Breaking News

A new report by the National Employment Law Project says that the bankruptcy of Michigan’s unemployment insurance fund can be blamed on a series of ill-advised tax breaks given to employers starting in the 1990s. Noting that the state has borrowed $3.2 billion from the federal government to keep the unemployment insurance fund solvent over the last few years and that the state must make a $117 million payment on those loans by the end of September, the report says: Michigan’s most recent round of benefit cutting began in March 2011, when Michigan lawmakers enacted legislation to reduce UI benefits by six weeks (from a maximum of 26 weeks to 20 weeks for a regular state claim). This change will take effect for new UI claims filed after January 15, 2012.

Unprompted, TWI video intern Abbey Brandon produced a trippy (and informative!) video, breaking down this year’s open Senate seats and competitive Senate races.

The conventional political wisdom says that the entry of Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, into the presidential race is bad news for former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, since the two will compete for similar voters in the Republican primary. However, a former Giuliani speechwriter and the staffers at High Times , the magazine devoted to marijuana, both agree that Johnson is the better choice between the two longshot libertarian Republicans.

NPR makes a pretty good case for the Commission on Hope, Growth & Opportunity, a major 501(c)(4) player in this year’s elections which not only avoids

The May jobs number is out, and at first blush it looks good. The economy added 431,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rate tracked down to 9.7 percent. But

When future historians dissect the press coverage of the first black person to run as the presidential nominee of a major party, they will surely marvel at all

IOWA CITY, IA.

Kevin Costner (yes, that Kevin Costner) has proposed a nearly $895 million plan to prevent future oil spills. Costner, who starred in the 1995 masterpiece

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio would like you to think he’s the toughest anti-immigration cop in the world.

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson told a radio program that he has already filed fundraising paperwork with the state, a first step in running for Democrat Herb Kohl’s former Senate seat.

A study, the first of its kind, shows that undocumented immigrants pay sales taxes and property taxes, and at least half pay an income tax. # According to an Immigration Policy Center report released yesterday, tax day, the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy has estimated the state and local taxes paid in 2010 by households that are headed by unauthorized immigrants.

This is my favorite part of President Obama’s remarks at the Fort Hood memorial: It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But

Florida’s unemployment rate hit 10.9 percent for August, but 12 out of 20 metropolitan areas had higher unemployment rates, according to the “Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment” report (.pdf) released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The study shows that in almost all states’ metropolitan areas, the unemployment rate dropped between August 2010 and August 2011. The Florida metropolitan areas with the highest unemployment were Palm Coast — followed by Sebastian-Vero Beach, Port St.Lucie, Ocala and Lakeland-Winter Haven.

A finger is the latest casualty of the health care battle. Maine finds itself in the health care spotlight. McConnell on Obama’s health care speech:

Conservative data hound Matthew Vadum shows how several left-leaning groups, such as the Center for Constitutional Rights, were bilked by the just-convicted

As the House works to set limits on carbon emissions, electric utilities see opportunity.

Eric Kleefeld has a great rundown of the Republican players who’ve taken sides in the New York 23rd Congressional District special election between GOP

Pat Toomey, the former Club for Growth president and leading Republican candidate in Pennsylvania’s 2010 Senate race, has announced a $1 million haul in the

The president of the Obama administration’s shadow Pentagon lends support to Sen. Carl Levin’s (D-Mich.) proposal this morning to bolster the Afghan security

Michigan health officials say no one should eat any lake trout from Lake Michigan because the fish contain dangerous levels of PCB, dioxins, and the now-banned pesticide chlordane .