms collected from his front yard, where they are plentiful after spring rainstorms. Most...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union regulators fined Microsoft (MSFT) 280.5 million euros ($357.3 million) on Wednesday for defying a 2004 antitrust ruling, and warned the company to comply or face bigger fines from next month. The tough new penalty is the first of its kind and comes on top of a record 497 million-euro fine the Commission imposed in its landmark antitrust decision against Microsoft in March 2004. "Microsoft has still not put an end to its illegal conduct. I have no alternative but to levy penalty payments for this continued non-compliance," Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said. "No company is...

St. Paul's chief says the directive is to provide a standard to measure performance — not fill city coffers. But the union and drivers aren't happy. Let the meter expire, even for a minute or two, and there's a parking officer issuing a ticket. Park too close to a driveway or ignore a permit-only sign and again it's ticket time. If it seems like St. Paul aggressively enforces parking meters and rules, this might help explain why: To make sure the city's enforcement officers are working hard, police want each agent to write tickets for 55 violations a day. Parking...

False Protests By Chuck Shepherd The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader June 28, 2006 The “indecent” CBS drama “Without a Trace” for which the Federal Communications Commission is proposing a $3.3 million fine of the network and affiliates was apparently complained about by only two (at most) actual viewers of the estimated 8.2 million who watched it that December 2004 night, according to FCC records that CBS cited in a June filing to the commission. Those two (and 4,209 complaints from people who apparently only heard about the show) did not start arriving at the FCC until 12 days afterward, which coincidentally...

On June 15, President Bush held a signing ceremony at the White House for the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, a new law increasing the maximum fine for indecent TV programming tenfold, from $32,500 to $325,000 per violation. The president knows the problem. The current maximum "is meaningless. It's relatively painless for them when they violate decency standards. And so the Congress decided to join the administration and do something about it ...The Congress got serious." It may have taken three years too many, but when Congress finally acted, it did so in an overwhelmingly bi-partisan fashion seldom seen in Washington...

TV Watch Statement on Government’s Role in Controlling What’s On TV: President Bush signs broadcast indecency bill into law, but is that what Americans really want? When the FCC slapped local broadcasters with a record $3.5 million in fines this March, it said it was reacting in part to an increase in public complaints about broadcast television. But a closer look at the pattern of complaints the FCC receives shows that the vast majority of individuals file complaints at the prompting of just two special interest groups, and complainants often admit they didn’t watch the episode in question. TV Watch...

June 7, 2006 Indecent Proposal: End, don’t mend, TV content regulation. Jacob Sullum Syndicated Columnist New York Post / Reason Online The overwhelming support on Capitol Hill for legislation that will dramatically increase the fines for broadcasting "indecent" programming suggests there's broad agreement that the federal government should get serious about cleaning up TV. But the more closely you examine the justifications for this crackdown, the clearer it becomes that the ban on broadcast indecency either goes too far or does not go far enough. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), who introduced the Senate version of the bill raising the maximum...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. House is set to vote on Wednesday to impose a tenfold increase in the maximum fines for broadcasting profane or other indecent material, paving the way for the measure to be signed into law. The Federal Communications Commission would gain the power to fine television and radio broadcasting stations as much as $325,000 per incident under the bill, up from $32,500 currently. Cable and satellite television providers aren't affected by the measure, which cleared the Senate last month. Congress began to focus on television programming in earnest after the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, when performer...

WASHINGTON - The Federal Election Commission has determined that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's 2000 Senate campaign violated federal campaign finance laws. The federal agency fined Frist 2000, Inc., $11,000, according to a lawyer representing Frist's campaign and a watchdog group. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington had filed a complaint last year against Frist's 2000 campaign committee and received the FEC's findings Thursday. The FEC found that Frist 2000, Inc., failed to disclose a $1.44 million loan taken out jointly by the campaign and Frist's 1994 campaign committee. The Tennessee Republican, who was elected to the Senate in...

