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A Leadership Meltdown Strickens U.S. Nuclear Agency

The government organization charged with keeping nuclear power safe is having a meltdown. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission consists of five commissioners who direct the work of hundreds of nuclear engineers and other experts. They write the rules for how nuclear reactors operate. Now four of those commissioners say the chairman of the NRC is a [...]

Just How Many Jobs Would The Keystone Pipeline Create?

One of the major sticking points between the House and the Senate as they face off over end-of-year legislation is the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. The bill the House passed Tuesday contains a provision forcing President Obama to decide on the pipeline within 60 days. Republicans say this project should move ahead quickly because it [...]

5 Things You May Not Know About Rick Perry

The eyes of Texas have been upon James Richard “Rick” Perry ever since he boot-scootin’ boogied onto the public-service stage. Now political observers are watching Perry’s fortunes fluctuate as a Republican candidate for president. Political junkies have followed the career of Perry — an Eagle Scout, veterinary student and son of a farmer and a [...]

New in Paperback: December 12 – 18

Michigan Town Grapples With Shrinking Public Sector

Tammi Warren has lived on the same winding street in the Detroit suburb of Inkster, Mich., all her life. But as she drives down the block in her Ford pickup, Warren points to several houses on her street that stand vacant, casualties of the housing market collapse. Vacant houses mean less tax revenue for the [...]

Medicaid Takes Growing Slice Of States’ Spending

Medicaid sure is popular. And that’s a big problem for state budgets. These days the health program for the poor is claiming a bigger slice of states’ spending than even K-12 education, says a report from the National Association of State Budget Officers. All told, Medicaid is expected to grab 23.6 percent of states’ spending [...]

Dominique Dawes, From Olympian To Health Advocate

In her budding teenage years, Dominique Dawes already had captured the Olympic spotlight. She’s the first African-American female to win an individual gymnastics medal at the Olympics. After devoting 18 years to the sport, she retired, and then worked on Broadway and for TV news. In 2010, President Obama appointed her as co-chair of the [...]

Gov. Romney’s Fee On Sightless: A Moment Of Political Blindness?

From the How-did-I-not-know-that? department came a fact I learned from listening to Chris Arnold’s report on NPR’s Morning Edition Wednesday. When Mitt Romney was Massachusetts governor in 2003 and facing with a $3 billion state budget deficit, he didn’t want to raise taxes since that would prevent him in the future from claiming he hadn’t [...]

It’s ScuttleButton Time!

While Americans are demanding to know who spread the malicious rumor that Christine O’Donnell endorsed Mitt Romney — sounds like a DNC dirty trick to me — I have better things to focus on. Like preparing this week’s ScuttleButton puzzle. And wondering who will figure it out. As you know, the rules are pretty simple. [...]

2011 In Film: How A Year Without A Favorite Was A Favorite Year

So far, awards season has been unsettled — and pleasantly so. The local critics in San Francisco and Toronto made The Tree Of Life their favorite film. The Los Angeles critics picked The Descendants. Critics in New York went with The Artist — so did critics in Boston and Washington. The National Board of Review [...]