Children are “being taught the other ideas, the gay agenda, every day out in the world so we have to stand up and explain to them that that’s not real, that’s not proper, it’s not right,” said Farris Wilks. He and brother Dan, who made their fortunes in the West Texas fracking boom, have reportedly contributed $15 million to a super PAC supporting Cruz. The $15 million is the largest contribution so far in the 2016 race, and represents nearly half of the $38 million raised by Keep the Promise.   read more

In 2012, the Fed handed $1.637 billion in dividends to banks. It’s “a risk-free entitlement program,” wrote David Dayen. “It’s one of the many unknown ways the Fed extends special benefits to Wall Street.” But senators have now turned to the banks’ 6% dividend for a source of funding. Without any advance notice to the banking industry, they included a provision in the highway bill that would reduce the dividend to 1.5% for banks. The reduction would reap about $17 billion for the government.   read more

According to information at Opensecrets.org, those supporting the bill got about $30 million to do so from Big Ag. The 275 representatives of both parties who voted to keep consumers in the dark about the food they’re consuming averaged $108,900 in contributions from agricultural interests such as Monsanto and food lobbyists such as the Grocery Manufacturers Association in the 2014 election cycle.   read more

The change in policy will also allow monies from PACs and lobbyists to go into accounts shared between the DNC and presidential campaigns. The DNC had refused such contributions under President Barack Obama, who said he wanted to change Washington’s big-money culture. Clinton, however, is worried about Jeb Bush’s fundraising efforts, and reportedly felt the rules put the DNC at a disadvantage she could not afford, assuming she becomes the party’s nominee   read more

Some companies charge up to $150,000 a year for cancer treatments that can at best extend a patient’s life only a couple of months. Even non-cancer drugs have come with exorbitant price tags, like Gilead's hepatitis C therapy that costs $1,000 a pill. Medical professionals also are getting involved in the fight against drug pricing. “There is no relief in sight because drug companies keep challenging the market with even higher prices,” a group of doctors wrote.   read more

In a landmark case, the U.S. government has for the first time been denied a dismissal in a foreign claims lawsuit. The ruling by a federal judge means that the government could still be on the hook for nearly $100 million stemming from two 1980s Libyan terrorist attacks: EgyptAir 648 in 1985 and Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. Three insurance companies have been trying for years to get reimbursed for claims they paid out as a result of the attacks.   read more

Wendell Potter said Medicare Advantage has become an “increasingly important revenue stream” for insurance companies. He said a big reason why Aetna wants to buy up Humana and why Anthem seeks to merge with Cigna “is the desire of the acquiring companies to boost their presence in the privately-run Medicare business. A big chunk of that federal money is now flowing through the insurance industry, so much so that many companies have become dependent on it to sustain their profits.”   read more

Some of the enthusiasm for the bond issues comes from a rule change from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). Pension funds on the brink of insolvency are required to use conservative projections for growth in their statements. But if the fund gets an infusion of money via a bond sale, it can return to using more optimistic growth projections, making it seem more solvent than it actually is.   read more

CMS has been secretive about the audits and their results, which have yet to be released. Also not released is the reason why CMS opted not to extrapolate the results of the audits to recover the overcharges from the five companies, which were estimated at $13.5 billion in 2010. The agency moved to do that in 2008, but backed off after the insurance industry weighed in. Now, Congress is getting involved.   read more

The Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors voted to “not do new business for a period of five years with Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS. As Yves Smith pointed out, it’s only common sense “to stay away from known crooks.”   read more

The agency, which represents irrigators in the Klamath River Basin, was supposed to use some of the money to pay for a feasibility study examining the effects on fish and wildlife of farmers using groundwater instead of river water. Instead, the money was spent by the agency to supply farmers with groundwater during the drought. PEER Senior Counsel Paula Dinerstein said the money “became a kind of slush fund for this irrigation agency. It’s not benefiting the fish or the wildlife.”   read more

The great television numbers will not be matched by the money going to the U.S. women’s team, which will receive only $2 million for winning the title from FIFA, soccer’s governing body. Last year’s victor of the World Cup, Germany, got $35 million. That team was composed of men, of course. The teams that lost in the first round got $8 million. The men’s teams played for a total of $576 million in World Cup prizes last year.   read more

The law signed by Governor Dan Malloy gives employees the ability to collect double the amount owed to them by their employers. Studies show that $50 billion in earnings per year is stolen from U.S. workers. Bhandary-Alexander called wage theft “the biggest crime wave in the country.” Labor advocates hailed the new law, though some said it did not go far enough in punishing employers. Organizer Megan Fountain said that 10 other states require employers to pay triple damages.   read more

Relying on cheap labor is nothing new for Suniva, the third-largest producer of solar modules in the U.S., which was using factories in Asia until 18 months ago to keep costs down. Signing a contract with UNICOR has enabled them to transfer their operations. “By making panels in the U.S., Suniva has been able to capture lucrative federal contracts, avoid U.S. government tariffs on Chinese-made panels, and appeal to private sector customers who want American-made products,” said Reuters.   read more

Independent studies have shown time and again that abstinence-only education is not effective in preventing pregnancies or sexually-transmitted diseases. Programs such as CTB’s often perpetuate dangerous gender stereotypes, in one instance saying: “‘Occasional suggestions and assistance’ from women ‘may be alright, but too much of it will lessen a man’s confidence or even turn him away from his princess.’”   read more

Correction officers make up a significant portion of the national workforce. According to federal government statistics, the ratio of correction officers to prisoners has remained at about 3.3 to 1 over the past 30 years. However, the number of inmates has more than tripled from 223,551 in 1983 to 735,601 in 2011. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are currently about 163,000 local correctional officers in the United States.   read more