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Last year, a federal program paid out $1.6 billion to cover free cell phones and the monthly bills of 12.5 million wireless accounts. The program, overseen by the FCC and intended to help low-income Americans, is popular for obvious reasons, with participation rising steeply since 2008, when the government paid $772 million for phones and monthly bills. But observers complain that the program suffers from poor oversight, in which phones go to people who don’t qualify, and hundreds of thousands of those who do qualify have more than one phone.

OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Feds set to approve first new nuke reactors in decadesBy Andrew Restuccia and Ben Geman - 02/08/12 05:42 PM ET State of play: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is set to approve the construction of two nuclear reactors at Southern Co.’s Vogtle power plant in Georgia. The approval, expected Thursday, would mark the first time that the commission has authorized construction of a new nuclear reactor since 1978. Industry and anti-nuclear groups expect the commission to approve the license, a move that would allow construction of the reactors and conditionally authorize their operation. The commission is slated to vote...

The Fed's Inflation Target; QE3, QE4, QE5, Etc. Are In The Queue Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing Jan 29, 2012 - 11:26 AM By: David Knox Barker The U.S. Federal Reserve policy announcement on Tuesday, January 25, 2012 marks an important moment in monetary history. The forecast by a majority of the members of the FOMC for interest rates to hug zero until late 2014 was of interest and points to the FOMC conviction extended global economic stagnation at best, reflecting the long wave forces at work in the global economy. However, more importantly, it was the first time that the...

The Fed Is Worried -- And You Should Be Too Comstock Partners January 26, 2012The Fed is worried, and you should be too. That is the major take-away from yesterday's FOMC statement, combined with its release of updated projections and Bernanke's press conference. Despite the market's cheering of the promise of a near-zero fed funds rate until late 2014 and the prospect of QE3, the Fed is fighting a lonely battle against severe economic headwinds----and they know it. In answering a reporter's question, Bernanke made it crystal-clear that he does not believe that the recently optimistic economic releases are sustainable....

Madison - Gov. Scott Walker's administration is seeking more authority from the federal government to go after fraud in the state's food assistance program. The state currently has the power to investigate fraud committed by participants in FoodShare, the $1 billion program largely funded by the federal government that serves as the successor to food stamps. But as of now only the federal government has the authority to pursue fraud cases against retailers, something that Wisconsin officials want to change.

The Justice Department seized Megaupload.com, one of the world's most popular file-sharing sites, and several of its related sites on Thursday. Prosecutors charged seven employees of Megaupload with criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit racketeering and other charges. Each faces up to 55 years in prison.

Documents recently released by the Department of Justice in response to a Freedom of Information Act request show members of groups linked to the radical Muslim Brotherhood treating agency officials like “errand boys” who fulfill their every request, and setting them up to perform “gofer” duties, says researcher and activist Pamela Geller. “In a rational society, these Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups would be marginalized,” Geller told WND. “Instead, the DOJ is playing ‘stepin fetchit’ for them. They’re using the DOJ as their legal arm.” Founded in Egypt in response to the fall of the Ottoman-Turkish Empire at the end of World...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Authorities say a 25-year-old described as an Islamic extremist was arrested in a plot to attack sites around Tampa, Fla., after taking possession of disabled guns and bombs The U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of Sami Osmakac on Monday. Authorities say Osmakac is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in the former Yugoslavia. He has been charged with one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. His first appearance in federal court is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

<p>QUANTICO, Va. (AP) — Call it a playground for Bambi and G-Men, where imaginary criminals are hunted and deer are the spectators.</p> <p>The 547-acre FBI Academy, where some of the nation's best marksmen fire off more than 1 million bullets every month, happens to be one of the safest places for deer during hunting season.</p>

The wife of former U.S. Border Patrol agent Jesus Diaz, who was jailed over his treatment of a drug smuggler, says she's outraged that the government has told her husband he won't be allowed to return home to be with her or associate with any other law enforcement-linked member of his family while on probation. "I have to ask what does the DOJ want me to do? I can't retire, I'm too young. Divorcing him is not an option as he would still have to come around for the children. What is Chito going to do about his brother, not...

