The majority of voters did not vote for Donald Trump for president; the majority of voters did not vote for Republican candidates for the Senate; and fewer than 51% of voters cast their ballots for Republican candidates for the House of Representatives. The Republican Party now controls the White House, both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court, no matter how that came to be. I believe it is worth bearing in mind that a majority of U.S. citizens did not support the Republican winners.   read more

Last year, the legislature eliminated $1.8 million from school safety programs, while Governor Rick Scott vetoed $5.7 million for mental health services. But lawmakers made sure $10 million in taxpayer money was available to help weapons makers, as well as Hollywood production companies and video game designers that produce violent entertainment. The state government also made it easier and cheaper to buy high-powered weapons, by cutting the cost of obtaining a weapons license by $5.   read more

The amount of refunds that prisoners tried to receive also skyrocketed, from $68 million in 2004 to $2.5 billion in 2012. In many instances, inmates used stolen identities and other false information as part of their schemes. The IRS has taken actions to catch many of the phony refunds before they are sent out. In 2010, the agency received $757 million in refund requests from prisoners, but only issued $35.2 million (about 4.6%).   read more

I want people around the world to look at the United States as a model. If people are afraid to speak their minds for fear of government oppression, I want them to think, “I want my country to be like the United States of America.” If they are malnourished or starving or their children are threatened by disease, I want them to think, “I wish my country could be like the United States of America.”   read more

Corporate bashing of President Barack Obama’s economic policies have belied the fact that companies are enjoying huge profits since the Democrat came into office. Under Obama, corporations’ after-tax profits have leaped 171%, which is more than under any president since World War II, according to Bloomberg News. Corporate profits are also at their highest level relative to the size of the economy since the government began keeping records in 1947.   read more

Obama’s 2012 win also makes him only the seventh President in modern political history (since 1932) to win two presidential elections. That places him in some elite company, including Franklin Roosevelt, who won in 1932, 1936, 1940 and 1944, Dwight Eisenhower (1952 and 1956), Richard Nixon (1968 and 1972), Ronald Reagan (1980 and 1984), Bill Clinton (1992 and 1996) and George W. Bush (2000 and 2004).   read more

After reviewing financial disclosure forms filed by the 94, the Center for Responsive Politics determined that the median estimated net worth of the freshmen is more than $1 million. At $1,066,515 the net worth is nearly $1 million more than the typical American household, whose median net worth is $66,740. The richest of the incoming members of Congress is Rep. John Delaney (D-Maryland), whose net worth is estimated at $139 million.   read more

Bank robbery, selling child porn, selling slaves, genocidal eugenics: all these federal crimes carry a maximum sentence of 20 years, less than half the 50-plus years that U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz and prosecutors Stephen P. Heymann and Scott L. Garland threatened against Internet genius and activist Aaron Swartz, who killed himself on January 11 at age 26, mere weeks before he was to be tried on charges of stealing academic journal articles from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).   read more

• Far-right violence increases during presidential election years and the years preceding. • Far-right violence increases when political conservatives win power in Congress. • Far-right violence is concentrated in heterogeneous areas, where peoples of varying ethnic and religious backgrounds interact. • The South is no longer the hub of far-right violence. Judged by per capita attacks, the worst states are Oregon, Maine, New York, Vermont and Massachusetts.   read more

The FBI and the BOP, which make nearly two-thirds DOJ’s hires, indicated they relied on the background investigations in lieu of reference checks out of concerns over contacting current supervisors too early in the process and over the large number of references that would need to be checked. The IG report, however, criticized those concerns.   read more

Efforts to limit access to the lucrative business of tax preparation were struck down last week by a federal judge in Washington, DC, who voided Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations purporting to license and regulate the nation’s 600,000 tax preparers. The effort, which included mandatory continuing education, testing, and registration.   read more

ITEP found that the bottom 80% of Louisianans in income would see a tax increase. The poorest 20% of taxpayers, with an average income of $12,000, would see an average tax increase of $395; the middle 20%, with an average income of $43,000, would see an increase of $534; while the largest beneficiaries would be the top 1%, with an average income of more than $1 million, who'd see an average tax cut of $25,423.   read more

More than $507 million was paid to just four political consulting firms, mostly for buying attack ads on behalf of super PACs and nonprofits. The top recipient among consultants was Mentzer Media Services, which earned nearly $204 million from conservative super PACs and other outside groups. Second was Crossroads Media, which was paid about $163 million by conservative super PACs and nonprofits.   read more

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) conducted an audit of a $350 million contract awarded to the Dubai-based firm Automotive Management Services (A-M-S). SIGAR uncovered $6.8 million was reportedly spent performing maintenance on 7,324 Afghan police vehicles that were not in service.   read more

Davies started his business, Medizen, three years ago and quickly made it into an $8 million enterprise. He says he carefully followed all state laws in setting up his dispensary. But Benjamin Wagner, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, claims Davies has trafficked a controlled substances outlawed by federal statute.   read more

Wall Street’s sighs of relief were nearly audible when Obama announced his intent to nominate Jacob “Jack” J. Lew, the current Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to succeed current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Lew, who worked for Citigroup from 2006 through 2008, is arguably more of a Wall Street insider than was Geithner.   read more

Three polls show greater support for gun control since the shootings in Colorado and Connecticut. Gallup found support for tougher gun laws jumped to 38% from 25%. Pew Research revealed 85% support background checks for private gun sales and at gun shows. Washington Post-ABC News showed 52% are more supportive of gun control.   read more