Congress's poor record
The 113th Congress is on course to pass less legislation than any Congress in history. So far, it’s passed only 49 laws. The “Do Nothing’’ Congress denounced by President Harry Truman in 1947 passed 906 laws.
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Clueless about Obamacare
Thirty-eight percent of uninsured Americans say they have heard “nothing at all” about the health-care exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
TheWire.com
Fewer college students
The number of college students in the U.S. fell by 2 percent this year compared with last, a decline caused by a combination of demographics, a tepid economy, and high tuition costs. The decline is likely to continue, since the number of new high school graduates peaked in 2011 and isn’t predicted to return to that level until 2024.
The Washington Post
Life sentences for nonviolent crimes
At least 3,278 Americans are serving life sentences without parole for such nonviolent crimes as cursing at a policeman and selling $10 worth of drugs. More than 80 percent of these life sentences are the result of mandatory sentencing laws.
The Economist
The government's $10 billion profit
When it sells its remaining stock in General Motors, the U.S. government will make a net $10 billion profit on its $421.6 billion bailout of the financial and auto industries. Five years after the bailouts began, the stock market has hit a record high, and the U.S. auto industry has added more than 300,000 jobs.
The Wall Street Journal
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Very rich and very poor in California, and morefeature California is home to 111 billionaires, yet it also suffers the highest poverty rate in the country.
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Arctic cold kills tree insects, and more
feature This winter’s arctic temperatures have had at least one beneficial impact: They’ve killed ash borers, gypsy moths, and other tree-eating insects.
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Gender differences in employment, and more
feature
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A first for West Point, and more
feature For the first time, two male graduates of West Point were married at the military academy’s chapel.
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A God given land?, and more
feature More white evangelical Protestants than U.S Jews believe that Israel was “given to the Jewish people by God.”
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Jailing the mentally ill, and more
feature American prisons have replaced state mental hospitals as a place to warehouse the mentally ill.
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Treating Internet addiction, and more
feature Treating Internet addiction; Freshman virgins at Harvard; A salary handicap for lefties; Prices for vintage automobiles soar; Gun permits for blind people
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Congress's war record, and more
feature Congress has not formally declared war on any country since June 5, 1942.