FRIEND$ AT THE TOP: Former President Bill Clinton and British ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair both sit on the advisory board of Teneo Holdings, which was paid at least $625,000 to do public-relations and financial-consulting work for Jon Corzine’s failed brokerage, MF Global. ....Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna said “President Clinton does not advise clients on the firm’s behalf.” Clinton does make money from Teneo, but has declined to disclose the sum. Corzine and the former president have been close for years. Clinton campaigned for Corzine repeatedly and Corzine, in turn, became the first sitting governor to endorse Hillary Rodham Clinton’s bid...

Leaping Toward The Keynesian Dream By Jeffrey Tucker 11/30/11 The Fed’s latest inflationary scheme sounds like a technocratic innovation. It lowered the costs of currency swaps between central banks of the world with the idea that the Fed would do for the globe what Europe, England, and China are too shy to do, which is run the printing presses 24/7 to bail out failing institutions and economies. In effect, the Fed has promised to be the lender of last resort for the entire global economy. It sounds new, but it is not. Following the Second World War, John Maynard Keynes...

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Tis the season for finding cross-border drug tunnels. The latest secret passage - equipped with a hydraulic lift, electric rail cars, wooden staircase and end-to-end wood floors - was discovered Tuesday on the U.S.-Mexico border, highlighting an emerging seasonal trend. For three years, authorities have found the most sophisticated tunnels shortly before the winter holidays in what officials speculate is an attempt by drug smugglers to take advantage of Mexico's fall marijuana harvest. The discovery of the 600-yard tunnel resulted in seizures of 32 tons of marijuana, one of the largest pot busts in U.S. history,...

SF FED: There's A 50% Chance Of Recession For The US In Early 2012 Mamta Badkar Nov. 14, 2011, 3:13 PM International risks pose a more immediate threat to the U.S. economy than domestic risks, according to a report from economist Travis J. Berge, and researchers Oscar Jordia and Early Elias of the San Francisco Fed Reserve. They say there's a one in three chance of U.S. recession in the next 12 months, with recession odds based on international factors peaking at about 45% by the end of this year, only to fall soon after. International risks from earlier this...

DELONG: It Is 1931. We Are Austria. If The Fed Doesn't Save Us Here Comes Another Great Depression... Henry Blodget Nov. 9, 2011, 5:21 PM How does Berkeley professor Brad Delong feel about what's going on in Europe? He's freaking out: Time to Spread Foam on the Runway: The Federal Reserve Needs to Act Now to Firewall Off the Eurocrisis I have been complaining for some time now that Reinhart and Rogoff think that the time is always 1931 and that we are always Austria--that the great fiscal crisis is about to erupt and send us lurching down toward Great...

Feds approve N.C. voting mapsModified Wed, Nov 02, 2011 03:50 AM BY JIM MORRILL, LYNN BONNER AND JOHN FRANK The U.S. Justice Department approved North Carolina's new voting maps Tuesday night, taking away a major roadblock to next year's elections but leaving open the door to new lawsuits. The Obama administration's decision handed a victory to the state's Republican mapmakers. "I feel like a tremendous weight has been lifted," said Rep. David Lewis, a Harnett County Republican who led the House redistricting effort. "It's a strong statement that our plans met their objectives, which was to follow the law." The...

Bottom Line: The Fed Is Trapped By Inflation Lance Roberts, Street Talk Live Nov. 2, 2011, 6:38 AM There will be NO announcement of QE 3 today. Why? Because the Fed has trapped itself into a corner. The first two rounds of Quantitative Easing (QE1 and 2) were viable for the Fed as inflation was running at deflationary levels in 2009 and at the bottom of their target range of 1-3% in 2010. In both instances the implementation of asset purchase programs, which immediately juiced liquidity in the financial markets, had an immediate and pronounced effect on the level of...

