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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- House Speaker John Boehner will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. Eastern to discuss the across-the-board budget cuts known as the sequester, his office said. Without a deal, $85 billion in gradual budget cuts will begin on Friday,

A growing number of firearm and firearm-related companies have stated they will no longer sell items to states, counties, cities and municipalities that restrict their citizens' rights to own them. According to The Police Loophole, 34 companies have joined in publicly stating that governments who seek to restrict 2nd Amendment rights will themselves be restricted from purchasing the items they seek to limit or ban. Extreme Firepower Inc., located in Inwood, WV has had a longstanding policy that states: "The Federal Government and several states have enacted gun control laws that restrict the public from owning and possessing certain types...

The president spins his accomplishments on jobs, health care and deficit reduction in annual address. President Obama put a rosy spin on several accomplishments of his administration in his 2013 State of the Union address. The president claimed that "both parties have worked together to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion." But that's only an estimate of deficit reduction through fiscal year 2022, and it would be lower if the White House used a different starting point. Obama touted the growth of 500,000 manufacturing jobs over the past three years, but there has been a net loss of...

Remember the "Got Milk?" Campaign? And every parody that spun off from it? I propose a new "Govt ilk?" Campaign with slogans like "Govt Life?" Or "Govt Liberty?" Or "Govt Cheese?" Or "Govt Tax?" Or "Govt Share?" Freepers come up with variations and submit your thoughts and artwork here.

The chairman of the House transportation committee is calling for a hearing following a report that an obscure federal agency blew $820,000 on a conference near Las Vegas. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, called the expenses "outrageous" but said it's "just the tip of the iceberg." "We have been trying to get the administrative costs from the agency and now we see why they have been stonewalling," he said in a statement. Mica's official said the committee has questions about increases in the agency's budget in recent years. He's planning to hold a hearing...

The United States government had more than two million reasons to celebrate Saturday. A longtime Coral Gables resident designated $1 million and his historic home to the federal government in his will to help wipe away the nation’s $15 trillion public debt. Uncle Sam put the home on 1248 Coral Way on the auction block Saturday. The winning bid: $1.175 million. The 1929, Spanish-style home belonged to James H. Davidson Jr., who lived in the home since his teenage days in 1938 and died childless last December at 87. The home was officially designated a historic landmark in November by...

(CNSNews.com) – Federal employees at several financial regulatory agencies – including the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – are earning six-figure salaries and taking home bonuses up to $5,000, according to federal records obtained by Judicial Watch. At least 228 such regulators make $225,000 a year. In comparison, members of Congress make $174,000 a year; the Speaker of the House makes $223,500; and the majority and minority leaders pull in $193,400 a year. The records, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), show the number of employees at five of the six major financial regulatory agencies. In addition...

Blue Dog Democrat Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) said that most Americans do not understand that federal entitlements are not “bank account” programs that hold their money, adding that Social Security is not even a legal guarantee -- "Legally, they're not even promises." Cooper, asked about potential reforms to Medicare and Medicaid, said that the core problem was that the public does not understand the true nature of entitlements. “Many Americans don’t really realize that Medicare is a government program,” Cooper said at a press conference with fellow Blue Dogs on Wednesday.

One of the features of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the health-care reform bill colloquially known as Obamacare, is the creation of insurance exchanges that will offer heavily subsidized policies and coverage for people who cannot get insurance through their employers. In projecting the program's costs, the Congressional Budget Office figures that about 7 percent of the workforce currently covered by employer-provided insurance will drop those policies and sign up for the subsidized insurance. That estimate - and hence, the cost structure of the program - has been challenged by sources such as McKinsey & Company, the consulting...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Moody's Investors Service said late Wednesday it placed the U.S. government's triple-A bond rating on review for possible downgrade due to rising risk of default. "The review of the U.S. government's bond rating is prompted by the possibility that the debt limit will not be raised in time to prevent a missed payment of interest or principal on outstanding bonds and notes. As such, there is a small but rising risk of a short-lived default," Moody's said. The rating agency stressed that it considers the probability of a default to be low but no longer minimal.

Wasteful health chiefs have been paying almost £50 for a £2 packet of pasta, it has emerged. While many shoppers have been watching every penny they spend, it would appear some health service bosses have been acting far less frugally with taxpayer cash. Now one NHS Trust has finally come to its senses and is getting patients to buy the packets in supermarkets for £2. Everyone who previously had gluten-free pasta on prescription from the Eastern and Coastal Kent NHS Trust has now been advised to buy it themselves.

