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

The biggest area of waste in health care is unneeded services, which uses up $210 billion each year. Administrative costs consume another $190 billion, and inefficiencies burn up $130 billion. More than $100 billion disappears from inflated prices, and fraud robs another $75 billion.   read more

No understanding has been reached over what to do with 600 newly captured prisoners, who currently remain under American control. The U.S. is also holding onto 30 previously captured detainees that Washington wants to remain behind bars indefinitely without trial. Afghan commanders apparently have not offered assurances that the prisoners would not be released.   read more

He returned to the Middle East to serve as ambassador at the embassy in Amman, Jordan, from July 17, 2008 to June 4, 2011. He joined the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, as deputy chief of mission on July 14, 2011, and became chargé d’affaires upon the departure of Ambassador James Jeffrey on June 1, 2012.   read more

The labor force participation rate, defined as the percentage of Americans who either have a job or are looking for one, fell to 63.5% in August, the lowest in 31 years…since September 1981. The percentage peaked at 67.3% during the first four months of 2000. Economists estimate there are seven million people who have stopped looking for work, in addition to another 13 million who continue the search.   read more

Among the uses Apple promotes for the new technology are “forcing certain electronic devices to enter ‘sleep mode’ when entering a sensitive area” and when “Covert police or government operations may require complete ‘blackout’ conditions.”   read more

Critics like former TARP inspector general Neil Barofsky reply that the bailouts failed to exact reforms, and even preserved the broken too-big-to-fail system that led to the crisis. Furthermore, the Federal Reserve made secret loans and guarantees to large banks worth $7.77 trillion, which the Fed claims have been repaid.   read more

Of the $1.4 billion paid out, $355 million was paid to nearly two dozen companies specializing in private debt collection. Another $1.06 billion was allocated to “guarantee agencies,” nonprofit organizations or state government agencies that administer student loan. Guarantee agencies often outsource the dirty work to debt collectors as well.   read more

SIGAR asked U.S. and NATO officials about the documents and was told all records from October 2006 through February 2011 had been destroyed. The branch in charge of the shredding was the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A), which is dominated by officers of the U.S. Army. Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV served as commander of CSTC-A from 2009 to 2011. He was preceded by Maj. Gen. Richard Formica.   read more

Spending by outside groups totaled $306.2 million as of September 5, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In comparison, such groups blew $301.6 million on the entire 2008 election. Before 2010, liberal outside groups consistently outspent conservative ones, but this trend has been massively reversed. So far this year conservative groups have outspent their liberal counterparts by $240 million to barely $60 million.   read more

Before the law took effect on January 1, 2012, voters needed only to show a valid form of ID that included their signature, such as a Social Security card or a credit card. Under the new statute, voters must show an approved photo identification card at polling places. Library cards with photo IDs do not qualify, nor do student IDs with photos. The city of Memphis takes the position that presenting a library card with a photo should be sufficient to allow someone to vote.   read more

Lamberth wrote that “If the separation-of-powers means anything, it is that this country is not one ruled by executive fiat. Such blanket, unreviewable power over counsel-access by the executive does not comport with our constitutional system of government.” The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which represents several captives, was pleased by the decision. “Today’s ruling reaffirms that constitutional rights are not subject to the whim of the executive.”   read more

The IARAA would fundamentally change the way independent regulatory agencies operate in two crucial ways by (1) giving the president the power to force independent agencies to submit proposed and final rules to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for approval and (2) requiring agencies to conduct a so-called “cost-benefit analysis” of such rules.   read more

World Trade Center Properties sought an additional $8.4 billion in damages, which included the estimated cost of replacing the two towers that were destroyed, but Hellenstein capped their potential gain at $2.8 billion, the value of its lease of the property from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.   read more

Since the storm passed and the waters receded, tar balls, tar mats and oil have been found on the beaches of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, mostly in places where heavy oil deposits occurred during the spill. The oil forced officials to close a 13-mile stretch of Fourchon beach in Louisiana Tuesday, where a dead whale washed up and officials have banned commercial fishing within one mile of shore. Isaac made landfall near Fourchon August 28 as a Category 1 storm.   read more

Apparently BSEE has chosen to rely on Shell to regulate itself. Steiner added in a prepared statement for PEER: “A simple emissions test report for my car is far more rigorous than what BSEE has produced for Shell's Arctic capping stack. From this, we still don’t know that this critical piece of equipment will work if needed.”   read more

The deadlines are part of the Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA), which President Barack Obama signed into law in January 2011. FSMA includes a wide range of guidelines, including a foreign supplier verification program, increased inspection of records and improved certification of laboratories tasked with inspecting food products. According to the plaintiffs, FDA officials submitted the new regulations to OMB, where they have sat awaiting action.   read more