Should the Federal Reserve be abolished as Rep. Ron Paul and others have demanded? The Republican presidential candidates have agreed that they would like to replace Ben S. Bernanke as chairman of the Fed, and many have been equally critical of former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan. The view that both Mr. Bernanke and Mr. Greenspan have done poor jobs is also shared by many economists and financial writers. But, if not Mr. Bernanke, who? And if not the Fed, what? One of the criticisms of the Fed and other central banks is that they were engaged in inflation targeting -...

Here's The Fed Speech That Has Everyone Buzzing About 'QE3' Tonight Joe Weisenthal Oct. 20, 2011, 6:53 PM The big econ news of the night is this report from WSJ that the Fed is considering large-scale mortgage purchases to drive down rates even further. This talk appears to have been set off by a speech given by Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo given this evening at Columbia where he talks up precisely this: Mortgage purchases. Here's the relevant bit: Within the FOMC and in the broader policy community, there has been considerable discussion of possible additional accommodative measures, from communication strategies...

DETROIT – A federal judge in Detroit has dismissed a lawsuit against the U.S. government over the wreck of a $750,000 Ferrari driven by an FBI agent.

Chicago has won a $54.6 million federal grant to fund security and emergency planning and cooperation among the city, Cook County and the state as preparations begin to ramp up for the G-8 and NATO summits being held here next May. While the money is to be shared among city, county and state emergency management agencies, Chicago's top emergency planner said the grant will be most useful in planning training exercises to handle security at the simultaneous economic and defense summits, which are likely to attract thousands of demonstrators. Gary Schenkel, director of the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and...

Hundreds of thousands of asthma sufferers who use an over-the-counter inhaler will be compelled to seek a more costly prescription device by the end of the year, when the federal government plans to ban them over environmental concerns. The Food and Drug Administration last week began a media push to get the word out about the looming phase-out. After Dec. 31, the epinephrine asthma inhaler known as Primatene Mist will no longer be available. The product is currently the only FDA-approved over-the-counter inhaler and is being taken off the shelves because it uses something called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as a propellant...

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- A federal judge was lenient in sentencing a northeastern Indiana for trying to hire an undercover agent to kill his father. The judge on Wednesday gave Troy Hott, of Markle, a 30-month sentence, much less than the seven-plus years prosecutors requested in his plea agreement...

<p>FREMONT, Calif. (AP) - FBI agents executed search warrants on Thursday at the headquarters of California solar firm Solyndra, which received a $535 million loan from the federal government before filing for bankruptcy last week.</p> <p>Agents executed multiple search warrants at the company's headquarters in Fremont as part of an investigation with the Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General, according to FBI spokesman Peter Lee. Lee said he could not provide details about the investigation.</p>

The real endangered species? I’ve seen a lot of enviro-nitwittery over the years, but this takes the cake. US Fish and Wildlife officials have raided the famous Gibson Guitars. And the instrument-maker isn’t alone. Antique piano dealers are also in the crosshairs. Why? Because rare, beautiful instruments made of ecologically incorrect materials must be sacrificed at the green altar. Talk about hitting a sour note. Eric Felten at the WSJ reports: Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. The Feds are keeping...

What Will The Fed Say On Friday? It Really Doesn't Matter by: Avi Gilburt August 24, 2011 Everyone is walking on pins and needles as we await what the Fed, and, specifically, Ben Bernanke is going to say on Friday. Will Bernanke announce QE3 and rally the markets? Will he shy away from references of further QE? Inquiring investors want to know!! Memories of Jackson Hole 2010 are resounding in investor’s minds. They have their fingers on their buy buttons, ready to act as soon as they hear the words Quantitative Easing. In reality, this is all much to do...

