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Thomas Magstadt, Op-Ed: This aspect of the law, we are informed, "has led to extensive use of the 501(c)(4) provisions for organizations that are actively involved in lobbying, and has become controversial" – an understatement if ever there was one, because this legal sleight-of-hand, given the extreme concentration of wealth and extreme malevolence of many who have it, means that the White House has now joined Congress on the auction block – for sale to the highest bidder. 
Fred Schulte, News Report: In a Sept. 24 letter, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder warned five hospital and medical groups of their intent to ramp up investigative oversight, including possible criminal prosecutions, of doctors and hospitals that use electronic health records to improperly bill for more complex and costly services than they actually deliver — a practice known as "upcoding." 
Jim Hightower, Op-Ed: An antitrust civil lawsuit filed in federal court against 11 of the biggest equity firms includes internal emails in which they agree not to compete. In 2006, for example, the head of Blackstone sent an email to the co-founder of KKR: "We would much rather work with you guys than against you. Together we can be unstoppable, but in opposition we can cost each other a lot of money." 
Igor Volsky, News Report: There are slightly fewer permits in 2009 and 2010, from between 8,000-9,000 permits to over 5,000, and they have not been cut by half. The oil and gas industry is sitting on 7,000 approved permits to drill, where it hasn't begun exploring or developing. Two-thirds of "acreage leased by [oil] industry lies idle" on public lands, according to the Department of the Interior. 
Dean Baker, News Analysis: "The fixation on the debt certainly cannot be justified by any objective standard. Clearly the most pressing economic problem facing the country is the tens of millions of people who are unemployed or underemployed as result of the collapse of the housing bubble. These people and their families are seeing their lives ruined due to a monumental failure by policymakers." 
Marian Wang, News Report: Some colleges do consider parental income when they suggest Parent Plus loans. Ringling College of Art and Design uses an algorithm to determine the recommended loan amount. The school's letter notes that the listed amount is "an estimate of what you may wish to consider borrowing, and is partly based on your income." Parents, it says, "may apply for more or less." 
Laura Flanders, Video Interviews: Citizens United versus the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) continues to be widely detested. In a recent poll taken this year, United States citizens continue to oppose unlimited campaign spending by corporations or unions. Unfortunately, media is not covering the American people's opinions about money in politics. In this clip, you will see a series of short interviews with pro-democracy activists talking about how they are moved to act of Citizens Untied. 
Peter Certo, Op-Ed: "I would love to think that President Obama, in the middle of a debate, will don a green Robin Hood hat and announce his support for a financial transaction tax. Popularly known as a Robin Hood Tax, this is the idea of putting a small, fraction-of-a-percent tax on trades of stock, derivatives, and other financial instruments. There's been a surge of support for the idea here and around the world as a way to generate massive revenue for domestic and international needs and as a way to curb short-term speculation." 
Jake Olzen, News Report: "Occupy the World Food Prize, an ad hoc coalition of community groups and activists, has organized a week of educational events, panel discussions and direct action to protest the corporate control of local and global food systems. The goals of Occupy the World Food Prize's campaign are twofold: to use the World Food Prize event as an opportunity to redirect the public discourse around food and farming systems and to shift the focus of the prize away from agribusiness to locally-based, sustainable agriculture." 
Melanie Jae Martin, Op-Ed: "Every schoolchild learns that ecosystems are interdependent. Yet our society continues to behave as though humans can survive the destruction of forests, the pollution of groundwater, and the warming of the climate. We need to take a hard look at our legal system—the code that defines which behaviors are and aren't OK—and revise its systems of rights so that it protects whole ecosystems and all the species within them, from the top of the food chain to the bottom." 
Laura Tyson, Op-Ed: "The downturn was a distinctive balance-sheet recession that caused sizable declines in household wealth and necessitated painful deleveraging. Consistent with recoveries from such recessions, demand has grown slowly, despite unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus, and that explains why the unemployment rate remains high. Indeed, businesses cite uncertainty about the strength of demand, not uncertainty about regulation or taxation, as the main factor holding back job creation." 
Steve Horn, News Analysis: Plains Exploration and Production Co., the owner and operator of the oil field, paid for the review as part of a settlement agreement with Culver City and environmental and community groups. The report was reviewed by two independent firms selected by the company and Los Angeles County. Vives never identified the "independent firms" serving as the peer reviewers, but the study itself, which contains the five-page peer review paper, reveals two reviewers: JP Martin Energy Strategy LLC and Peter Muller. --
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