An extra $6.2 million was awarded to just 18 employees at General Motors (GM), Ally Financial and American International Group (AIG), which received a total of more than $250 billion in bailout funds. In 2012, the Office of the Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation approved pay packages of $3 million or more for 54% of the 69 top executives of AIG, GM and Ally.   read more

Some are questioning whether the ACA is too burdensome on smokers, especially since smokers tend to be lower-income and to work in jobs without insurance benefits. For example, a 55-year-old smoker could pay a smoking premium of as much as $4,250 a year, while a 60-year-old could pay up to $5,100.   read more

A new report produced by the U.N.’s International Labour Organization says the number of jobless people worldwide is more than 197 million, with another 39 million having given up looking for work. Meanwhile, the incomes of the top 1% globally have increased 60% in 20 years.   read more

Both the NAACP and the Hispanic Federation have publicly opposed New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on large sodas. Critics say the NAACP’s decision may have been influenced by the large donations it has received from Coca-Cola. For example, the Coca-Cola Foundation last month awarded $100,000 to the NAACP’s Project HELP initiative. And the Hispanic Federation recently lost its president, Lillian Rodriguez Lopez, to Coca-Cola after she accepted a position with the soft drink giant.   read more

The provision buys Amgen another two years of selling the drug without federal caps. That’s great news for the company’s bottom-line, but bad news for Medicare, which will pay an extra $500 million for the drug. The delay will go a good way towards making up for Amgen’s most recent criminal activity. On December 19, Amgen—as a corporate entity—pleaded guilty to illegal marketing of its anti-anemia drug, Aranesp, and agreed to pay penalties totaling $762 million.   read more

Last year, the legislature eliminated $1.8 million from school safety programs, while Governor Rick Scott vetoed $5.7 million for mental health services. But lawmakers made sure $10 million in taxpayer money was available to help weapons makers, as well as Hollywood production companies and video game designers that produce violent entertainment. The state government also made it easier and cheaper to buy high-powered weapons, by cutting the cost of obtaining a weapons license by $5.   read more

Corporate bashing of President Barack Obama’s economic policies have belied the fact that companies are enjoying huge profits since the Democrat came into office. Under Obama, corporations’ after-tax profits have leaped 171%, which is more than under any president since World War II, according to Bloomberg News. Corporate profits are also at their highest level relative to the size of the economy since the government began keeping records in 1947.   read more

After reviewing financial disclosure forms filed by the 94, the Center for Responsive Politics determined that the median estimated net worth of the freshmen is more than $1 million. At $1,066,515 the net worth is nearly $1 million more than the typical American household, whose median net worth is $66,740. The richest of the incoming members of Congress is Rep. John Delaney (D-Maryland), whose net worth is estimated at $139 million.   read more

ITEP found that the bottom 80% of Louisianans in income would see a tax increase. The poorest 20% of taxpayers, with an average income of $12,000, would see an average tax increase of $395; the middle 20%, with an average income of $43,000, would see an increase of $534; while the largest beneficiaries would be the top 1%, with an average income of more than $1 million, who'd see an average tax cut of $25,423.   read more

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) conducted an audit of a $350 million contract awarded to the Dubai-based firm Automotive Management Services (A-M-S). SIGAR uncovered $6.8 million was reportedly spent performing maintenance on 7,324 Afghan police vehicles that were not in service.   read more

The Department of Defense faces tough decisions about its retirement system and health benefits in order for the U.S. to afford operating an all-voluntary military into the future. A study conducted by the Pentagon’s Reserve Forces Policy Board warns that the current system of pay, allowances, retirement, and medical care is too costly to sustain.   read more

A new report from the nonprofit organization Smart Growth America says federal financing and spending on real estate totals about $450 billion annually. A majority of the expense is a result of direct loans and loan guarantees. By far the largest program—at about $220 billion a year—is the Federal Housing Administration’s single-family loan program. Mortgage interest tax deductions come in at about $66 billion a year.   read more

Contrary to federal law requiring government agencies to issue government contracts only after competitive bidding, the Pentagon since 2000 has awarded $1.6 trillion worth of defense contracts to sole bidders who had no competition at all. Despite all the talk in Washington about reining in federal spending, this trend shows no signs of abating, as 20 of the most recent 35 Department of Defense (DoD) contracts, worth $257 million, were awarded after receipt of just a single bid.   read more

Congress barred federal funding “to advocate or promote gun control,” which has been interpreted to ban funding of any research into gun violence, regardless of the expected outcome. By way of comparison, motor vehicle accidents kill about as many people in the U.S. each year as firearms do, but an entire federal agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has an annual budget of more than $60 million to fund its mission.   read more

The cap applied to medicines that the Defense Department purchased directly and distributed to service members at military treatment facilities or through Tricare’s mail-order program. But it didn’t apply to prescriptions that service members bought at retail pharmacies within the Tricare network, such as a CVS or Walgreens.   read more

In California, Aetna wants to boost rates by 22%, Despite the passage of the federal healthcare reforms, insurers in many states can hike rates by double digits without the federal government doing anything about it. Anthem Blue Cross by 26% and Blue Shield of California by 20% for some policyholders, mostly those from small businesses and self-employed individuals. In Florida and Ohio, insurers have been able to increase rates by at least 20%   read more