We live in a very small town and in a middle-class neighborhood. You couldn't GET more of a sleepy community. Was picking the kids up from school and noticed a police SUV headed up a main side street. Came back from picking up 1st child and then noticed the SUV going up and down the blocks of the neighborhood. Went to pick up second child at another school and got behind the SUV. "GI" plates, white SUV with lettering down the side that said "POLICE" and then it turned at the light so I could read the side and it...

Remember when the Army Engineers blew the Birds Point levee in early May? Now we know the real reason. ~Ed. By Ann Barnhardt Cattle commodities broker June 24, 2011 (See her June 26 Update below) Two HUGE intel leads in my email box this morning from way-back contacts that I’ve had for years, that are actually somewhat connected concepts. 1. File this one under “Now It All Makes Sense.” A Missouri farming and ranching contact just got off a conference call wherein he was informed that the federal government is sending out letters to all of the flooded out farmers...

RENO, Nev. (CBS/AP) — Authorities plan to look into the driving and medical records of the semitrailer driver who died when the truck slammed into an Amtrak train, killing a train crew member and injuring dozens of passengers. Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said they also will look at autopsy results to determine whether the driver had consumed any drugs around the time of the collision Friday. The big rig plowed into the California-bound train at a crossing in a rural area about 70 miles east of Reno. Knudson said federal investigators would make sure...

Why The Fed Is Officially Paralyzed Comstock Partners Jun. 24, 2011, 5:35 AM Here’s all you need to know about the current paralysis of Fed monetary policy. The FOMC is officially forecasting an unemployment rate of 7.8%-to-8.2% by the end of 2012—-3 ½ years into the “recovery”—and has decided it cannot do anything about it. The Fed has used all of the conventional tools in its toolbox as well as some that aren’t so conventional. It has kept interest rates near zero for an extended period and bought over $2 trillion in mortgages, ballooning its balance sheet to $2.8 trillion...

State lawmakers have passed a bill that allows Texans to skirt federal efforts to promote more efficient light bulbs, which ultimately pushes the swirled, compact fluorescent bulbs over the 100-watt incandescent bulbs many grew up with. The measure, sent to Gov. Rick Perry for consideration, lets any incandescent light bulb manufactured in Texas - and sold in that state - avoid the authority of the federal government or the repeal of the 2007 energy independence act that starts phasing out some incandescent light bulbs next year. "Let there be light," state Rep. George Lavender,

Courtesy of the recently declassified Fed discount window documents, we now know that the biggest beneficiaries of the Fed's generosity during the peak of the credit crisis were foreign banks, among which Belgium's Dexia was the most troubled, and thus most lent to, bank. Having been thus exposed, many speculated that going forward the US central bank would primarily focus its "rescue" efforts on US banks, not US-based (or local branches) of foreign (read European) banks: after all that's what the ECB is for, while the Fed's role is to stimulate US employment and to keep US inflation modest. And...

The Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday that 275,000 organizations have lost their tax-exempt status because they failed to file required annual reports for three straight years. The tax agency said it believed that the vast majority of those groups are no longer in existence, but it said it was setting up procedures to help those companies that sought reinstatement. The IRS posted a list of the organizations on its website: http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=240099,00.html

For all Zero Hedge readers who have long waited for their chance to ask Mr. Scott Alvarez of "Have The Federal Reserve Or Prime Brokers Ever Tried To Manipulate The Stock Market?" fame a question about life, the universe or why the CME decides to hike ES margins in an environment of rising realized vol, here it is. Tomorrow, at 2PM, Ron Paul will lead a hearing by the Financial Services Committee, which will luckily be carried by C-SPAN meaning one will be actually able to hear the dialog (alas, the House continues to believe that investing in microphones for...

