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The National Institutes of Health is spending over $400,000 on a study tracking the eye movements of Latinos and their children at grocery stores in a bid to fight obesity. The study at San Diego State University is using "eye-tracking technology" to determine how overweight people make their decisions on what to buy at the grocery. Researchers hope they can identify strategies for changing groceries to nudge people into choosing options they consider healthier.

The National Institutes of Health is spending nearly $200,000 on a study that seeks to improve older women's sex lives through mindfulness meditation. The University of Pittsburgh received the funding for the project, which began last month. Mindfulness, a New Age meditation technique of thinking about thoughts, will be used as an intervention to get women older than 50 more active in the bedroom.

While markets hone in on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy hints, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan sees a bigger economic irritant—government spending. On Wednesday, Greenspan decried a rise in entitlement costs, which he contended have pressured the U.S. economy. "To me the discussion today shouldn't even be on monetary policy it should be on how do we constrain this extraordinary rise in entitlements," he said in a CNBC "Closing Bell" interview, calling the trend "extremely dangerous." Social expenditures in the U.S. were 19.2 percent of gross domestic product last year, up from 15.5 percent in 2005, according to data from...

Americans want lower taxes and more government spending both at once, although their support for spending more tax dollars on health care has dropped dramatically. They’re likelier than ever to not feel connected to any particular religion, but no less likely to believe in God. And for the first time, most want to legalize marijuana. Those are among findings from the 2014 General Social Survey, which has been measuring trends in American opinion and behavior since 1972. …

Declaring an end to “mindless austerity,” President Barack Obama called for a surge in government spending Thursday, and asked Congress to throw out the sweeping budget cuts both parties agreed to four years ago when deficits were spiraling out of control. Obama’s proposed $74 billion in added spending—about 7 percent—would be split about evenly between defense programs and the domestic side of the budget. Although he’s sought before to reverse the “sequester” spending cuts, Obama’s pitch in this year’s budget comes with the added oomph of an improving economy and big recent declines in federal deficits. Taking a defiant tone,...

“After years of fiscal and economic mismanagement, the president has offered perhaps his most irresponsible budget yet,” House Speaker John Boehner said on Tuesday, after President Obama released his $3.9 trillion election-year budget. The fiscal year 2015 spending proposal raises taxes on the wealthy and spends more on preschool, infrastructure, and job training, the Associated Press reported. But as Boehner indicated, Republicans won’t accept it. …

The cost of weather-related power outages is high and rising as storms grow more severe and the U.S. electric grid gets older, according to an Obama Administration report that calls for increased spending on the nation’s electric power system. Power outages cost the economy $18 billion to $33 billion per year, according to the report, a figure that has been rising steadily over the past 20 years. That can rise to $40 billion to $75 billion in years with severe storms such as 2008’s Hurricane Ike and last year’s Superstorm Sandy. …

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...

During the month of February—as President Barack Obama was warning Americans they would see dramatic effects in their lives if “sequestration” of some planned federal spending kicked in—the federal government’s debt climbed by $253.5 billion. That one-month increase in the debt was nearly six times as much as the $44 billion in spending cuts the Congressional Budget Office estimates will take place in all of fiscal 2013 as a result of sequestration. …

Reacting to last night’s GOP presidential debate, the White House said today that the 2012 candidates proved themselves to be out of touch with Americans by saying they would refuse to accept tax increases as part of a debt deal. In Ames, Iowa last night the candidates were asked if they would refuse to accept a budget deal with a 10-to-1 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases. All eight presidential contenders raised their hands. “That’s clearly not where the American people are,” Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters today. “That basically puts these candidates in a position...

Republicans were cast into the wilderness beginning in 2006 because they abandoned a basic set of principles – not just their own principles, but those of the nation they were entrusted to lead. Rather than standing up for American freedoms and free markets, the GOP instead became the party of big government and corruption – enabling Democrats to sweep into power promising to “drain the swamp” and usher in an era of “hope and change.” Obviously lurking beneath these rhetorical flourishes was a radical socialist agenda – one that has exploded our debt, derailed our economy and eroded our individual...

