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Any sanguine prognosticators who may have predicted a decline in the average cost of attending college may need to rethink how they arrived at such an off-the mark conclusion. college grad hire me At least 50 American colleges and universities are now charging students more than $60,000 per year. This marks a significant increase from last year when only nine schools exceeded the 60K mark. What’s shocking about this year’s figures is that the data presented in the story from Business Insider does “not reveal the true financial burden of higher education.” Other fees not included in the story include...

A study of federal subsidies of various sectors of the economy released Tuesday says that health care and housing combined to reap almost $1 trillion in support in the most recent year for which data was available. The study funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts said that taxpayers subsidized health care by $743 billion in 2010, while a set of generous tax breaks was the main driver in $227 billion worth of subsidies for the housing industry. The Pew study says that various federal subsidies like tax breaks, federal grants and other government contracts totaled $1.4 trillion. It shows that...

Ohio U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown's comment on reducing the federal deficit, his number one point; "Cut $20 billion in spending by ending taxpayer-funded subsidies for the five biggest oil companies. The Big Five oil companies made a record $137 billion in profits last year and made more than $1 trillion in profits over the last decade. Every penny more at the pump increases their profits by another $200 million. Meanwhile, taxpayers spend billions each year giving handouts to these mega-corporations. I'm fighting to pass the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act, which would end tax subsidies for big oil companies...

In my column for The Fiscal Times today, I remind readers that budgets are statements of priorities. Barack Obama’s budget shows his priorities on many levels, both at the macro and micro level. Given the large amount of new spending and higher taxes, it’s very easy to conclude at the macro level that Obama doesn’t think that spending reductions are a priority at all. How about on the micro level? Changes to three different programs give an even clearer indication of Obama’s priorities: "One is to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program that helps poor children opt out of failing public...

On some days, the pilots with Great Lakes Airlines fire up a twin-engine Beechcraft 1900 at the Ely, Nev., airport and depart for Las Vegas without a single passenger on board. And the federal government pays them to do it. Federal statistics reviewed by The Associated Press show that in 2010, just 227 passengers flew out of Ely while the airline got $1.8 million in subsidies. The travelers paid $70 to $90 for a one-way ticket. The cost to taxpayers for each ticket: $4,107. Ely is one of 153 rural communities where airlines get subsidies through the $200 million Essential...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is asking Congress to approve new initiatives to help some of America's 1 million unemployed military veterans find work, including tax credits for companies that hire out-of-work vets. The proposal Obama is to outline Friday is part of the president's efforts to return to a focus on jobs after spending weeks mired in the contentious debt-limit debate that consumed the White House for much of the summer. His announcement was to come shortly after the Labor Department releases a new round of nationwide unemployment data. Last month's jobs report was dismal, with the country's...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Gone are the days when ethanol topped the list of policy priorities in Iowa, the corn-rich state that hosts the leadoff presidential caucuses. But apparently some of the 2012 Republican presidential field isn't giving up on the issue, magnifying the relevance of ethanol subsidies to suit their campaigns. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty calls ending the subsidy a hard truth, while former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman says his opposition to the subsidy is why he won't bother to campaign there. But powerful Iowa Republicans also want to phase out the federal tax credit for ethanol,...

DILLSBURG, Pa. -- Asked Tuesday whether she supports the federal subsidy of ethanol, an always critical issue in the presidential nominating cycle, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin went one step further and called for the elimination of all energy subsidies. "I think that all of our energy subsidies need to be relooked at today and eliminated," Palin told RCP during a quick stop at a coffee shop in this picturesque town tucked into the south-central Pennsylvania countryside. "And we need to make sure that we're investing and allowing our businesses to invest in reliable energy products right now that aren't...

Subsidies: This week, Amtrak marks its 40th anniversary, which means that for decades it's wasted tens of billions of tax dollars. Naturally, Washington wants to reward this with billions more under the guise of "high-speed" rail. To say that Amtrak is a failed business is to be unkind to failure. Consider: • A Pew study found that all but three of Amtrak's 44 lines lost money in 2008, with an average loss of $32 per passenger. Even the heavily used Northeast Regional line was a money-loser. • Each year, Amtrak relies on more than $1.5 billion in taxpayer subsidies —...

To ensure there's enough corn to fuel humans as well as vehicles, scientists are urging more research into boosting corn yields and improving ethanol production. Many key issues related to expanding the nation's ethanol industry aren't being studied under current government programs, said Kenneth G. Cassman, director of the Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "It's the core issue to ensuring that we don't come up short in food supply, and don't have high consumer prices, and can still maintain expansion of the ethanol industry," he said. Cassman is co-author of "Convergence of Agriculture and Energy:...

AL-KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia (AFP) - Shooting subsided at the site of a hostage-taking drama in this Saudi oil city after a bout of intense firing, an AFP correspondent reported. Automatic and heavy weapons were used at 2:20 am (23:20 GMT Saturday), suggesting security forces had begun storming the building where gunmen are holding an unknown number of captives, the correspondent said from just outside The Oasis compound in Al-Khobar after reporters were ordered out of the facility. But after around 10 minutes, the firing became intermittent and eventually died down, indicating the assault might not yet have started or was...