Where is the Money Going?
Debit Card Fees: Free Money for Banks
Banks are crying over changes in debit card fees set to take effect this summer, claiming the new federal restriction will be too much to bear and force them to offer fewer deals to consumers.
At issue are what’s known as interchange fees—th... read more
Supreme Court: Federal Reserve Must Disclose Wall Street Lending Details
The American public may soon learn which banks were bailed out with $3.5 trillion of emergency loans from the Federal Reserve during the hairiest days of the 2008 financial crisis.
After a two-year legal battle, the banking industry lost its... read more
Loophole in Mortgage Fraud Settlement Could Give Billions to Biggest Banks
When is a $20 billion legal settlement not such a bad thing? When the fine print contains potentially tens of billions of dollars in future savings to make up for it.
A loophole in a foreclosure fraud settlement case could change the way ban... read more
Federal Reserve Prepares to Free Up Millions for Bank Executives
Leaders of some of the largest banks in the country will be enjoying a huge payday soon, once the Federal Reserve approves higher dividend payments by selected financial institutions.
Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, may soon ... read more
Corporate Profits Hit 18-Year High
Profit margins are expected to climb nearly 9% this year among companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, marking an 18-year high.
The third consecutive year of the bull market will see profits increase 8.9% in 2011, which would be the hi... read more
Angry at Public Sector Pensions? How about Members of Congress?
If Republicans and other critics of public employee retirement plans think such pensions are too generous and costly to taxpayers, they really should consider what members of Congress are enjoying.
An analysis by McClatchy Newspapers found t... read more
Nuclear Accident in U.S. Would Cost Taxpayers a Fortune
Nearly half a trillion dollars. That’s how much a nuclear accident, similar to what’s occurring in Japan, could cost the United States if it happens here, with most of the expense being borne by taxpayers.
A 2009 study by two university prof... read more
Sierra Club Sues Dept. of Energy over $400 Million for Strip-Mining
The U.S. Department of Energy is being sued by the Sierra Club for supporting a new coal-fired power plant and strip mine in Mississippi with hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in incentives.
The 582-megawatt project, a pet project of ... read more
IRS Gives $356 Million to Companies that Owe Taxes
Businesses owing $3.8 million in back taxes to the IRS received $356 million in contract work from the tax agency in 2009.
The inspector general for the IRS discovered this fact as part of a recent audit that also revealed companies owing ta... read more
Guatemalans Threaten to Sue U.S. Government over Secret Syphilis Experiments
The U.S. government will be facing a lawsuit from the heirs of 700 Guatemalans unless it offers a satisfactory settlement for a 1940s experiment that exposed them to syphilis.
From 1946 to 1948, Dr. John C. Cutler injected orphans, prisoners... read more
Justice Dept. Collects Barely 2¢ on the Dollar from Big-Time Convicted Swindlers
At a time when the federal government could desperately use more revenues to balance the budget, the Department of Justice is doing a lousy job of collecting monies from convicted swindlers.
A review of Justice Department records by USA Toda... read more
Americans Overwhelmingly Support Raising Taxes for Millionaires
Raising taxes on wealthy individuals is just fine with a large majority of Americans, according to a new poll by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal.
When asked about placing a surtax on those earning $1 million or more a year, 81% of respo... read more
GAO Zeros in on Duplication in Government Spending
At a time when lawmakers, especially House Republicans, are looking for any excuse to kill funding for federal programs, the Government Accountability Office has released a report detailing the myriad ways Washington is wasting billions of dolla... read more
Airline Luggage Fees=More Carry-Ons=More TSA Inspections=$250 Million
As airlines have jacked up baggage fees for consumers, the cost is increasingly being borne by the government, not passengers.
To avoid paying baggage fees, airline passengers are taking more carry-on luggage with them. That means the airpor... read more
The Real Annual Security Budget: $1.2 Trillion
The price of American security is not found in the Department of Defense budget alone. There is considerably more to the cost of keeping the U.S. secure from al-Qaeda and other threats, costs that are both direct and indirect, writes Chris Hellm... read more
Both Parties Agree to Cut Phantom $41 Billion from Federal Budget
It’s one thing for Democrats to offer phony budget cuts, given their excessive ways, but for the new Republican majority in the U.S. House to play the same game is unacceptable, according to conservative James Valvo, director of government affairs... read more