Republicans

This is a harsh season for Americans struggling to afford food. Last month, the long lines at food pantries across the country grew longer with the expiration of the boost to food stamp benefit levels included in the 2009 economic stimulus plan. Those lines are apt to grow even longer thanks to the refusal of House Republicans to renew extended unemployment benefits as part of the recent budget deal. Read More »

Throw the bums out. That’s the message 60 percent of Americans are sending to Washington in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, saying if they had the chance to vote to defeat and replace every single member of Congress, including their own representative, they would. Just 35 percent say they would not. Read More »

A little-noticed part of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act channels some $12.5 billion into a vaguely defined “Prevention and Public Health Fund” over the next decade–and some of that money is going for everything from massage therapists who offer “calming techniques,” to groups advocating higher state and local taxes on tobacco and soda, and stricter zoning restrictions on fast-food restaurants. Read More »

U.S. distrust of the mass media is at an all-time high, according to a new poll from Gallup, which indicates that six in ten Americans have little or no trust in mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly. Read More »

With Congress seemingly satisfied to let the defense budget take another $52 billion hit in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 [...] Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel gave a preview recently of how Round 2 of budget sequestration could rattle current forces and deepen damage to U.S. readiness. Read More »

The Homeland Security Department's chemical-security program ceased most operations this week as a result of the federal shutdown, prompting concerns about how the government will improve security in the wake of this year's fatal explosion in Texas. Read More »