Top Stories
Cost of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Skyrockets
The cost of health insurance hasn’t just outpaced the growth of family incomes in the United States—it’s blown past. According to a new study by the Commonwealth Fund, employer-sponsored family health insurance premiums rose by 119% from 1999 to ... read more
Earmark Champion and Proud of It
Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) is not ashamed of the federal money he funnels back to his home state. “It may please you or it may not please you,” Inouye told a group of Hawaiian business and social representatives recently. “I’m the No. 1 earm... read more
Immigration Prosecutions Continue to Rise
Going from a Republican administration to a Democratic administration has had no adverse effect on immigration crackdowns—in fact, arrests have gone up. Data analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University show th... read more
Quarter of All Fish in U.S. Contain Unsafe Levels of Mercury
Eating fish from America’s streams is becoming increasingly dangerous, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey. After examining almost 300 streams from across the country, scientists concluded that 25% of fish contained dangerous le... read more
The Most Powerful Woman in America: Sheila Bair
Although she came in at No. 2 in the world for the second year in a row, Sheila Bair was the highest rated American on Forbes’s most recent ranking of The 100 Most Powerful Women. The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was outpaced ... read more
Obama’s First Rendition…Accused of Bribery
President Barack Obama’s vision for creating “a better, freer world” apparently includes the continued use of renditions to capture fugitives in foreign countries wanted by federal authorities. Instead of working through normal diplomatic channels... read more
Supreme Court Accepts First Case about Executive Pay
Outrage over compensation paid to financial executives and their advisers has reached the point where even judges with free-market philosophies are calling pay levels excessive and out of control, leading to speculation as to how the U.S. Supreme ... read more
Accused of War Crimes, Warlord Returns to Afghanistan…to Campaign for Karzai
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai’s determination to win re-election this week has included not only pushing a controversial law to appeal to Shia male voters, but also bringing back a former warlord accused of massacring thousands of Taliban for... read more
Americans Overwhelmingly Support Social Security
Despite fears of the government overspending on programs to right the nation’s economy, the vast majority of Americans believe Social Security needs to be maintained and are willing to pay higher taxes to do so. Nearly 90% say Social Security is m... read more
Afghan Law Allows Husbands to Starve Wives if They Refuse Sexual Demands
Needing the political support of Shia men in next week’s election, Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai approved a law earlier this year that not only doesn’t exactly legalize marital rape, but does allow husbands to withhold food from wives who r... read more
Palin, Gingrich, Grassley Supported End of Life Counseling…A.K.A. Death Panels
Republican presidential wannabes Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich have argued that expanding Medicare coverage to include end-of-life counseling will amount to creating “death panels” so the government can euthanize seniors. But if both politicians r... read more
Governors and Pentagon Clash over Emergency Powers
Governors from both parties have expressed opposition to the Department of Defense becoming involved in responses to domestic disasters. The Pentagon wants the Secretary of Defense to have the authority to command National Guard and U.S. military ... read more
Report: More Than $1 Trillion a Year in Health Care Waste
Accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute has determined that the United States wastes more than $1 trillion a year on health care expenses that could be eliminated. The biggest waste ($210 billion) comes from doctors orde... read more
Air Force to Train More Computer Pilots than Aircraft Pilots
Having graduated its first class of “drone pilots” only this year, the U.S. Air Force is now saying that the growing demand for unmanned aircraft missions is so great that it will have to train more of these new breed of “aces” who never leave the... read more
Majority Want Single-Payer…But Not on Television
Public opinion surveys have consistently revealed that Americans like the idea of a government-funded health care option, like Medicare, to help solve the problem of the uninsured and underinsured in the United States. But news reporting by televi... read more
War in Afghanistan: Americans Pull Out Their Check Books
If the United States follows through on the commitments required to meet President Barack Obama’s long-term plan for stabilizing Afghanistan, the government will end up spending even more money to tame it than has already been allocated to fight ... read more