According to aides who were present when Trump discussed the issue, but who choose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, Trump said he was sick of Vance and wanted to fire him. “I wanted him to be my attack dog,” said Trump, “but he appears foolish on television. He dropped the college football trophy. He met with Pope Francis and the next day the pope died. Vance is toxic, and I don’t want him to come near me. He just doesn’t look as good on television as I thought he would.”   read more

President Barack Obama’s $75 billion plan to keep millions of Americans from losing their homes to foreclosure may be doomed to fail because banks simply don’t want to refinance mortgages. That is the conclusion of a study conducted by the Federal...   read more

The V-22 Osprey has always been something of a problem child for the military. The hybrid part-helicopter-part-airplane suffered through enough development problems back in the 1980s that Dick Cheney, when he was Secretary of Defense under Ronald ...   read more

Like his recent predecessors, President Barack Obama has turned to a major financial contributor, rather than a career diplomat, to serve as Ambassador to Great Britain. Louis B. Susman is a retired lawyer, business executive and banker. Although ...   read more

It is illegal for anyone working on Wall Street to use non-public information to help them make investment decisions in the stock market. But the same insider trading restrictions do not apply to Congress, whose members and staffers are free to us...   read more

In the 25 years since the United States established formal diplomatic ties with the Vatican, Miguel H. Diaz represents the first time a Catholic academic expert (and Hispanic) has been selected to be U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. A theologian a...   read more

President Obama has chosen a former astronaut and Marine Corps aviator with strong ties to the defense industry to lead NASA in its transition from the Space Shuttle era to the next phase of space exploration. Born in the Jim Crow South, retired M...   read more

Whenever military officials label a secret activity “Operational Preparation of the Environment (OPE),” it prevents lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee from overseeing the clandestine work. The problem is that the Department of Defense (...   read more

Have things deteriorated so much for higher education in the United States that it is no longer a wise investment to attend college? Jack Hough at SmartMoney says “yes,” based on the combination of staggering tuitions and the declining value of c...   read more

While the Obama administration would like Americans to think the fanfare over American soldiers pulling out of Iraqi cities demonstrates the United States is on the way out of Iraq, the reality is that U.S. forces are still maintaining a strong pr...   read more

Doctors may still be paying big bucks for malpractice insurance, but the amount paid out in malpractice awards actually makes up an ever-shrinking piece of health care costs in the United States, according to a new study published by Public Citize...   read more

In a move described by one newspaper as “pure legal overreach,” the U.S. Supreme Court decided last week to hear a case in September that could have monumental ramifications for the financing of national elections. Although Citizens United vs. FEC...   read more

If the spotted frog manages to make a come back in Oregon, the species will have two state convicts to thank in part for the success story.   Prisoners Harry Greer and Albert Delp, both serving time at the minimum-security Cedar Creek Correction...   read more

Who knew Betsy Ross, creator of the American flag, was a femme fatale who killed three of her husbands? Or that Benjamin Franklin fathered 69 illegitimate children? Apparently, such historical inaccuracies have been perpetuated by certain tour gui...   read more

On May 13, 2009, President Obama turned to Gregory B. Jaczko, a PhD physicist with critical views of the nuclear power industry to chair the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which is the foremost agency overseeing atomic energy. Senate confirm...   read more

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack turned on March 23, 2009, to fellow Iowan Michael Michener to be the next Administrator of USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). FAS has primary responsibility for USDA’s international activities, including...   read more

Americans sweating beside the barbeque on the Fourth of July had nothing on U.S. Marines humping their way through southern Afghanistan on the nation’s birthday. As if carrying field packs weighing between 50-120 pounds on a three-day march wasn’t...   read more