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Glaxo Agrees to Pay Record $3 Billion Settlement for Fraud and Hiding Drug Safety Data
In a year of billion-dollar settlements involving drug manufacturers, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has topped them all. The British pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay a record amount—$3 billion—to resolve criminal charges for promoting its best-s... read more
Obama’s Health Care Tax Increase Smaller than Reagan’s Tax Hike
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the penalty for not having health insurance is a tax, some Republicans, including Rep. Connie Mack of Florida and Rep. Jeff Landry, have blasted the federal healthcare reform law as containing the l... read more
The High Cost of Secrecy to American Taxpayers
The federal government is becoming increasingly secretive, every year classifying more and more information as out of bounds for ordinary American citizens, yet charging us billions to keep its secrets from us. According to the recently released... read more
Is Chief Justice Roberts’ View of Health Insurance Penalties as Taxes a Disguised Attack on Congressional Power?
Most of the discussion in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court ruling upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) dealt with its political implications, such as whether this will help President Barack Obama’s reelection campa... read more
Rhode Island First State to Pass Homeless Bill of Rights
In contrast to many local governments that have tried to discourage the homeless from being in their communities, Rhode Island has decided to give them a “Bill of Rights.”
The state legislature and Governor Lincoln Chafee last week approved ... read more
Medicaid Takes a Hit from the Supreme Court
President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law survived the U.S. Supreme Court, but that doesn’t mean millions of Americans won’t lose their chance at medical insurance.
At the same time that the high court upheld the Affordable Care Act’s (... read more
General Dynamics Forces Employees on Army Base to Attend Anti-Union Meetings
With the complicity of the U.S. Army, a defense contractor has forced its employees to attend anti-union meetings on a military base in Washington State.
About 120 civilian workers at Fort Lewis will vote today whether to join Local 286 of t... read more
Stockton Set to Become Largest City in U.S. to Declare Bankruptcy
The city of Stockton failed to reach a deal with its creditors Tuesday, setting the stage for the largest U.S. municipal bankruptcy in history.
The Stockton City Council voted 6-1 Tuesday night to halt bond payments, whack its employee healt... read more
Supreme Court, 5-4, Cancels Montana’s 100-Year-Old Election Financing Law
The same U.S. Supreme Court majority that tossed restrictions on corporate giving in federal elections has now nullified Montana’s century-old law banning companies from spending on campaigns.
Business interests and anti-abortionists last ye... read more
U.S. Apparel Industry has Lost 80% of Jobs in Last 20 Years
The devastating impact of off-shoring American jobs to other countries is no more apparent than in the apparel manufacturing industry. From 1990 to 2011, 80% of the jobs in this industry disappeared in the U.S., downsizing from 902,800 to 151,80... read more
Government Spending for Education Drops for First Time on Record
In yet another ominous sign that the Great Recession is threatening the future, a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that in 2010 public school system spending declined by 0.4 percent, a small decrease to be sure, but this marks the firs... read more
U.S. Supreme Court Smacks Down Service Employees Union
San Francisco’s 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals called the lower-court ruling “practically unworkable,” but on a 7-2 vote, U.S. Supreme Court justices upheld the decision that closed union shops, like those in California government, must give wo... read more
Supreme Court Says Men Denied Federal Jobs for Failing to Register for the Draft Can’t Use Courts to Charge Sex Discrimination
Four men sued the federal government in 2011 claiming they were unfairly terminated from their government positions for not registering for the draft.
Their case was founded on the argument that the Selective Service System was sexist since ... read more
Longest Ongoing U.S. Strike…9 Years and Counting
Workers at the Congress Plaza Hotel in downtown Chicago went on strike in 2003 to protest low wages and benefits being offered by management.
The members of Unite Here Local 1 are still on strike, although most of the employees who walked ou... read more
Obama Blocks Release of Fast and Furious Documents after Republicans Threaten Holder with Contempt
President Barack Obama on Wednesday blocked the release of documents related to the “Fast and Furious” gun controversy, setting up a showdown with House Republicans who may vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt.
Republicans h... read more
CIA Documents Confirm that Bush Administration Ignored Repeated Warnings about Osama bin Laden Attack Plans
Seven newly released intelligence documents have revealed that the Bush administration ignored multiple warnings prior to September 11, 2001, about planned attacks by Osama bin Laden.
The declassified, but heavily censored, documents, obtain... read more