Where is the Money Going?

Selling Donated Blood is Big Business in U.S.

These days, a pint of blood can go for $180 to $300, depending on demand. These earnings get passed down to the institute’s top executives, who make six-figure salaries. Leading the team is OBI’s CEO, John Armitage, whose annual salary is $421,561. read more

Immigration Service Awards New Contract to Background Check Company Charged with Fraud

US Investigations Services LLC (USIS) was sued by the Department of Justice for cutting corners while conducting investigations of people seeking clearance for sensitive government jobs. The firm also was embarrassed in two high-profile incidents last year when it was reported that USIS had performed the background checks for National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and Washington Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis. read more

Defense Dept. Pays more per Unit for Prescription Drugs than Medicare and Medicaid

According to the GAO, the Pentagon spends an average of 99 cents per unit for a sample of 78 drugs (33 brand-name and 45 generic), while the same drugs cost 82 cents a unit when purchased by Medicare Part D and 62 cents by Medicaid. read more

New Law Takes Effect Allowing IRS to Examine Bank Records of Americans Trying to Evade Taxes

A law taking effect this month forces foreign financial institutions to let the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) examine its records to ensure that U.S. citizens abroad are not hiding taxable income from the federal government. Before FATCA went into effect, the IRS depended on citizens to self-report their foreign income. read more

Food Stamp Abuse at Record Low

Officials in charge of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) recently announced that the rate of assistance going to ineligible households (or to eligible households in excessive amounts) dropped to 2.61% last year, the lowest level on record. SNAP’s achievements have come despite significant increases in the number of Americans relying on this government assistance during and following the Great Recession. read more

Hobby Lobby Invested Employee Retirement Fund in Companies that Produced Contraceptives while Suing to Avoid Paying for Employees to Use them

While the U.S. Supreme Court was deciding its ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (pdf), Mother Jones reported in April that the chain of craft stores had sunk more than $73 million from its employee retirement plan into drug companies that produced emergency contraception pills—the same kind of birth control it refused to provide to its workers under Obamacare. The investments were in effect as of December 2012, which was three months after Hobby Lobby sued the federal government. read more

FTC Charges T-Mobile with Forcing Bogus Charges on Customers

An unauthorized charge might appear on a customer’s bill as: “8888906150BrnStorm23918.” The numeric jargon would leave a consumer with no understanding of what the item was, making it more difficult for them to contest the expense. In fact it was for trivia text alerts. read more

One in Four Americans Now Live in “Poverty Areas,” including almost Half of Mississippians

Nationwide, one in four U.S. residents lived in “poverty areas.” That’s up from about 18% in 2000. The bureau refers to any census tract with a poverty rate of 20% or more as a poverty area. Mississippi, consistently one of the nation’s poorest states, had by far the largest share of Americans living in poor areas at 48.5%. New Mexico was next at 43%. The state with the fewest residents in poverty areas was New Hampshire at 6.8%. read more

TV Stations Must Now Post Online Political Ad Contracts

As of July 1, every broadcast TV station in the U.S. must post copies of contracts for commercial time purchased to air campaign spots, both positive and negative ones. More than 2,000 stations will be impacted by the FCC order, which follows a pilot project that was launched by the agency two years ago which involved only 230 TV outlets. read more

Despite their Role in the Economic Collapse, Subprime Loans are Back

Subprime mortgages, the financial equivalent of a dark destructive force, have returned to the American home industry, which was devastated last decade by this type of loan. These home loans, intended for people with poor credit, are once again taking their place in the market, only this time under more regulatory control and occupying (so far) a much smaller share of outstanding mortgages. read more

Red Cross Claims Details of Hurricane Sandy Spending are a “Trade Secret”

Gibson Dunn insisted that disclosing the information would cause the ARC to “suffer competitive harm because its competitors would be able to mimic the American Red Cross’ business model for an increased competitive advantage.” The firm did not specify who the ARC’s competitors are. read more

White House Weakened FDA Regulation of E-Cigarettes

The FDA in April proposed a series of regulations banning sales of e-cigarettes to individuals 17 and younger. The rules also restricted their sale through vending machines. The original language required sales to be “face-to-face,” which would have also banned online sales. The changes were submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget. There, officials decided to weaken the restrictions on e-cigarette, changing the face-to-face rule to apply only to vending machines. read more

Drug Companies and Hospitals Clash over Federal Drug Discount Program

Call it a drug was. Two decades ago, the U.S. government established a special program that allows certain hospitals and medical clinics to purchase expensive pharmaceutical drugs at a discount so they can pass on the savings to patients needing medication. But this effort has come under fire from the drug industry, claiming healthcare providers are taking advantage of the discounts to boost their profits. read more

Some Companies Cash In When an Employee Dies

About one fifth of all life insurance being taken out is by companies hoping to reap cash from their employees’ demise. The “cash surrender value,” the amount policyholders can receive before a worker dies, of BofA’s policies is at least $17.6 billion. At Wells Fargo it’s $12.7 billion, and at JPMorgan Chase it’s $5 billion, according to the Times. Banks can use those numbers on their balance sheets as “Tier 1 capital,” a measure of an institution’s strength. read more

Defining “Rich” Depends on How Rich—or Poor—You Are

Those making $25,000 or less annually say you’re rich when the bank account has, on average, $293,000 in it. Individuals earning between $30,000 and $60,000 each year believe the magic number is $394,000. Up next, people with annual incomes between $60,001 and $120,000 need $426,000, on average, to be rich. Finally, the upper strata of American life (anyone making $120,000 or more) say they must have $501,000 to reach their wealthy plateau. read more

South Dakota has Raked in $100 Million in Homeland Security Grants Despite No Known Terrorist Threats…Ever

Money has gone towards purchasing firefighting equipment and police surveillance technology. Some of it was even spent to prepare for roadside bombs—the kind deployed against American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq that have never been used in South Dakota or any other U.S. state. The only potential threats facing South Dakota, according to a state strategic plan, come from white supremacist groups and environmentalists opposed to uranium mining and the Keystone XL pipeline. read more