After weeks of media coverage about the influx of unaccompanied children into the U.S., a strong majority of Americans say the young immigrants should be treated as refugees, and not like undocumented adults. A survey revealed 69% of respondents felt that the children should remain as refugees “if authorities determine it is not safe for them to return to their home country.” Eighty-three percent of Democrats, 66% of independents and even 52% of Republicans agreed.   read more

Spending by outside political groups has grown so large this election that politicians running for office find these shadowy organizations already defining them and dictating the messages that bombard voters. “They have become a shadow party that’s effectively impossible to dislodge, and they will shape, if not control, the [national] dialog,” said Sheila Krumholz. Money pouring into TV ads is expected to eclipse $2 billion this year.   read more

Expansion of healthcare access under Obamacare and the release of expensive drugs have state officials breaking into a sweat over how to pay for high-priced treatments for those who need them. The arrival of Sovaldi, Gilead Sciences’ new treatment for hepatitis C, is one perfect example. The drug costs $84,000 per patient for a 12-week regimen. In Oregon, the $360 million cost could mean that state Medicaid officials may have to deny the drug to some who qualify for coverage.   read more

The U.S. has again demonstrated its steadfast loyalty to Israel, this time casting the lone “no” vote on a U.N. resolution authorizing an investigation into alleged human rights abuses in Gaza. The recent military invasion of the Palestinian territory has seen hundreds of civilians killed, including many children. The measure condemned the “violations of ...human rights” caused by the Israeli military and "all violence against civilians...including the killing of two Israeli civilians.”   read more

Before the Internet came along, the NTIS served a real purpose--providing government reports that at one time were available nowhere else. But now it may be time for NTIS to go the way of the World Book encyclopedia, say U.S. senators Claire McCaskill and Tom Coburn. They have sponsored the Let Me Google That For You Act, which would eliminate NTIS. “Why would anyone buy publications from NTIS when they’re free on the Internet?” McCaskill said.   read more

Foreigners can jump straight to the front of the immigration line in the U.S. if they have half a million dollars to pay to the government. The money must be invested in new U.S. ventures that establish 10 full-time jobs for Americans in rural areas or those with high unemployment. However, projects are often gerrymandered into high unemployment areas miles away. Critics say the program “has become a magnet for amateurs, pipe-dreamers, and charlatans."   read more

The government does not necessarily collect evidence before designating a U.S. citizen or foreign national a terrorist. As long as officials are just pretty sure a person is suspicious, an unsuspecting person can wind up on the watch list. Being on the watch list can mean more than having trouble boarding a plane. It can make it more difficult to land a job and can mean someone is subjected to extra scrutiny during an encounter with police, such as a traffic stop.   read more

Among all residents surveyed, 46% reported plumbing problems, 39% had roaches or insects, 22% complained of rats, mice or termites, 21% said their heating or air conditioning didn’t work properly, 20% have endured mold, and 18% suffered leaky roofs, among other concerns. The study, conducted by the Right to the City Alliance’s Homes for All Campaign, also found that only 10% of tenants in Los Angeles and 26% in Riverside had ever met their landlord in person.   read more

Forty-eight percent of unaccompanied children, when interviewed by the UN Refugee Agency, gave societal violence as a primary reason for fleeing their home country. For children from El Salvador, the number was 66%. Another factor is poverty. Two thirds of Hondurans are poor, while the rates aren’t much better for Guatemalans (55%) and Salvadorans (45%).   read more

The UTEP team found that an average of 66 children were being picked up at the border each day. Thirty Border Patrol agents were required to transport the children from Fort Brown to other locations where they could be fed and cleaned. All told, 24,000 unaccompanied minors were processed by Border Patrol stations in Texas last year, making it clear that the federal government had a brewing crisis on its hands.   read more

“When I found out that the NSA was collecting records of my phone calls, I was shocked,” Smith said in a prepared statement. “I have heard of other governments spying indiscriminately on their own citizens, but I naively thought it did not happen in America. I believe who I call, when I call them, and how long we talk is not something the government should be able to get without a warrant. I sued because I believe the Constitution protects my calls from government searches."   read more

The granddaddy of spying authorizations goes back to the Reagan Administration, and even Congress doesn’t know much about how it works. So, what’s 12333 being used for? According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, its authority is used to cull American’s electronic address books and buddy lists, to put malware on Facebook servers and to justify the recording of all of a country’s telephone calls.   read more

ADX inmates endure 23 hours a day and sometimes more in their tiny, private cells. The one hour they’re not in solitary confinement is instead spent outside—in an exercise cage often with no one else around. Many ADX inmates suffer from mental illness, but are denied treatment such as medicine and counseling, according to the report. In addition, the prison operates with virtually no public oversight. The media cannot visit prisoners in person nor talk to them by phone.   read more

The recent recall and controversy surrounding General Motors is one prime example, bill supporters say. Some GM officials knew about their cars’ faulty ignition switches as early as 2001, and yet allowed them to be sold and driven for years after. At least 13 people may have died as a result of these decisions. So far, the worst that the federal government has thrown at GM for its negligence is $35 million in fines, with no managers or executives facing prosecution.   read more

The Department of Justice trumpeted reaching a $7 billion deal with Citigroup to settle charges of “egregious misconduct” in its sale of mortgage-backed securities. But critics of the deal are crying foul. “The $7 billion settlement...is meaningless without disclosure of...how many hundreds of billions of dollars Citigroup made, how many tens of billions investors lost, how many billions in bonuses were pocketed, [and] which executives were involved,” said Dennis Kelleher.   read more

Tens of thousands of businesses have been caught polluting the air, water or soil, but rarely does the federal government prosecute the leaders of these lawbreakers. There are more than 64,000 facilities in federal databases with violations of U.S. environmental laws, but less than 0.5% result in prosecutions. That’s because the government has consistently preferred to take civil actions against corporate polluters, even though laws exist to charge executives criminally.   read more