Only about 2% of small law practices in the U.S. are in rural areas, which accounts for nearly a fifth of the population, according to The New York Times. The South Dakota law, which is the first of its kind in the nation, establishes a pilot program that has the participation of 16 lawyers, each of whom makes a five-year commitment and receives an annual subsidy of $12,000. The program will begin in June.   read more

The move has followed the downsizing of police budgets and forces, which have left many residents feeling unsafe. The cutbacks have added to the growing gulf between the rich and poor in the United States. Wealthier communities are able to hire private security companies, while lower-income communities are left on their own.   read more

General John F. Kelly, Commander of the U.S. Southern Command, requested $150 million to $170 million for renovations to the prison complex, including $99 million for two barracks facilities, $12 million for a new mess hall, and millions more for consolidating scattered legal, medical and communications facilities. Lt. Cmdr. Ron Flanders, a Southcom spokesman, admitted that Southcom also needed an additional $49 million to build a new building at Guantánamo for so-called “high-value” detainees   read more

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report that the Pentagon’s use of competitively-bid contracts has declined steadily for the past five years, decreasing from 62% to 57%. “Competition is the cornerstone of a sound acquisition process and a critical tool for achieving the best return on investment for taxpayers,” the GAO wrote. Someone should tell that to the U.S. Air Force, which had the lowest competition rate among the services: 37%.   read more

Another blunder: The Army spent more than half a million dollars to buy 9,179 small replacement gears called pinions to temporarily rectify a Stryker suspension problem that surfaced between 2007 and 2009. The Army fixed the problem in 2010, but kept buying pinions. As a result, only 15 of the pinions were ever used.   read more

The study, financed by the federal government and carried out by the RAND Corporation, found that direct health care costs for dementia, including nursing home care, were $109 billion in 2010—more than the total for heart disease ($102 billion) or for cancer ($77 billion). The study also determined that the cost of informal care for dementia, usually borne by families, ranged from $50 billion to $106 billion.   read more

here are some of the board members of Goldman Sachs and what else they do: • M. Michele Burns—CEO of the Marsh & McLennan-sponsored Retirement Policy Center; also serves on the board of directors of Wal-Mart and Cisco • William George—professor at Harvard Business School; also serves on the board of directors of Exxon Mobil • Stephen Friedman—chairman of the Stone Point Capital private equity firm   read more

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says the fastest growing segment of federal spending from 2015 to 2021 won’t be Medicare or Social Security, but interest payments on the debt. Ballooning interest payments could be so bad that they would wipe out the $1.2 trillion in savings from the sequestration budget cuts over the next decade.   read more

Among the former presidents receiving this largess, George W. Bush was given the most assistance: $1.3 million. The expenditures included $395,000 for 8,000 square feet of office space in Dallas, $85,000 in telephone costs, and $60,000 for travel. Bill Clinton came in second at just under $1 million, followed by George H.W. Bush at $842,000, and Jimmy Carter at about $518,000. Nancy Reagan, widow of Ronald Reagan, also received $14,000 for postage.   read more

All together, Republicans spent about $1.4 billion to win the White House and the Democrats $1.1 billion. The Republicans also outspent the Democrats in Congressional races, $1.66 billion to $1.54 billion. According to an analysis by The Washington Post, pro-Romney forces alone spent at least $492 million on TV ads, 91% of which were negative. The pro-Obama team laid out at least $404 for TV ads, 85% negative.   read more

The general public overwhelmingly supported spending more money on social security, health care and homeland security, while the super rich believed that the budgets for all three should be cut. The super rich were also more likely to oppose increased spending for defense, environmental protection and education. But they were somewhat more likely to call for increasing the budget for scientific research.   read more

In the case of SNL, prime contractor Sandia Corp., which relies heavily on subcontractors, spending about 38% of its total budget on them, hired former employees as subcontractors and paid them a higher hourly rate than the employees had received prior to retiring.   read more

In total, these wars are costing the government $40 billion a year to compensate veterans and survivors. World War I still costs taxpayers $20 million a year, World War II $5 billion and the Korean War $2.8 billion. The total cost of the Vietnam War, estimated to be more than $1 billion in current dollars, includes $270 billion paid out in benefits.   read more

Big Business hasn’t paid anywhere near 35% because of tax breaks. One analysis showed that from 2008 to 2012, the largest corporations paid an average of 8.1% in federal taxes. Meanwhile, they have seen a doubling of profit in less than 10 years. In some cases, major companies, like General Electric, paid no taxes, while others, such as ExxonMobil, paid just 2%.   read more

Discretionary spending is that portion of the federal budget that has to be approved by Congress, as opposed to mandatory spending, such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest on the national debt. Historically, half of discretionary goes to the military and half goes to such non-military programs as government operations, law enforcement, education, transportation, national parks, research, and welfare assistance.   read more

According to the report, “those born in 1943–51 are wealthier than those born in 1934–42, who are wealthier than those born in 1925–33. This pattern does not hold for the younger among us. People born starting in 1952 no longer find their wealth above the prior cohort.”   read more