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Michelle Obama's nutrition bill fails in the House By ABBY PHILLIP | 9/30/10 4:31 PM EDT A bloc of progressive House Democrats resisted heavy White House lobbying and a 11th-hour push to broker a compromise on a child nutrition bill, ending chances that the legislation – a pet project of first lady Michelle Obama – would pass before the November midterm elections. At the root of the impasse: a proposed $2.2 billion cut in future funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food stamps for the poor. Despite personal appeals by the first lady, the Democrats balked at...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- An all-but-overlooked provision of the health reform law is threatening to swamp U.S. businesses with a flood of new tax paperwork. Section 9006 of the health care bill -- just a few lines buried in the 2,409-page document -- mandates that beginning in 2012 all companies will have to issue 1099 tax forms not just to contract workers but to any individual or corporation from which they buy more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year.

'Million dollar tortoises' shed light on state's environmental laws James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer 12/28/2009 They might be the most expensive tortoises to walk the San Bernardino County desert. A northern California energy company will pay $25 million to relocate and protect 25 threatened desert tortoises before it can start building a massive solar power plant in the northeastern part of the county near the Nevada border. And while calculating the environmental impact is more complicated than saying "$1 million per tortoise," the case illustrates the tremendous complexity - and high cost - of environmental laws that come into play...

State officials and advocates for the rights of the disabled are hailing a $1.1 billion settlement of a suit regarding access to sidewalks and facilities owned or maintained by the state's Department of Transportation. "This settlement is a win-win," said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in a statement released by Caltrans today. . . .

Video Either you do cap and trade or we do cap; no trade... Government given power to regulate every aspect of your life through EPA... The new socialism... States there will be a new revolution... watch video.

During the collapse of the Soviet Empire, Mikhail Gorbachev promoted the so-called "Third Way" as an alternative to free markets. This new way of governing would be neither capitalist nor communist, but something in between. In a similar vein, President Clinton said in his 1998 State of the Union address, "We have moved past the sterile debate between those who say government is the enemy and those who say government is the answer. My fellow Americans, we have found a Third Way." This Third Way calls for business and government to join hands as "partners." As Clinton told the Economic...

Car tires must be fully inflated, trucks fitted with aerodynamic devices and cargo ship engines silenced when docked at port under global warming proposals adopted Thursday by state air regulators. The California Air Resources Board approved six new mandates that manufacturers, shipping and trucking companies will be asked to follow beginning 2010 as a way to help the state get an early start at cutting greenhouse gases. The board also approved rules that nonprofit groups must follow if they want to get credit for growing trees or changing how private forest lands are managed to store carbon dioxide. "We see...

Dealing with global warming will be painful, says one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress. To back up his claim he is proposing a recipe many people won't like _ a 50-cent gasoline tax, a carbon tax and scaling back tax breaks for some home owners.Dingell says he hasn't rule out such a so-called "cap-and-trade" system, either, but that at least for now he wants to float what he believes is a better idea. He will propose for discussion: _A 50-cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline and jet fuel, phased in over five years, on top of existing taxes. _A tax...