Washington – The Obama administration said Wednesday that the government will lose about $14 billion in taxpayer funds from the bailout of the U.S. auto industry. In a report from the president's National Economic Council, officials said that figure is down from the 60 percent the Treasury Department originally estimated the government would lose following its $80 billion bailout of Chrysler and General Motors in 2009. The report's release coincides with the administration's efforts to tout the bailout's role in the revitalization of the U.S. auto industry after last week's announcement that Chrysler is repaying $5.9 billion in U.S.

Government Shutdown. That’s the topic du jour in the Newsiverse. But is a government shutdown as terrifying as these talking heads are leading us to believe? Maybe it is a very bad thing if you are one of the people about to be furloughed, then again, maybe not.There are some 800,000 government employees who are considered ‘non essential’ and they are all being told of their status today, just in case a last-minute deal is not struck.Who qualifies as essential and gets to stay on the job? Our troops, air traffic controllers and postal workers are considered to be ‘essential’ and...

Ministerial team approves new apartments in West Bank blocs; Danny Dayan: It's a pity that parents, children need to be murdered for building to take place; calls for new Itamar neighborhood in name of victims. The ministerial team for settlements approved hundreds of new apartments in the settlements of Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel, Kiryat Sefer and in Gush Etzion in a special meeting on Saturday. The move comes in the wake of a terrorist attack on Friday in which five members of one family were stabbed to death in the West Bank settlement of Itamar. Among the participants in the specially...

RUSH: From Sunday morning ABC's This Week Needs David Brinkley. This is during the panel discussion, George Will with Christiane Amanpour. Amanpour said, "We talk about symbolism, what the president needs to do. Politically he's moved to the center." Typical. He hasn't, Christiane, he won't move to the center. Anyway, "He's heeded the call of the people, so to speak," she says. "But when it comes to real solutions how do you kick-start and how do you make a dent in that 9.4% unemployment figure?" And this is what George Will said to Christiane Amanpour. WILL: I had lunch this...

A surprising number of people on Wall Street will tell you not to worry too much about inflation. After all, they'll say, just look at the numbers. The inflation picture is incredibly benign. In the past 12 months the Consumer Price Index has risen just 1.5%—a remarkably low rate. And when you strip out volatile food and energy costs, they'll say, it's even lower—a meager 0.8%. It doesn't stop there. Many economists will point out that wages are also rising by less than 2% a year. With so many people still out of work, goes the line, labor costs are...

Criminal investigations "are being frustrated" because no law currently exists to force Internet providers to keep track of what their customers are doing, the U.S. Department of Justice will announce tomorrow. CNET obtained a copy of the department's position on mandatory data retention--saying Congress should strike a "more appropriate balance" between privacy and police concerns--that will be announced at a House of Representatives hearing tomorrow.

Many people do not know that the Federal Reserve is a private company and not a government agency. In fact, the Fed is not part of the government in any way. We believe that abolishing the Fed needs to be our number 1 national priority. We intend to beat the Fed in court similar to the way the Big Tobacco companies were defeated. Nearly all of the country’s economic problems will be solved when the Fed is abolished. Our Mission Statement Our Mission is to lead, organize, fund and manage an ongoing series of class action lawsuits directed against the...

For their ****ups? All we've got so far is Congresspeople threatening to introduce more laws that won't be enforced, just like the laws that weren't enforced this time. One example One of the fiercest gun-control advocates in Congress, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), pounced on the shooting massacre in Tucson Sunday, promising to introduce legislation as soon as Monday. How about a bill to lock up that Sheriff out there in Arizona - or an indictment for criminal negligence under existing law? You think I'm kidding? I'm not. It now appears that the suspect in this shooting posted death threats against...

At least 50 cities in California have adopted so-called crash-tax laws allowing local governments to seek reimbursement from insurance companies for the costs of sending public emergency crews to accident scenes. The fees can amount to hundreds or even thousands of dollars. If insurers don't pay, cities can hire collection agents to seek payment from the motorists involved, reports LaTi. And it's spreading, says LaTi: It's gaining momentum nationwide as cash-strapped communities seek a way to offset budget cuts This month, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg proposed charging drivers there as much as $490 when firefighters respond to an...