Controversies
Is the IRS Really Increasing Audits of the Wealthy?
IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman claimed in testimony delivered to the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government on May 19 that audit rates for the wealthy have been steadily increasing. However, th... read more
False Cries of “Racist” Work Both Ways: Mona Charen
Whether or not Judge Sonia Sotomayor gets confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, her nomination has hopefully taught Democrats a lesson about brandishing people on the right with the ugly tag of “racist.” So many times, writes columnist Mona Charen,... read more
Obama Sides with Saudi Royals against U.S. Families in 9/11 Lawsuit
The Obama administration has made clear where it stands between victims of Sept. 11 and the Saudi royal family, as the president prepares to meet with King Abdullah this week. Last Friday, the Justice Department filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme... read more
Accused CIA Agent Sues for Diplomatic Immunity
The case in which 25 alleged CIA agents are being prosecuted in Italy for the 2005 kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric was complicated to begin with. A recent lawsuit has added to the complexity. Sabrina De Sousa, one of the American officials accuse... read more
Murder of Official Shakes China
Widespread public support for a young “heroine,” who killed a local Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official, has left the Party uneasy and flustered. On May 10, 2009, Deng Guida, Deng Zhongjia, and Huang Dezhi, three officials of Badong County in H... read more
Lower the Voting Age to 17: Nancy Lublin
Whereas many see 17-year-olds as lazy, apathetic or disengaged, Nancy Lublin sees them as individuals who deserve the right to vote. The CEO of the youth-oriented non-profit DoSomething.org argues the negative labels placed on this age group are u... read more
Threats to Judges and Prosecutors are Increasing Quickly
Threats against the nation’s judges and prosecutors have sharply increased and forced them to become much more security-conscious. According to the U.S. Marshals Service, which takes the lead role in protecting the judges, annual threats and other... read more
Nine Members of Student Loan Foundation Resign
Nine of the fourteen members of the board of directors for the financially troubled Connecticut Student Loan Foundation, a nonprofit corporation that administers, guarantees, finances and serves student loans within the federal loan program, resig... read more
The Case for Supreme Court Term Limits: Linda Greenhouse
Is this really what the Founding Fathers had in mind? Supreme Court justices remaining on the bench well into their golden years? Serving for a quarter of a century? Linda Greenhouse, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the New York Times, argue... read more
U.S. Captain Investigated after Helping Wrongly-Held Detainee
Before he was patrolling the dusty roads of Afghanistan, Captain Kirk Black was a police officer and SWAT team member in Baltimore. Although quite skeptical when it comes to hearing prisoners’ claims of innocence, Black found the case of one Afgha... read more
Intrigue in a Forgotten Corner of the Federal Government
In recent years a strange series of maneuverings have quietly encircled the little-known U.S. Parole Commission, which has managed to remain operative despite the fact that the government did away with parole for federal prisoners 25 years ago. Th... read more
On the Trail of the Condor Killers
Bruce Robertson usually spends his time as a private detective hunting down cheating spouses and insurance criminals. But these days he’s tracking down a shooter—of two endangered California condors. The birds were found in March by biologists who... read more
Eskimo Family Fights Oil Company over Unpaid Rent
The Oenga family of Inupiat Eskimos has filed its second lawsuit against the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) over mismanaging a decades old lease agreement between the family and British Petroleum (BP). The Oenga family is seeking up to $200 millio... read more
Who Controls Our Food?: Paula Crossfield
President Barack Obama’s pledge to increase enforcement of anti-trust legislation should start with our agribusiness industry, argues Paula Crossfield, the managing editor of Civil Eats. She maintains that a handful of companies control every step... read more
Obama Turns His Back on Single-Payer Health Care: Moyers and Winship
He once made it explicitly clear: “I am a proponent of a single-payer universal health care program.” Those were Barack Obama’s words, back when he was an Illinois state senator six years ago. Then, he said it was a matter of the Democrats winning... read more
Last World War I Vet Calls for National Memorial
More Americans died in World War I than in Korea or Vietnam, but unlike those conflicts, whose participants have been honored in the nation’s capital, the veterans of the “war to end all wars” have yet to get their memorial. On the National Mall i... read more