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During a portion of an interview with CNN on Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that while inflation remains “too high,” it has been generally declining over the past year, and she would characterize the process of bringing down inflation while maintaining the “very strong labor market” that currently exists as “so far, so good.” CNN International Correspondent Melissa Bell asked, “We’ve seen the fight against inflation take a hit, PCE [Personal Consumption Expenditures price index] hitting 5.4%. Do you believe at this stage that the Fed is behind the curve or that a soft landing is still the most...

The last two major income tax rate reductions were in the 1960s and 1980s. Here are the results of those cuts and their effect on revenue collection. Federal revenue in 1960 = $92.5 Federal revenue in 1968 = $153.0 Over a 50% increase in revenue! Federal revenue in 1980 = $517.5 Federal revenue in 1989 = $909.0 Over a 70% increase in revenue! So the FACTS show that cutting taxes in the 60's and 80's increased federal tax revenue. Now you know the truth.

(AFP) – Hundreds of billions more dollars are likely to be needed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by a 2030 target, according to UN estimates published on Friday ahead of global talks on climate change. The report, to be presented at the December 1-12 conference in Poznan, Poland updates 2007 estimates that said investment to mitigate carbon emissions had to be ramped up in the coming years, reaching between 200-210 billion dollars annually in 2030. The goal, in this benchmark scenario, is to reduce levels of global-warming pollution to 25 percent below 2000 levels in 2030. In the new report, the...

BARQUISIMETO, Venezuela - Hugo Chavez's ex-wife said Thursday she is proposing a constitutional amendment to shorten presidential terms, saying the president has been in office long enough. Marisabel Rodriguez said she believes terms should be reduced from six to four years, and allow presidents only one opportunity for re-election. "Four years and re-election ... it gives you enough time," said Rodriguez. "This can be done through an amendment." Her comments came four days after voters narrowly rejected the president's 69 proposed changes to Venezuela's Constitution, including reforms that would have let him run for re-election indefinitely. Chavez and Rodriguez divorced...

PHOENIX - Six western states and two Canadian provinces announced a regional goal Wednesday to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. The Western Climate Initiative includes Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington and the provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba. The group wants emissions cut by 15 percent over 2005 levels within 13 years. Governors of the most of the states created the WCI in February, pledging to work together to significantly reduce emissions, partly by designing a market-based system such as a cap-and-trade program planned by California. "The regional goal reflects the combined impact of the individual...

SAN YSIDRO -- As planning begins to reduce the number of National Guard troops along the border with Mexico, less than 1,000 of 6,000 new U.S. Border Patrol agents that the Bush administration wants in place by the end of next year have been hired. As of March 17, the Border Patrol has only been able to hire and train 593 new agents or 9 percent of the administration's goal, according to Javier Rios, a Border Patrol spokesman in Washington. Screening new agents and a lengthy training process have resulted in the relatively small number of new hires. By the...

9/29/2005 - DUKE FIELD, Fla. (AFPN) -- Hurricane Katrina did more than claim lives and destroy property. The deadliest storm in U.S. history flooded acres of land with standing water, providing a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes and filth flies. To counter a mass increase in mosquitoes in the Gulf Coast region, Air Force reservists sprayed more than 1 million acres of New Orleans between Sept. 12 and Sept. 20. As soon as their mission following Hurricane Katrina is completed, they will shift their focus to the east Texas and west Louisiana areas affected by Hurricane Rita. "The bayou area...

Bob Herbert, op-ed columnist for The New York Times and perennial critic of the purported flaws of capitalism, has an article in the Times of October 8, 2004, titled “Working for a Pittance.” The article, drawing on a study "Working Hard, Falling Short," complains about the low wages of 9.2 million working families and the plight of the 20 million children in these low-income working families. It goes on to detail the high cost of housing, food, utilities, and transportation and notes the shock in store for such families this winter when price increases for crude oil show up in...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court's order that reduced the number of commercial wilderness tours in the Sierra Nevada. At issue are so-called "packstock" operations, for-profit companies that carry campers and sightseers deep into the wilderness using horses. The High Sierra Hikers Association and the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics - consisting of current and former rangers and other forest workers - sued the U.S Forest Service, charging it failed to study the cumulative environmental affects of 17 companies the agency permitted to trek thousands of visitors through the forest. A...