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The company that owns Penthouse magazine and a host of online dating and adult websites filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday. FriendFinder Networks Inc.'s move comes as many in the adult entertainment industry struggle because of an increase in free online options. The Boca Raton, Fla., company said bankruptcy was "the most efficient and cost effective way for the company … to continue to operate our business."

Below is an outline of the GOP’s debt-ceiling bill obtained by National Review Online. The document originated from the House Appropriations Committee staff and is dated yesterday. A GOP-leadership aide says there are some differences between this and their latest summary, so take that for what it’s worth. As always with the House Republicans, it is subject to discussion from members, many of whom are quite vocal in providing their input on such plans.House leadership is planning to pass the bill as early as Saturday. The bill itself is expected to be released imminently. The outline is not a...

Move over Detroit. The fiscal crisis in Chicago is far bigger. Pensions 31% fundedMoody's downgraded Chicago Debt 3 Notches (just 4 steps above junk)City debt on negative watchPension Liability is $61,000 Per Household ($23,000 Per Capita) Via email, Ted Dabrowski at the Illinois Policy Center writes ... While all eyes are focused on a solution for Illinois’ state-run pension systems, Chicago’s own debt crisis is looming. Chicago taxpayers are on the hook for more than $63 billion in pension, health insurance and other debt. That’s the total debt of the city and its sister governments, as well as Chicagoans' share...

The markets were surprised when the Federal Reserve did not announce a tapering of the quantitative easing bond buying program at its September meeting. Indeed, its signal to the market that it was keeping interest rates low was welcome, but there may be a hidden agenda. Since it began in late 2008, QE has spurred a vigorous debate about its merits, both positive and negative. On the positive side, the easy money and low interest rates resulting from quantitative easing have been a shot in the arm to the economy, fueling the stock market and helping the housing recovery. On...

President Barack Obama will appeal to business leaders on Wednesday to urge Congress to approve an increase in the U.S. debt limit and avoid a default that is possible as early as mid-October. Obama is to address the Business Roundtable as part of a renewed push to focus on domestic budget and economic issues after a month dominated by foreign policy. The U.S. Treasury is expected to exhaust measures to avoid exceeding the $16.7 trillion debt limit as soon as mid-October. If the cap is not raised, the United States will not be able to pay all of its bills...

The toll-road authority of Orange County, Calif., is nearing the biggest municipal default since Detroit's record bankruptcy ... The Foothill-Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency... risks default on $2.4 billion in debt, according to a consultant to the Debt and Investment Advisory Commission of California Treasurer Bill Lockyer.

Detroit Teachers Moonlight As ‘Sugar Babies’ To Offset Wage Cuts DETROIT (WWJ) - It’s back-to-school season and many Detroit teachers are struggling in the wake of budget cuts and overcrowded classrooms. According to the National School Supply and Equipment Association, the average teacher spent at least $485 on school supplies for their classroom last year. So, what are some Detroit women doing to offset their struggles in the classroom? Well, they’re becoming “sugar babies” of course — seeking financial assistance from wealthy men online. In the Detroit School District alone, 201 teachers are moonlighting as sugar babies to offset wage...

Is the New York Times being guest edited by Rush Limbaugh? Today it runs with a fascinating takedown of the Clinton Foundation – that vast vanity project that conservatives are wary of criticising for being seen to attack a body that tries to do good. But the liberal NYT has no such scruples. The killer quote is this: For all of its successes, the Clinton Foundation had become a sprawling concern, supervised by a rotating board of old Clinton hands, vulnerable to distraction and threatened by conflicts of interest. It ran multimillion-dollar deficits for several years, despite vast amounts of...

In the industrial midwest, the city government of Detroit went into bankruptcy in July. Out in California, the city governments of Stockton and San Bernardino entered bankruptcy proceedings in 2012. But the Detroit and California bankruptcies, like Tolstoy’s unhappy families, are not alike. They suffer from quite different ailments. You can see the difference by comparing their populations in the 1950 and 2010 censuses. In 1950, Detroit – then the nation’s fifth-largest city – had 1,849,568 people. In 2010, it had 713,777. Stockton and San Bernardino were not much more than small towns in 1950, with 70,853 and 63,058, respectively....

