Where is the Money Going?
FDIC Uses Rare Maneuver to Save Colorado Bank Depositors
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) made an unusual move last week in attempting to save the failing New Frontier Bank in Greeley, CO. Normally, the FDIC finds a larger bank to buy the floundering bank and the problem is solved withou... read more
Recession Pressures Stay-At-Home Moms and Older Unemployed
With the recent economic plunge and the steep rise in unemployment, more and more Americans are being affected. Stay-at-home moms, who had previously set their resumes down in exchange for being with the children as they grew up, are now being for... read more
Consumer Prices: First Annual Drop Since 1955
Dwight Eisenhower was still in his first term the Oval Office the last time the nation experienced a drop in consumer prices, until now. The Labor Department reported this week that the Consumer Price Index, used to measure the rate of inflation, ... read more
Utah Gains from 4-Day Workweek
What started out as an attempt to save money on energy bills has turned into a productivity bonanza for Utah’s state government. In the summer of 2008, as gas prices soared, state officials decided to mandate a four-day workweek for all state civi... read more
Rural Broadband Plan Detours to the Suburbs
President Barack Obama has said repeatedly that his administration is committed to shrinking the digital divide and getting rural America on the Internet through broadband services in order to help small businesses and improve access to health car... read more
Empire State Building Goes Green
Fifth Avenue's iconic Empire State Building is about to undergo an environmental retrofit project to reduce its
energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Constructed in 1931, the 102-floor, 2.6 million-square-foot skyscraper has 6,500 wind... read more
Hard Economic Times Disrupt Census Planning
More than ever, the U.S. Census Bureau is facing a daunting prospect as it prepares to account for the estimated 306 million residents of the United States in the 2010 census. Because the current economic downturn has caused so many Americans to l... read more
After 20 Years of Conflict, Savage Rapids Dam Removal is Underway
After twenty years of debate over whether it should be demolished, the Savage Rapids Dam, built in 1921 on the Rogue River in Oregon, is finally being removed. The dam was initially built to irrigate the Grants Pass Irrigation District during the ... read more
One FEMA Employee will Oversee $100 Million Program
The stimulus fund will give $100 million to the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program (EFSP), a public-private organization that was created in 1983 to help provide for the needs of hungry and homeless Americans. The program, which is ... read more
Obama vs. Private Lenders over Student Loans
As part of his education agenda, President Barack Obama wants to overhaul the way the federal government helps students attend college, by eliminating the current program that heavily subsidizes banks that provide student loans. Instead of banks d... read more
Octogenarian Finds Geothermal Solution
Some day the nation’s energy needs might be entirely solved through the use of hot water, and the man to thank didn’t get his business started until he was 83. Bob Potter, now 88, started Potter Drilling five years ago to develop a novel way of dr... read more
Banks Returning Bailout Money over Executive Pay and Other Restrictions
While bank leaders publicly clamor about returning federal bailout funds to avoid restrictions on executive pay, the Obama administration is working on ways to quietly allow financial institutions to avoid the salary rules. On Friday, following a ... read more
Paying for Lobbyists is Worth It
Crime doesn’t pay, but lobbying sure does. Researchers at the University of Kansas (KU) reviewed expenditures from 2003-2004 when big business blew more than $280 million on lobbyists to convince Congress to pass a one-time tax holiday that lowere... read more
The “Nuclear Pork” that Won’t Go Away
Demonstrating it has quite a half-life, a “nuclear pork” plan costing $50 billion continued its political emanation when the Senate adopted its version of the 2010 budget last week. The plan, which was slipped in without notice through an amendmen... read more
The Hidden Economic Power of Cooperatives
Too little has been known for far too long about cooperatives in the United States, so the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has set out to conduct its own census of this facet of rural America. Cooperatives (businesses that are mutually owned a... read more
Financial Industry Avoids IRS Audits
Next Wednesday is Tax Day in America—the day dreaded by almost everyone. Unless you’re part of the billion-dollar financial industry that has been lambasted for tanking the economy. According to The Center for Public Integrity, banks and other fin... read more