Feds must stop writing gibberish under new lawBy CALVIN WOODWARD Associated Press Updated: May 19, 2011 2:34 PM EDT WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government is rolling out a new official language of sorts: plain English. That's right: Pursuant to regulations promulgated thereunder and commencing in accordance with a statute signed herein by President Barack Obama, the government shall be precluded from writing the pompous gibberish heretofore evidenced, to the extent practicable. That sentence contains 11 new language no-nos. Obama signed the Plain Writing Act last fall after decades of effort by a cadre of passionate grammarians in the civil...

A return to the gold standard by the United States within the next five years now seems likely, because that move would help the nation solve a variety of economic, fiscal, and monetary ills, Steve Forbes predicted during an exclusive interview this week with HUMAN EVENTS. “What seems astonishing today could become conventional wisdom in a short period of time,” Forbes said. Such a move would help to stabilize the value of the dollar, restore confidence among foreign investors in U.S. government bonds, and discourage reckless federal spending, the media mogul and former presidential candidate said.  The United States used...

Our government at work. A year-long sting operation came to an end this week. In that time, the government used fake names and surprise inspections all to nab the people at Rainbow Acres Farm in the D.C. area. The reason: they were selling milk. Unpasteurized milk, to be exact. Asked for comment, the government released this statement: “It is the FDA’s position that raw milk should never be consumed.” Therefore, the Amish farmers at Rainbow Acres had to be brought down. Asked for comment, one Washington resident stated, “I look at this as the FDA is in cahoots with the...

Fed Wants Even Higher Inflation Economics / Inflation Apr 27, 2011 - 03:08 PM By: Axel Merk Today, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced it will continue to purchase government securities as previously announced ("QE2"), including reinvesting principal payments from its holdings. The FOMC downgraded its economic growth forecast, acknowledged inflationary pressures have moved from commodity inflation to core inflation, yet insists inflation remains too low. The Fed considers inflationary pressures to be transitory, but monitors the evolution of inflation and inflation expectations. We may need to revise the meaning not only of the word transitory, but also...

Why QE 3 Is Guaranteed (The Alternative Is Something Four Times Bigger Than 2008)Graham Summers Phoenix Capital Research n 04/19/2011 20:42 -0400 AIG American International Group Bank of America Barclays Ben Bernanke Capital Markets Citibank Citigroup Countrywide Credit Suisse Deutsche Bank Fail Federal Reserve Goldman Sachs Greece Gross Domestic Product Japan Merrill Lynch Middle East Morgan Stanley Nomura notional value Portugal RBC Capital Markets RBS Too Big To Fail The financial world is awash with a debate as to whether the Fed will engage in QE 3 in the future. To me this debate is pointless. Indeed, the Fed HAS...

A story broke yesterday concerning the retrofit of more than 100 trucks from Mexico that do not meet United States environmental standards. Our federal government is paying to upgrade these trucks, yet when the state of California and the EPA set new rules for US-owned trucks, they fine companies who do not comply. This post is not about the environment, it concerns how US trucking companies are treated by the federal and state government as compared to Mexican-owned rigs. From AzCentral.com. For air-quality regulators, the border creates a legal barrier. State and federal agencies can’t force vehicles manufactured and bought...

Fed Staff Increases Its Inflation ForecastRobert WenzelApril 5, 2011 The the Federal Open Market Committee has just released the minutes of the Committee meeting held on March 15, 2011. The minutes indicate that the Fed staff is increasing its near-term inflation expectations. According to the minutes: The [Fed] staff revised up its projection for consumer price inflation in the near term, largely because of the recent increases in the prices of energy and food. However, in light of the projected persistence of slack in labor and product markets and the anticipated stability in long-term inflation expectations, the increase in inflation...

