The trustee for the now-defunct U.S. brokerage firm MF Global, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, issued a 124-page investigatory report blasting former MF Global CEO and Obama bundler Jon Corzine for “negligent conduct,” employing trading strategies with lax oversight, and
The Obama Administration is angling to allow people with questionable credit to receive home loans, encouraging lenders to use more subjective judgment, and pushing banks to utilize programs through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)–an executive branch agency that sticks taxpayers
Even as the Obama White House prepares for a star-studded White House concert featuring Queen Latifah, Cyndi Lauper, and Justin Timberlake, figures from the U.S. Census Bureau reveal that roughly 50 million Americans–one in six–now live below the poverty line.
Subsidized Stafford student loan interest rates will double on July 1st for loans taken out by new students entering college. President Barack Obama used the issue to rally younger voters during the last election as he advocated keeping the rates lower,
A new Forbes article by Government Accountability Institute (GAI) President and Co-founder Peter Schweizer reveals that former Obama Administration officials and fundraisers are now leveraging their access and influence to bag big billings from Wall Street investment firms as part
In what may mark the beginning of a historic shift, Australia appears ready to bypass the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency and allow for the direct convertibility of the Australian dollar into the Chinese yuan. “Reserve currency” is
During a Monday press conference, Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) withstood pressure from Democrats and some Republicans to back down from his opposition to a Medicaid expansion under Obamacare. “It would benefit no one in our state to see their taxes
Recent data from the U.S. Drought Monitor reveal the United States is in one of the worst droughts since the 1980s. The drought is projected to cost the U.S. economy up to $50 billion. U.S. Department of Agriculture meteorologist and
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades denies reports that a company owned by his family withdrew tens of millions of dollars before the government decided to seize up to 62.5% of uninsured Cypriot bank depositor monies as part of a $13 billion
A new real estate survey by Realty Trac says at least 301,874 “zombie” homes have been abandoned after their owners fell into foreclosure. With 90,556 empty homes in foreclosure, Florida ranked number one in zombie homes. Illinois’s 31,668 and California’s
Even as news is surfacing that the Cypriot bank “bail-in” will now confiscate up to 62.5% of depositor funds, a new budgetary document from Canada’s finance minister suggests that America’s neighbor to the north may be considering a Cyprus-like bail-in
Banks embroiled in the LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) interest-rate rigging scandal got a big break on Friday as a federal-court judge ruled they did not breach federal antitrust laws, a judgment that could save the banks sizable sums from
As America’s 246 million Christians prepare to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, China’s 67 million Christians are doing the same. In 1949, China had just four million Christians–three million Catholics and one million Protestants. Today, there are three
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has struck a deal with the European Union and International Monetary Fund that will seize up to 40% of uninsured funds from wealthier depositors with over 100,000 euros and will not siphon funds from those below
The recent canceling of White House tours in the name of sequester-related cuts understandably has disappointed children and families grousing. Canceling tours of “the people’s house” saves taxpayers an estimated $18,000 a week, or $936,000 a year. Putting that figure in perspective, the U.S.
Adults struggling to survive in the Obama economy are now signing up for so-called “cooperative households” as a cost-cutting tactic. A CBS 2 New York report by Dana Tyler titled “Desperate Roommates” highlighted the trend wherein “total strangers desperate to
The U.S. government could save taxpayers up to $8 billion by selling off the estimated 55,000 to 77,000 vacant properties it owns or leases. At a time when the White House says it cannot find the $18,000 a week it
On the heels of last Thursday’s bipartisan Senate vote to repeal an Obamacare provision that would slap a 2.3% tax on medical device companies, industry and business groups are making a final lobbying push to knock out costly healthcare provisions
Chinese solar panel giant Suntech declared bankruptcy last week after it missed a $541 million payment to bondholders. Suntech, once the world’s largest solar panel maker, previously received a $2.1 million tax credit from the Obama Administration to open a
Media Matters is scrambling to discredit a much-discussed report on America’s disability program by journalist Chana Joffe-Walt that was featured on Chicago’s Public Radio This American Life and National Public Radio’s (NPR) All Things Considered. Media Matters researcher Hannah Groch-Begley
CNN says limousine services for Vice President Joe Biden’s February trip to Europe cost taxpayers $321,665. The contract information appeared on a federal government website. News of the pricey limo services comes on the heels of reports that Biden’s London
In an eye-opening six-month investigation into America’s disability program, Planet Money reporter Chana Joffe-Walt uncovered a “disability industrial complex” fraught with fraud that churns out 14 million checks every month to citizens the government has deemed disabled. “Since the economy
The Italian News agency ANSA is reporting that it has a seen a draft of the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook report slated for release next week and that that U.S. growth forecast has been lowered from 2% to
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has struck a deal with the European Union and International Monetary Fund that will seize up to 40% of uninsured funds from wealthier depositors with over 100,000 euros and will not siphon funds from those below
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s decision to close 53 public schools and 61 buildings in largely minority neighborhoods to help close a $1 billion budget shortfall has some opponents calling the Emanuel plan “racist.” “[Emanuel] says that he wants to turn
