December 16, 2009
Time is running out once again for the National Flood Insurance Program, which is set to expire on Dec. 18. Congress passed a short-term extension in September that moved the expiration deadline for NFIP to Dec. 18, 2009. But if …
December 15, 2009
The nation’s mine safety czar said Friday that the U.S. must put a stop to black lung disease, a work-related illness that has killed roughly 10,000 coal miners this decade. “Now is the time to act to end this disease,” …
December 15, 2009
U.S. Senate Democrats struggled Monday to agree on a broad healthcare overhaul and said a compromise plan to allow an expansion of the Medicare health program for the elderly would likely be dropped. After a meeting to find a way …
December 14, 2009
The participation of two big insurers in the $700 billion financial rescue contradicted the goals of the government program, according to a bailout watchdog. The inclusion of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and Lincoln National Corp. “was incongruous with the …
December 11, 2009
The U.S. House approved the biggest changes in financial regulation since the Great Depression Friday, marking a win for the Obama administration and congressional Democrats. With the Senate due to debate similar reforms well into next year, the House voted …
December 10, 2009
Liz Sequeira, a 52-year-old primary care physician, is too young to remember when U.S. doctors made routine house calls. So to her, seeing patients in her three exam rooms on the first floor of Discovery Communications Inc.’s modern headquarters in …
December 10, 2009
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board on Wednesday called a July explosion at Citgo Petroleum Corp.’s Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery “a significant near-miss” for a widespread release of highly toxic hydrogen fluoride (HF) into a community. “It’s a significant near-miss of …
December 10, 2009
The federal government says it distributed nearly $80 million in disaster relief funds to four New England states following a devastating ice storm a year ago. The storm of Dec. 11-12, 2008, knocked out power to an estimated 1.4 million …
December 9, 2009
U.S. Senate Democratic healthcare negotiators said they agreed Tuesday to replace a government-run insurance option with a scaled-back non-profit plan and would seek cost estimates on the deal. “We have a broad agreement,” Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid told reporters, …
December 8, 2009
Several U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed to question Monday whether the president had enough authority over an agency that polices auditors of public companies. During arguments to consider if the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board violates the U.S. Constitution, the …