PTC Praises Senate for Passing Indecency Bill Parents Television Council Press Release May 19, 2006 “Legislation Will Protect Families from Barrage of Raunch on Public Airwaves” LOS ANGELES (May 19, 2006) – The Parents Television Council™ praised the U.S. Senate for passing legislation that would increase broadcast indecency fines from $32,000 to $325,000 – a ten-fold increase. “This is a major victory for families. We applaud Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) for pushing through legislation that would help to protect families from the barrage of raunch that has flooded the public airwaves,” said L....

WASHINGTON - The Senate voted Tuesday to fine employers who hire illegal immigrants up to $20,000 for each unauthorized worker, providing teeth to a broad immigration bill before sending it to a final vote later this week. Employers would have to check Social Security numbers and the immigration status of all new hires within 18 months after money is provided to the Homeland Security Department to expand the electronic system for screening workers. "This is probably the single most important thing we can do in terms of reducing the inflow of undocumented workers, making sure we can enforce in a...

U.S. Senate Backs Ten Fold Hike in Indecency Fines By Jeremy Pelofsky Reuters May 18, 2006 WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate late on Thursday approved boosting fines tenfold to $325,000 on television and radio broadcast stations that violate rules on airing profanity or sexually explicit material. The measure had languished for almost 16 months, drawing criticism from family groups and conservatives including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a likely 2008 contender for the Republican presidential nomination. Lawmakers demanded higher fines on broadcasters after pop singer Janet Jackson briefly exposed her breast during the 2004 Super Bowl football...

DANVERS — The brown SUV rolled to a stop in a Holten Street parking lot as two 17-year-old high school students in the back seat emptied their pockets of everything except their cell phones and a $20 bill. They wouldn't need much more to buy a pack of cigarettes in Danvers. The girl, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, stepped into the pouring rain, approached a sales clerk at the Mobil gas station and returned moments later with a pack of Marlboro Reds. The two teens work undercover for the North Shore Tobacco Control Program, the...

Judging by press coverage, the greatest political fund-raising scandal since George Washington bought barrels of whiskey for voters in 1789, is the Abramoff Affair. But it’s not the biggest such scandal in history. It’s not even the biggest this week. I sing you a song of three scandals. One involves some 200 Members of Congress and Jack Abramoff. The second involves Al Sharpton. The largest involves Hillary Clinton. Democrat mouthpieces (excuse me, strategists) like Bob Beckel are trying to hang Abramoff around the necks of the Republicans. The mantra is, “21 of the 23 Members of Congress who accepted Abramoff...

The European Commission has threatened to fine Microsoft up to 2m euros (£1.36m; $2.4m) a day until it gives rivals more access to its systems. Brussels said the software giant had failed to supply adequate information about its server programs. Microsoft has five weeks to provide improved documentation before the daily penalties are imposed. But the group pledged to contest the EU's "unjustified" demands by whatever means possible. 'Changing demands' "We will contest today's statement to the full extent permitted under EU law, including a full oral hearing on these issues," Microsoft legal chief Brad Smith said in a statement....

Reprimands did not work. Neither did detentions or suspensions. Frustrated over their inability to stop high school students from cursing aggressively, educators and police officials decided it was time to get tough. In November, they authorized police officers assigned to two of the city's public high schools to begin issuing tickets to students who hurl expletives. The fine: $103. The officers have issued about 60 tickets to students at Bulkeley and Hartford High Schools in what several experts think is the first such effort in the country. There are already signs that the new approach may be working, some teachers...

When it comes to cracking down on companies that hire illegal immigrants, the federal government appears to be missing in action, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office. Between fiscal year 1999 and fiscal year 2003, the report shows that the number of work-site arrests in the United States by government immigration agents fell by 83 percent, dropping from 2,849 arrests in 1999, to 485 in 2003, the last year for which Immigration and Customs Enforcement provided data to the accountability office. Another indicator of the downward trend revealed in the report was the number of employers...

