Top Stories
Women in Congress Bring More Money to Their Districts than Men
It ain’t the man who knows how to bring home the bacon when it comes to pork barrel spending. According to Erika Lovley of Politico, researchers at Stanford University and the University of Chicago have concluded that women lawmakers, on average, ... read more
Judge Rejects SEC-Bank of America Settlement as “Worse than Pointless”
Third time was not the charm for Bank of America and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Twice before, the two parties had tried to convince a federal district judge, Jed Rakoff, to sign off on a $33 million settlement over BofA’s attemp... read more
Obama Shocks Chinese by Demanding Enforcement of Long-Ignored Trade Rule
While labor leaders argued the move was fully justified to protect hard hit American industries, President Barack Obama’s decision last Friday to levy a 35% tariff on imported Chinese tires has sparked an angry response from Chinese Communist lead... read more
Has Stimulus Really Created or Saved a Million Jobs?
Media sources reported last week what the White House had hoped they would regarding the federal stimulus plan adopted earlier this year: that one million jobs had been created or saved as a result of the billion-dollar American Recovery and Reinv... read more
Fact-Checking Obama’s Health Care Speech
Republican Congressman Joe Wilson’s outburst last Wednesday during President Barack Obama’s health care speech prompted those at FactCheck.org to find out if the president really did lie about certain parts of the reform plan. Here’s what they fou... read more
On Meltdown Anniversary, Wall Street Hasn’t Changed
One year after Lehman Brothers collapsed into the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history, sparking panic that the economy might spiral right along with it, Wall Street is still running the same operation despite claims last September that bankers had ... read more
Health Insurance Stocks Go Up After Obama Speech to Congress
Whether or not President Barack Obama’s speech on Wednesday advanced the cause of health care reform, it did help the stock portfolios of health insurance companies. The Associated Press reported the following day that shares of many insurers went... read more
Best Employers for Workers over Age 50
With the U.S. workforce getting grayer and grayer, the leading advocacy organization for older Americans wants people to know which companies or institutions get it right with regards to those 50 and above. According to the AARP’s “2011 Best Emplo... read more
Malpractice Reform: Lawyers More Powerful than Doctors
Republicans and conservative Democrats in support of health care reform want any plan adopted by Congress to include a curb on medical malpractice lawsuits. They argue that such a change would help bring down health care costs—by reducing the habi... read more
Obama and Openness: Better than Bush, but Improvement Needed
The Obama administration has managed to make the U.S. government more open and transparent, although serious concerns still exist, according to a special project involving more than 70 public interest groups.
The report published by OpenTheGov... read more
Health Reform: A Beginner’s Guide
To say that Americans are confused by the healthcare debate is an understatement. So, as the nation prepares for the next round, to be kicked off by President Obama’s speech to the Congress, I thought it might be useful to provide a beginner’s gui... read more
Unemployed and Uncounted
Going by the conventional definition of unemployment, the jobless rate in the U.S. stood at 9.7% in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But this figure only includes out-of-work Americans who have sought employment within the last... read more
Estimated One Million Students Homeless
How exactly is a child supposed to do their homework when they don’t even have a home at the end of the school day? That’s the problem one million school children now face in the United States, according to data collected by the National Associati... read more
Pressure Builds on the Unemployed
Gauging the plight of the unemployed entails more than just examining statistics. According to a survey of those looking for work conducted by Rutgers University, the numbers alone paint a bleak picture, but once the personal feelings of the joble... read more
U.S. Appeals Court Allows Ex-Detainee to Sue Attorney General John Ashcroft
While former Attorney General John Ashcroft has insisted he had no personal involvement, or liability, in the matter, a federal appeals court in San Francisco thought otherwise in an anger-tinged ruling announced on Friday. Two members of the thre... read more
Obama Agrees to Reveal Names of White House Visitors…But Not All of Them
For the first time in many presidential administrations, President Barack Obama has agreed to publish the names of almost all visitors to the White House. Under the new policy, visitors ranging from tourists to business leaders will have their nam... read more