A meagre session for Congress, and more

A meagre session for Congress

Congress has sent only 54 bills to President Obama so far this year, including 14 to rename post offices, nine to approve real estate transactions, and six to simply renew existing laws. That record puts the current Congress on track to be one of the least productive sessions in recent times.

Bloomberg Businessweek

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College students stay home

The average amount families spent on college declined by 5 percent in 2012, to $20,902—the second consecutive annual decline. The chief reason is that more and more students, even those from wealthier households, are living at home to cut education costs.

The New York Times

Leaving Afghanistan by 2014?

In order for the U.S. and its NATO allies to meet their target of pulling out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014, a standard shipping container carrying military equipment would have to leave the country every seven minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for the next two years.

ForeignAffairs.com

Defense Department okays gay parade

For the first time ever, U.S. service members were authorized to march in a gay pride event in uniform, after a recent memorandum from the Defense Department made an allowance for a parade last week in San Diego.

Associated Press

Tax havens hide trillions

The world’s tax havens currently keep between $21 trillion and $32 trillion out of reach of the world’s governments, or more than the combined gross national products of the U.S. and Japan.

Mother Jones