Keynesianism Questioned by Harvard Researchers Bethany Stotts, June 4, 2010 Contrary to the Keynesian theory that government spending can spark economic growth in times of recession, a new study demonstrates that pork, at least, may damage corporations within the states that receive these federal dollars. The three Harvard Business School (HBS) researchers, Lauren Cohen, Joshua Coval, and Christopher Malloy, surveyed the 232 times in the last 42 years that a Senator or Representative on capitol hill obtained a chairmanship on a “powerful congressional committee” and then measured the impact the corresponding increase in earmarks had on publicly-traded firms in that...

The following letter to the editor was in yesterday's Minneapolis StarTribune. It's funny, has a holiday angle and more importantly, is completely accurate. Twas the night before Christmas, when all through D.C., Democrats were scheming how to abuse their constituency. Cap and Trade, ObamaCare, Bailouts - which one shall we do? And then they cried "We'll do them all - the people are fools! We can call it a "crisis" and "too big to fail". Anyone else doing this would end up in jail. But not us, because we write all the laws. Golly, we're wonderful. We're our own Santa...

Few things cause the eye to glaze over more than economic statistics, particularly when discussing all but incomprehensible sums in the billions and trillions of dollars. There are two statistics which the public should be aware of more than others; they are 1) Gross Domestic Product (total economic output of the country); and 2) The Net Gross Domestic Product per Person (The GDP less the amount of government spending at all levels divided by the total population). The Net GDP per person recognizes the impact of federal, state and local spending on the economy. Ideally the net amount each citizen...

President Obama is losing his protection. No, not the secret service, the Political protection. His standard answer to every problem in the world--Its Bushes Fault. On June 1st, 27% of Americans believed that the problems with the economy were cased by President Obama, 62% said it was Bush's fault. Just three weeks later the same polling company, Rasmussen is reporting those numbers are now 39% blame it on Obama and 54% blame it on Bush. Six out of ten trust themselves on the economy more than they trust the President, another big shift. And only 30% trust the President on...

Mr President, Speaker Pelosi, Senator Reid, thank you all for coming. We, the American people have a little message for you. Please come closer to the computer so you can hear us...you ready? Good ! We want you to cut our freaking taxes...NOW. That was the message of the latest Rasmussen poll.. by a 16% margin (51-36%) Americans want their government to cut taxes across the board to stimulate the economy. By a 17% margin Americans do not believe that Obama has delivered on the promise to cut taxes for 95% of all Americans. Combine that with other recent Rasmussen...

A nice-sounding bill called the "Global Poverty Act," sponsored by Democratic presidential candidate and Senator Barack Obama, is up for a Senate vote on Thursday and could result in the imposition of a global tax on the United States. The bill, which has the support of many liberal religious groups, makes levels of U.S. foreign aid spending subservient to the dictates of the United Nations. Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has not endorsed either Senator Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in the presidential race. But on Thursday, February 14, he is trying to rush Obama's...

Global Poverty Act of 2007 - Directs the President, through the Secretary of State, to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the U.S. foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide who live on less than $1 per day.

Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was trying to rush Obama's "Global Poverty Act" (S. 2433) through his committee without hearings. It was scheduled for a Thursday vote but was moved up a day, to Wednesday, and rushed through by voice vote. (snip) The House version (H.R. 1302) was suddenly brought up on the House floor last September 25 and was passed by voice vote.

LIKE SOME OTHER states, Maryland is enjoying the fruits of an economic boom whose bounty has intoxicated state officials and blurred their vision. A windfall owing much to the rising housing market has flooded the state's treasury with the sort of easy money that seems as if it might last forever. Politicians of both parties, in an election year, are happily spending the excess cash and cutting taxes besides. But it doesn't take clairvoyance to see that the state is digging itself a big hole; within three or four years, spending is projected to outstrip revenue by more than $1...