Rumors are spreading that the U.S. Supreme Court will vote 5-4 to rule that a U.S. president cannot be prosecuted for anything he does while he is president. Some Democrats are suggesting that Joe Biden bring a gun to his first debate with Donald Trump. If he shoots Trump, he would be immune, but if Trump shoots Biden he would be prosecuted because he is not a sitting president.   read more

Despite fears of the government overspending on programs to right the nation’s economy, the vast majority of Americans believe Social Security needs to be maintained and are willing to pay higher taxes to do so. Nearly 90% say Social Security is m...   read more

After a year of unrelenting negative economic indicators, the lack of growth in one leading statistic is actually cause for good news. According to the Labor Department, inflation is essentially non-existent, based on the fact consumer prices were...   read more

Six years ago, before he arrived in Washington, DC, Barack Obama was an outspoken proponent of creating a single-payer system for delivering health care in the United States. At an AFL-CIO conference, Obama told an audience of labor supporters: ...   read more

Defense contractor DynCorp has been accused of numerous questionable business practices that could wind up costing the U.S. government hundreds of millions of dollars. Two of the controversies have involved the company’s Global Linguist Solutions ...   read more

United States policy toward the troubled and perilous region of East Asia–home of volatile conflicts between North and South Korea, China and Taiwan, and the military junta of Burma and its own people–is now the province of a highly esteemed acade...   read more

Needing the political support of Shia men in next week’s election, Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai approved a law earlier this year that not only doesn’t exactly legalize marital rape, but does allow husbands to withhold food from wives who r...   read more

Snapple claims to be made of the best stuff on earth. That’s assuming corn syrup belongs on the list. Stacy Holk of New Jersey doesn’t think so, which is why she filed a lawsuit against Snapple and its claim that the ingredients in its drinks are ...   read more

Struggling to remember where the car keys are, or what was on the shopping list left at home pales in comparison to the memory challenges on display this weekend in the United Kingdom. A total of 26 men and women from 11 countries are taking par...   read more

Whistleblowers did not fare well during the Bush administration. Government employees disciplined or fired for calling attention to illegal or unethical practices can appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board, but the board, led by Bush-appoint...   read more

Wyeth, which made billions of dollars from its hormone replacement drugs Premarin and Prempro, financed numerous scientific papers published in professional journals that promoted the benefits of the drug therapies. Ghostwriters hired by the pharm...   read more

Republican presidential wannabes Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich have argued that expanding Medicare coverage to include end-of-life counseling will amount to creating “death panels” so the government can euthanize seniors. But if both politicians r...   read more

It will take ExxonMobil Corporation, the world’s largest oil company, less than half an hour to replace the money it will have to pay the U.S. government for killing 85 migratory birds during the past five years at its natural gas facilities in th...   read more

In the spirit of its policy of transparency, the Obama administration gave an $18 million contract to a software company, Smartronix, to build a website so Americans can track for themselves how the billion-dollar stimulus is being spent. But what...   read more

Throw a stone anywhere around Capitol Hill and not only are you likely to hit a lobbyist, but one working on health care. There are reportedly 3,300 lobbyists currently in Washington, DC, working the issue of medical reform—that’s a six-to-one rat...   read more

In an effort to recruit young Americans with graduate-level skills into the federal government, Rep. David Price (D-NC) has proposed the Roosevelt Scholars Act, which will give scholarships of up to $60,000 a year to graduate students in exchang...   read more

The Neighborhood Preservation Act will help stabilize falling property values, and it won’t cost taxpayers a dime, which is why real estate columnist Ken Harney is endorsing the measure. The legislation, which already has cleared the House with bi...   read more