Dec 14 Senate Passes Energy Bill Without Oil Tax Hikes By PBS News Hour The Senate passed a pared-down energy bill Thursday night that raises fuel economy standards for the first time in more than three decades and mandates a six-fold boost in ethanol use by 2022. Continue reading
Dec 14 How is the Fed to be blamed if financial institutions are reckless and greedy during periods of low interest rates? Question/Comment: Many commentators have blamed the Fed for the mortgage mess. How is the Fed to be blamed if financial institutions are reckless and greedy during periods of low interest rates? Paul Solman: You’re cheating, Lloyd. This is two e-mails… Continue reading
Dec 14 It is often said that tax cuts help the economy because the taxpayer spends the money. I do not see how that works. Question/Comment: It is often said that tax cuts help the economy because the taxpayer spends the money. I do not see how that works. After all, the government spends money, too. So what does it matter who spends the money?… Continue reading
Dec 14 N. Korea Agrees to Uphold Nuclear Bargain By PBS News Hour On Thursday, North Korea reportedly responded to a letter President Bush sent earlier this month, saying it would live it up to its obligations to disarm its nuclear weapons program as long as the United States holds up its part… Continue reading
Dec 13 Watch Democrats Talk Taxes and Trade in Iowa Debate In their last debate before the key Iowa Caucus on Jan. 3, six of the the Democratic presidential candidates outlined their policies on tax reform and trade in hopes of swaying Iowa voters. Continue watching
Dec 13 Watch U.N. Envoy Reports on Extent of Myanmar Crackdown A U.N. special envoy on human rights revealed on Tuesday that the force used in the crackdown against anti-government protesters in Myanmar in September may have been more brutal than originally reported. Continue watching
Dec 13 Watch Pelosi Aims to Set 'New Direction' Amid Legislative Battles Just over a year into her term as House leader in the new Democratic-majority Congress, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif., discusses the latest developments from Capitol Hill, including spending bill battles, new energy legislation, the controversy over… Continue watching
Dec 12 Watch New Drug Sentencing Rules Raise Questions for 19,000 Inmates The U.S. Sentencing Commission, which sets guidelines for federal prison sentences, voted this week to make its recent reduction in sentences for crack cocaine offenses retroactive, making over 19,000 inmates eligible for sentence reductions. Legal experts examine the shift and… Continue watching
Dec 12 Watch GOP Candidates Debate in Iowa in Pre-caucus Push The wide field of Republican presidential candidates sparred on the issues in a debate Wednesday, the last such meeting in Iowa before the state's Jan. 3 caucus. Kwame Holman reports on the highlights of the debate. Continue watching
Dec 12 Watch Triple Car Bombing in Iraq Disrupts Drop-off in Violence In southern Iraq on Wednesday, a triple car bomb killed as many as 41 people and wounded at least 150, the worst bombing in four months. Damien Cave of the New York Times provides an update from Baghdad. Continue watching