News

March 14, 2005 - Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) -- whose minority office in the Committee on Government Reform has been a leader in exposing abuse and fraud in Iraq contracts -- issued a letter to the White House today with fellow Rep.

March 12, 2005 - It really happened in the 1960s. Called (for some reason) Project Dribble, the purpose was to give U.S. scientists experience in detecting underground nuclear tests in the Soviet Union.

March 11, 2005 - Democratic strategists Steve Jarding and Dave "Mudcat" Saunders are working on a new book, Foxes in the Henhouse, that USA Today describes as "a bare-knuckled blueprint for how Democrats can w

March 10, 2005 - From 2001 to 2004, West Virginia was ravaged repeatedly by fierce flooding that caused $1.5 billion in damage. Collectively, the floods were one of the worst (and most underreported) natural disasters in U.S. history.

March 10, 2005 - The Coalition of Immokalee Workers -- a group organizing low-wage workers in southwest Florida -- won a major victory in their battle with Taco Bell and its parent company, Louisville, KY-based Yum! Brands this week, as Reuters reports:Florida farm workers ended a three-year boycott of fast food chain Taco Bell on Tuesday after the company agreed to force its suppliers to pay a penny-per-pound surcharge on Florida tomatoes.

March 9, 2005 - Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum's recently defeated bill would have raised the miminum wage by $1.10, but would also have banned states from passing laws that require minimum wages for tipped employees. Nathan Newman has thoughts on the wider implications of this kind of legislation:

March 9, 2005 - Because of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, you're now more likely to bounce a check. 9/11 has been used to justify many things, but one of the more farfetched connections is to a piece of federal legislation called the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (a.k.a. Check 21).