The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the stimulus provided jobs to between 1.2 million and 2.8 million people during the first three months of this year.  The stimulus also raised GDP by as much as 4.2%. Raised the level of real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product (GDP) by between 1.7 percent and 4.2 percent Lowered the unemployment [...]

The Obama administration estimates that almost all of the $700 Billion bailout will be recovered from the banks, the auto companies, the insurance company AIG, and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  A year ago the administration estimated that the bailout would cost almost $500 Billion.  Part of the bailout purchased bank stocks, which [...]

A new BBC poll shows that the rest of the world is viewing the U.S. much more favorably since Barack Obama became president.  Under George Bush Russia and China had better positive ratings from the rest of the world than the U.S.  Now 40% of those polled had a positive view of the U.S., up from 28% [...]

The Obama administration is requiring all top government agencies to release information that has never been available to the public before.  Each government department is required to post three major collections of “high-value” information to the public.  The information will be available for easy access online.  Open government organizations are encouraged by the initiative. One major piece [...]

The Obama administration set its target for reducing the energy used by the federal government by “28 percent by 2020.”  The U.S. government is the largest energy consumer in the United States and this reductions will not only help to reduce the countries contribution to climate change, but will also result in “$8 to $11 [...]

The Obama administration met with the Secular Coalition for America in Washington, DC on Friday February 26.  The Secular Coalition for America represents a broad coalition of Atheist, Freethought, and Humanist organizations such as the American Atheists. Dr. Ed Buckner, President of American Atheists, said “We are delighted that we will get the chance to [...]

The U.S. District Court in Washington recently dismissed charges against Blackwater guards for a 2007 shooting incident.  The Blackwater guards allegedly opened fire on the streets of Baghdad killing 17 and wounding dozens more, including women and children.  The guards admitted evidence that shows wrongdoing in interviews given immediately after the incident.  The case was dismissed because [...]

The Whitehouse.gov website reports the “nation’s fleet of wind plants grew by 39% last year alone.”  The industry was expected to lose approximately 50% of its plants and jobs during the year of 2008.  Because of stimulus spending the industry was able avoid a 50% decline.  They instead grew the green wind energy sector by [...]

With little notice due to the health care debate, President Obama signed a bill into law that not only funded the government for the coming year, but also advances civil liberties in several areas.  The bill “lifts 20-year ban on DC abortion funding, ends discriminatory school voucher program And defunds abstinence-only sex education programs.” The [...]

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and the National Security Archive (NSA) sued the government to restore millions of emails that had gone “missing” during the Bush administration. The Bush administration was aware of the flaw in their email backup system that was allowing millions of emails to slip through the system suspiciously [...]