Imagine being a child trapped in a failing school in Arizona. Prior to 2011, being trapped in a failing school in Arizona meant being trapped in a failing school in a state that ranks among the worst performing in the country. But during 2011—the “Year of School Choice”—Arizona led the way in expanding educational options […]
Following through on President Obama’s announcement last month in Cartagena that the U.S.–Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement will take effect on May 15, 2012, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made the following statement: Beginning today, U.S. agricultural exporters receive duty-free access on more than half of the products we currently export to Colombia, and virtually […]
Stop me if you’ve heard any of the following before: Exploding ARMs to subprime borrowers kicked off the nation’s housing and ensuing financial crisis. Mortgages during the boom era were designed to fail, and everyone making the loans knew it. Financial innovation ran amok in U.S. mortgage markets in the 2000s, driving unsafe lending. Government […]
(CNSNews.com) – President Obama’s fiscal 2013 budget proposal would double the interest rate on federally backed student loans from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent–eight months after the November presidential election. The White House fiscal year 2013 plan calls for maintaining the current 3.4 percent interest rate for federally guaranteed student loans, but only through July […]
Last week, Representative Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R–CA), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), took issue with Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s criticism of the fiscal year (FY) 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that recently passed the committee by a vote of 56–5. The combination of the President’s FY 2013 budget request […]
Fellow Americans: It has been over three years (1,111 days to be precise) since the U.S. Senate last passed a budget. The last time Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) fulfilled his legal responsibility, Conan was still on NBC, Tea Parties hadn’t come together and the iPad hadn’t yet been introduced. This is one of […]
JPMorgan Chase’s $2 billion trading loss is top news nationwide. But over at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), such losses are business as usual. USPS reported a typical (for it) $3.2 billion loss for the most recent quarter. Try that comparison on for size. JPMorgan Chase incurred a “whale” of a loss because, as explained […]
JPMorgan Chase’s announcement that it has lost $2 billion in a failed hedge strategy sent shock waves through the financial world yesterday. And in Washington, the reaction has had a political tone, with calls to accelerate adoption of the “Volcker Rule” limiting investments by banks. But policymakers should take a breath before taking out the […]
Video from 2007 shows then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) claiming that coal power and corn syrup are more deadly than terrorism. The remarks will likely prove a headache for an administration that is trying to distance itself from its anti-coal image. As Scribe reported on Friday, the Obama campaign adjusted its website to promote its work […]
With negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) between the U.S. and eight other countries set to resume this week in Dallas, opponents are dusting off the same old discredited arguments against international trade. In a recent Huffington Post article, Leo Hindery of the New America Foundation dismissed the TPP as “deeply flawed.” His article repeats […]