Printing Money To Save The WorldMarch 28, 2011 By Bill Bonner 03/28/11 Baltimore, Maryland – The Dow rose 50 points on Friday. Gold rose too. As we ended the week, the Dow was over 12,000…gold was over 1,400…and oil was over $100. And all seemed to be headed up. But there’s trouble afoot. Housing in the US, the foundation of most household wealth in the country, has gone into a double dip…which could drag millions more homeowners underwater. In other words, the speculative markets are moving one way. The economy is moving the other. The markets are going up. The...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The New York Federal Reserve Bank confirmed that it intervened in currency markets on Friday for the first time in more than a decade. The disclosure came a day after the Group of Seven major industrialized nations pledged in a statement to join in a coordinated effort to weaken the Japanese yen. The yen has surged in the last week to post-war record levels following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

The Montana House of Representatives is taking control of greenhouse gas regulation from the federal government. By a vote of 67-33, Rep. Joe Read’s (R-Ronan) Bill-550, “An Act Prohibiting The State From Implementing Any Federal Greenhouse Gas Regulatory Program…,” passed the Montana House and is on its way to the Senate. The text of HB-550 follows:62nd Legislature HB0550.01 HOUSE BILL NO. 550 INTRODUCED BY J. READ A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT PROHIBITING THE STATE FROM IMPLEMENTING ANY FEDERAL GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATORY PROGRAM; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE.” WHEREAS, the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the...

The Food Crisis Is A Dollar Crisis By Dan Amoss 02/18/11 Jacobus, Pennsylvania – At this week’s hearing on Capitol Hill, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke demonstrated a lack of understanding about what causes inflation. His comments reflected a belief that GDP growth causes inflation. But true economic growth is production-driven, and adds to the supply of goods and services in the economy. True economic growth is not inflationary. Rather, inflation is driven by runaway government deficits and bloated central bank balance sheets. And right now, we have plenty of both. So we have every reason to expect the CPI, even...

Fed Holdings Of U.S. Treasuries Surpass China's by: Doug Carey February 06, 2011 A bit of recent news that hasn't gotten enough press is the fact that the Federal Reserve has surpassed China in total U.S. Treasury holdings and is now the largest holder of Treasuries in the world. As of last week, China held $896 billion of Treasuries while Japan held $877 billion. The Fed now holds $1.108 trillion and it has not even passed the halfway mark of its second round of money printing, which they call Quantitative Easing. By June the Fed could own $1.6 trillion of...

<p>NEW ORLEANS – A 4,200-square-mile area of the Gulf of Mexico near BP's blown out well will reopen to deep water shrimping after federal scientists found the fishing grounds free of oil.</p> <p>The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it will reopen the area in federal waters off Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Wednesday.</p>

WASHINGTON – The National Labor Relations Board on Friday threatened to sue Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah over constitutional amendments guaranteeing workers the right to a secret ballot in union elections. The agency's acting general counsel, Lafe Solomon, said the amendments conflict with federal law, which gives employers the option of recognizing a union if a majority of workers sign cards that support unionizing. The amendments, approved Nov. 2, have taken effect in South Dakota and Utah, and will do so soon in Arizona and South Carolina. Business and anti-union groups sought the amendments, arguing that such secrecy...

The airline pilot who was reprimanded by the TSA for posting videos showing security flaws at a major airport is speaking out exclusively for the first time, saying that it was the "fallacy of the system" that inspired him to take this action. *snip* He first posted the videos to YouTube on November 28. Three days later, he says, four federal air marshals and two local sheriff's deputies showed up at his home to question him about the footage. The pilot filmed the conversation, during which the federal marshals confiscated his federally-issued firearm. (News video runs when you click the...

The Department of Justice has filed a whistleblower complaint against Mayo Clinic . "Dr. David Ketroser, the lead whistleblower in this case, is a physician and an attorney," says a Department of Justice statement provided by Mayo. According to the justice department, "Mayo billed Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs for surgical pathology services it never provided; specifically, the preparation and examination of human tissue slides." Mayo spokesman Bryan Anderson said that "upon discovering a billing error in 2007, Mayo corrected it and voluntarily refunded $242,711 to the government. We worked with outside accounting experts to ensure this...