Top Stories
Many of Largest U.S. Corporations Paid More for Lobbying than for Federal Income Taxes
The federal government is responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars being spent each year by the largest American corporations. But it’s not tax dollars they’re spending. Rather, this sum represents the amount big business is allocating on l... read more
Obama Administration Purposely Misled Public about Gulf Oil Spill Estimates
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) has accused the Obama administration of deliberately misleading the public about how much oil gushed from the ruptured BP well in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
Using the Freedom of Informa... read more
Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Obama Administration on Warrantless GPS Tracking
Although only five justices signed the majority opinion in United States v. Jones, in reality the entire U.S. Supreme Court agreed that the Obama administration went too far in arguing law enforcement does not need a warrant to continuously track ... read more
Introducing the Mega Super Hybrid PAC
In a nation that invented the “super-size me” option, it seems only appropriate that U.S. political campaigns would figure out a way to go mega when it comes to collecting and spending money on elections.
Beyond the political action committee ... read more
Gun Lobby Suffers Rare Setback in Fight to Sell Weapons to Drug Cartels
Gun-rights advocates have lost their legal challenge in federal court to stop the Obama administration from requiring certain gun dealers along the Mexican border to report multiple sales of assault rifles.
Beginning last July, the Bureau of A... read more
Thousands of Federal Retirees Receive $100,000 a Year Pensions…Including Newt Gingrich
United States government pension plans pay out more than $70 billion a year to about 1.8 million retired federal workers. But not all government retirees are created equal. According to data acquired by Bloomberg News through the Freedom of Inform... read more
Federal Judge Says States Not Allowed to Regulate Nuclear Safety
The state of Vermont's effort to shut down a nuclear power plant has been halted by a federal judge who ruled officials exceeded their authority.
In 2010, the State Senate voted 26-4 to cause the 40-year-old Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Statio... read more
Only 26 of 363 U.S. Cities have Regained Jobs Lost in Great Recession
Economic recovery is still a long way away for the vast majority of U.S. cities, according to a new report produced for city mayors and urban proponents.
Of the 363 metropolitan areas that lost jobs during the Great Recession, only 26 so far h... read more
Ron Paul Introduces Bill to Repeal Indefinite Detention of Americans
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul took a break from his campaign to come out in opposition to the bill signed into law by President Barack Obama on New Year’s Eve that allows the indefinite detention of any terrorism suspect, including Am... read more
Democratic Senate Approves Fewer Obama Nominees than it Did Bush Choices
What good is a Democratic majority if it does a worse job of confirming your nominees than your Republican predecessor?
This question has probably crossed the mind of President Barack Obama as he has watched nominee after nominee of his not ge... read more
Elections…We Get What They Pay For
The race for the Republican presidential nominee has been dominated so far, in terms of money, by the super PAC—political action committees established by wealthy individuals trying to influence who wins the GOP nomination.
Front-runner Mitt R... read more
Reddit, Wikipedia and others Plan Blackout on Wednesday to Protest Internet Censorship Bill
Websites across the Internet plan to go dark on Wednesday to protest Congress’ consideration of legislation that critics say will impose censorship and severely limit freedom of information.
Sites such as Wikipedia, reddit and boing boing will... read more
Ahead of State of the Union, Obama Proposes New “Super Commerce” Department
Providing a glimpse into themes that may animate his third State of the Union Address and 2012 re-election campaign, President Obama announced January 13 that he wants to re-organize the federal bureaucracy to increase its effectiveness and cut co... read more
Cantor Fitzgerald Asks Court Permission to Activate Lawsuit against American Airlines over 9/11 Deaths
Securities firm Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost 658 of its 1,000 employees when its headquarters in Tower 1 (North Tower) of the World Trade Center were destroyed in the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, has asked a federal bankruptcy judge to all... read more
Large Majority of Americans Now Believe There is Conflict between Rich and Poor
The wealthy and the poor in U.S. society are not getting along, according to a large majority of Americans. A new Pew Research Center survey revealed that 66% of the public believes there are “very strong” or “strong” conflicts between the upper a... read more
Murder Drops out of Top 15 Causes of Death in U.S. for First Time Since 1965
Not since 1965 has the list of the leading causes of death in the U.S. not included homicides. But last year murders did indeed fall from the list, thanks to both a declining homicide rate and a rising number of deaths from certain diseases. Repla... read more