Top Stories
Health Care Reform: Most Americans Like the Trees, but Confused by the Forest
If the various pieces of the healthcare reform legislation in Congress are taken apart and considered separately, Americans are in favor of most everything. But when they are asked about the complete package, reactions seem to range from disappoin... read more
Gap Between Male and Female Unemployment Reaches Record Level
In more than 60 years of data collecting, the unemployment gap between men and women has never been wider. As of the end of the third quarter in 2009, the jobless rate for men was 10.5% and 8.7% for women, according to the Economic Policy Institut... read more
For the First Time, Most Union Members Work for Government
Heavy job losses during the current recession have caused the ranks of private-sector unions to plummet, resulting in government employees becoming the largest unionized force in the United States. Data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics s... read more
Intelligence Czar Dennis Blair Testifies Christmas Bomber Should Have Been Questioned by Non-Existent Unit
Appearing before a congressional committee investigating the Christmas Day bomb attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told lawmakers this week that a special anti-terrorism unit known as the “High Val... read more
Poverty Spreads to the Suburbs
The American suburb is losing its luster as the symbol of middle-class comfort and prosperity. The Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program says poverty is significantly up in the ‘burbs, growing by 25% from 9.9 million people in 2000 t... read more
Post-Katrina Health Clinics More Efficient than General U.S. Health Care
Some good may have come out of the devastation that hit New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Although the city’s health care system took a beating from the storm and subsequent flooding, a new network of clinics has sprung up—and is now providing ... read more
Rifle Sights Used in Iraq and Afghanistan Illegally Inscribed with Bible Quotes
Rekindling arguments that the United States is waging a Christian war against the Islamic world, a weapons manufacturer has been caught producing rifle sights for the U.S. military that have codes referencing Bible passages. The New Testament-insc... read more
Tobacco’s Big 4 Negotiating with Justice Dept. to Avoid Supreme Court Ruling on Health Fraud
Tobacco companies have been secretly meeting with the Department of Justice to convince government lawyers to settle the landmark lawsuit first brought against the industry in the 1990s. According to the Associated Press, lawyers for Philip Morris... read more
Obama’s Fee on Big Finance: How It Would Work
Telling the financial industry it’s time to meet its responsibilities and help cover the cost of the federal bailout, President Barack Obama this week unveiled his tax on big banks to recoup almost $100 billion in costs. The tax would last 10 year... read more
Obama Fails to End “Too Big to Fail” Syndrome
The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), created to manage the federal government’s bailout of Wall Street, is supposed to conclude this October, but issues stemming from the unprecedented rescue operation are likely to linger long past that. In ... read more
Goldman Sachs CEO Admits “Improper” Hedges
The federal investigation into the financial crisis of 2008 received its first mea culpa from Wall Street on Wednesday. Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that his bank engaged in “improper” behavio... read more
Details of AIG Bailout to Remain Secret until 2018
The public will have to wait eight years to find out the details of the AIG bailout that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner oversaw in 2008 while running the New York operation of the Federal Reserve. Last May, the Securities and Exchange Commi... read more
Obama Appoints “Mr. Slam Dunk” to Investigate Underwear Bomber and Fort Hood Murders
John McLaughlin, President Barack Obama’s choice to uncover the intelligence failures surrounding the Christmas Day airline bombing attempt and the Fort Hood shootings, has been called one of the brightest minds of the intelligence community. But ... read more
John Dingell, the Congressman from General Motors
As a congressman from Michigan for the last 54 years, Democrat John Dingell Jr. has paid close attention to the needs of his state’s flagship industry: automobile manufacturing. But Dingell’s relationship with one of the Big Three automakers has t... read more
Threats to Judges and Federal Prosecutors Double in 5 Years
The climate for judges and prosecutors who work for the U.S. government has turned dangerous recently. Threats have more than doubled within the past five years, according to a new study by the Department of Justice’s inspector general that examin... read more
In 4 Southern States, Most Students are Low-Income and Minorities
As the South goes with its public schools so goes the rest of the nation, and that could lead to significant challenges for the U.S. economy. More than half of all public school students in the South are poor and members of a minority group—the fi... read more