In brief: Romney doesn’t see mandate as a tax
WASHINGTON – A top adviser says Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney doesn’t see the health care mandate as a tax but as a penalty or a fee or even a fine.
That’s a different view from Republicans who are condemning the individual mandate in President Barack Obama’s health care law as a tax instead of a penalty, as Obama prefers to call it.
Senior Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom told MSNBC on Monday that Romney thinks those without health coverage pay a penalty rather than a tax.
Opponents of the health care law have seized on the Supreme Court’s use of the word “tax” in describing the mandate.
Romney’s own health care law, enacted while he was Massachusetts governor, calls for a penalty.
$3.7 million penalty proposed in oil spill
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Federal regulators proposed a $3.7 million civil penalty Monday against the Canadian owner of a pipeline that ruptured in 2010, dumping more than 800,000 gallons of oil into a southwestern Michigan river.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said the penalty against Enbridge Inc. would be the largest it has imposed. In a letter to the company, the agency listed 24 violations of hazardous liquid pipeline regulations, including failure to fix corrosion problems in the damaged pipe joint discovered as far back as 2004.
Enbridge, based in Calgary, Alberta, has 30 days to respond. It could accept the agency’s findings and pay the penalty or request a hearing before an administrative judge.
Restaurant CEO dies in Arizona crash
CAMP VERDE, Ariz. – The president and chief executive of a Phoenix-area restaurant group died in a helicopter crash over the weekend in Arizona.
The corporate office of Arriba Mexican Grill restaurants confirmed Monday that Raymond Perry, 70, was among four people on the private helicopter that crashed in a river.
The Yavapai County Sheriff’s office says the crash likely took place Saturday during a flight from Sedona to Scottsdale. The wreckage was discovered Sunday by a private pilot south of Camp Verde, about 86 miles north of Phoenix.
Authorities say Perry owned the helicopter. Searchers also recovered the bodies of Karen Stinn, 68, of Cave Creek, Ariz., and Mike Dunaway, 63, and Linda Dunaway, 64, of Glendale, Ariz.
Cash-poor school puts itself up for sale
LANGHORNE, Pa. – Forget magazine drives and candy sales. A cash-strapped high school near Philadelphia hopes to raise money by auctioning itself on eBay.
The starting bid of just under $600,000 for The Learning Center in Langhorne, Pa., is designed to offset steep budget cuts. A tongue-in-cheek listing describes the alternative school for at-risk teens as “pre-owned” and “slightly used.”
The winner won’t own the facility, which is part of the Neshaminy School District. But he or she will get a plethora of goodies, including a naming opportunity, a free large pizza, a personalized school coffee mug and the chance to deliver a speech at graduation.
Neshaminy officials did not immediately return requests for comment Monday. The 7,000-student district has endured a pair of teacher strikes this year as the school board says it can’t afford to meet the union’s demands.