Detroit’s bankruptcy and the problems facing its pension funds offer two important lessons to other communities. One is that state and local governments need to do a much better job managing retirement funds. The other is that they should not pre-emptively reduce hard-earned benefits at the first sign of trouble. Several state and local pension systems around the country are under serious stress. Not surprisingly the hardest hit retirement funds are in places devastated by global economic forces like Detroit, as well as inland cities in California like Stockton, which was battered by the real estate collapse and has also...

Mideast: The sequester has "cost jobs," says President Obama, and "gutted investments in education and science and medical research." But somehow he's earmarked $500 million for Hamas terrorists. Circumventing Congress and with no fanfare, President Obama last week issued an executive order enabling him to send an additional $500 million directly to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank — much of which you can bet will wind up going to the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorist organization. According to Obama, "it is important to the national security interests of the United States to waive the provisions of" Congress' legislative restrictions "in...

Detroit: officially a man-made disaster It’s official; Detroit is now legally as well as morally bankrupt. “The city of Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history Thursday afternoon, culminating a decades-long slide that transformed the nation’s iconic industrial town into a model of urban decline crippled by population loss, a dwindling tax base and financial problems.” In short order there will be allegations of racist-fueled white flight and business abandonment of the city. Charges of unfair treatment will be leveled against “the system” that  led to the Motor City’s devolution. This will be followed immediately by...

While in the past President Obama has been more that willing to throw good money after bad and "refuse to let Detroit go bankrupt," it seems when push comes to shove - under the intense scrutiny of a nation awash in scandal, a drastically bifurcated congress - that despite the imploring from local congressmen for "moar" already - that the savior of the city will not this time ride to the rescue on his white horse. In a statement, the White House said they "are monitoring the situation in Detroit closely," with no hint - just as they have made...

Inspired by the tourism board of Detroit. A "Pure Michigan" parody. It's short, and you'll laugh your head off!

Obama: “We refuse to let Detroit go bankrupt.” Biden: Romney would “let Detroit go bankrupt.” Despite the promises of Obama and Biden, Detroit became the largest city to file for bankruptcy on July 18, 2013.

Harry Reid: Insufficient Government Spending Hurts U.S. Economy July 8, 2013 - 4:37 PM By Ryan Kierman (CNSNews.com) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a press release Friday that insufficient government spending, caused by Republican "austerity policies" is hurting the U.S. economy and preventing a quicker recovery. “We need to continue advancing policies that spur growth and create jobs," Reid said. "It's time for Republicans to let go of their failed austerity policies that weigh down our economy and prevent a speedier recovery. We simply can't cut our way to prosperity." During President Barack Obama's first three years...

Saturday at 11:30a ET on Cashin’ In, Eric Bolling sits down with Sarah Palin. In this sneak peek of the interview, Palin addresses why Americans can’t trust the federal government. “When you have a government that will not even acknowledge to the American public that we are bankrupt […] Read more at Fox News Insider

Why did the U.S. government spend 2.6 million dollars to train Chinese prostitutes to drink responsibly? Why did the U.S. government spend $175,587 "to determine if cocaine makes Japanese quail engage in sexually risky behavior"? Why did the U.S. government spend nearly a million dollars on a new soccer field for detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay? This week when I saw that the IRS was about to pay out 70 million dollars in bonuses to their employees and that the U.S. government was going to be leaving 7 billion dollars worth of military equipment behind in Afghanistan, it caused...

As the state Senate finished voting Saturday on a bill to extend a tax on managed care plans, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg told reporters at the back of the room, "That is what's called a supermajority." Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign the spending plan before the next fiscal year begins July 1.

Many states, especially California and Illinois, have had severe pension underfunding problems for many years. However, new actuarial pension rules will finally force states to admit the problem. Thus, it should not be surprising that talk of "technical bankruptcy" and “service insolvency” is growing. Here are some pertinent ideas from California on the Brink: Pension Crisis About to Get Worse   Moody’s new credit standards for public pensions would nearly double the unfunded liabilities for state and local pension plans in California to $328.6 billion from $128.3 billion. California has the second lowest credit rating at Standard & Poor’s of all 50 states;...