Aker river runs white A mishap involving the delivery of paint in downtown Oslo on Friday left the River Aker colored an eerie shade of white. A delivery truck lost a pallet of paint outside a shop on Friday morning after a lifting belt broke, and 440 liters (116 gallons) of white paint ran into the Oslo river. "We have been told that the river is quite white. We are now out gathering water samples now," said Hanne Tomter of Oslo's Department of Water and Sanitation. Tomter was unsure what the effects of the water soluble paint on river wildlife...

Speed demons on the Bay Area's most dangerous roads -- including East County's Vasco Road and the Golden Gate Bridge -- are in for higher fines, if the governor signs a spate of legislation aimed at protecting motorists and pedestrians. The state Senate approved one of several bills Monday that would double the cost of traffic tickets for motorists caught speeding, weaving or driving recklessly on the roadways, which have become notorious for accidents and fatalities. The Senate is expected to approve more Tuesday."These roads rise to the top of the most serious hazards in California and deserve this kind...

Aug 22, 7:08 PM (ET) TOWSON, Md. (AP) - Armed with a tape measure, Sophia Jennings keeps her eyes open for overgrown weeds and the owners of the yards that have them. Jennings, a Baltimore County code enforcement officer, checks on residents who are not in compliance with rules about overgrown lawns. In most area jurisdictions, letting grass grow more than a foot high, or 8 inches in Baltimore city, is against the law. In some jurisdictions, the grass "cops" come in the form of code enforcement officers. In others, public works officials or environmental health workers are assigned to...

Rome The Latin expression caveat emptor - buyers beware - has taken on a whole new meaning in Italy, where authorities are cracking down on counterfeiting by imposing fines on the customers who buy from street sellers. The hundreds of thousands of tourists in the country have not been told about a law that went into effect in May, which makes them liable to pay a fine of euro 3333 ($5397.57) with no appeal for buying counterfeit goods. Unless paid within two months, the fine rises to euro 10,000 ($16194.33). The first foreigner to fall afoul of the law was...

When a skunk took a liking to Denver and Wanda Ward's backyard, digging holes under their fence and eating tomato plants, Denver decided to do something about it. He caught his culprit and thought he was doing the right thing by calling the city to come get it. He explains, "She wasn't interested in the skunk. She was interested in how I caught it. I told her I caught it with a steel trap and she asked did I know that's against the law and I said no m'aam I didn't." The Animal Services officer wrote Denver a $137 ticket...

Today, the Public Disclosure Commission issued the following press release: June 10, 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lori Anderson (360) 664-2737 Toll free 1-877-601-2828 WASHINGTON STATE DEMOCRATS AGREE TO RECORD FINE FOR CAMPAIGN VIOLATIONS Olympia – The Public Disclosure Commission yesterday accepted two stipulated agreements from the Washington State Democrat Party who agreed to pay $187,500 in civil penalties for campaign finance violations. The WSDCC agreed to pay $85,000 for failure to timely disclose the source of $394,544 worth of contributions and for failure to disclose $704,815 in debts and obligations during the 2004 election. In a separate agreement, a...

I received a speeding ticket in Franklin County. My fault, I own it, admit and payed it. When I contacted the clerk of courts, they told me the fine was $55 and the fees were $75 for a total of $130. I understand the fine but when I complained about the fees I finally received an itemized list. It included 2 references to electronic filing, county filing fees, and get this - Victim of Crimes fund, Building security, and public defender fees! I couldn't believe it. I payed online, with a credit card, never set foot in the building, or...

Crack Down on Cigarette LitterbugsMost people know that cigarette smoking can cause illness and careless smoking can cause burning of buildings, forests, animals and people. But perhaps many don't know what damage is caused by the extinguished butts discarded anywhere into our environment. I hadn't known either until I read the article in the Feb. 17 Wausau Daily Herald entitled, "Toxic butts befoul outdoors." Lots of damage occurs. Please get a copy and read it. The other day I saw a pile of butts in a parking lot, left there by someone who emptied a car's ashtray. How can we...