Articles by Lillian Ewing

Sen. Bernie Sanders talked about protecting Social Security in the Senate Budget Committee in 2011. Photo: Bernie Sanders' Office Almost every American reaching retirement age is expecting support from Social Security benefits. An earner’s pay-in to the Social Security system and retirement age affect when they can enter retirement with benefits and how much money the government will be paying in Social Security income. As the federal deficit balloons and the fiscal cliff seems farther from res...

The Supreme Court has granted the request of Liberty University and ordered the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to re-hear the case about the constitutionality of portions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, also known as Obamacare (Affordable Care Act). The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals will consider the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate for health insurance coverage that could potentially include coverage for abortio...

Photo: Ericsson A new US-Asia Pacific partnership, formally called the US-Asia Pacific Comprehensive Partnership for a Sustainable Energy, is an alliance between President Obama, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that proposes the expansion of countries' energy and environmental cooperation by encouraging the development of affordable, secure, and cleaner energy supplies throughout the region. The US will provide up to $6 billion to support...

The Obama Administration has taken the next step in health care reform with several proposed revisions to the Affordable Care Act.  The proposed rules cover various changes to existing law that will affect employees, employers, and states alike. The major changes in the proposed rules include making it illegal for insurance companies to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions, making sure that health plans offer a core package of items and services known as essential health ben...

The Internet Radio Fairness Act (H.R. 6480 and S. 3609) (IRFA) addresses the allegedly discriminatory provisions for setting royalty rates for Internet music broadcasters in comparison to satellite or cable music broadcasters. Internet music broadcasters currently pay five times the amount of royalties – as a percentage of revenue – as other digital music broadcasters like satellite and cable. IRFA would likely result in decreased royalty rates for Internet music broadcasters, such as Pandora, ...

Credit: Militaryradio.com The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was enacted in 1978 under President Carter with the purpose of prescribing electronic surveillance rights and procedures within the United States to collect foreign intelligence information. FISA provides a framework for allowing electronic surveillance in cases where national security is at issue.  More specifically, it allows for surveillance of “communications of foreign powers or agents of foreign powers.” FISA Amen...

Easy Vote-by-Mail Option in California The California Secretary of State, Debra Brown, has made it convenient for Californians to vote by mail. California’s stance on mail-in voting (“vote-by-mail”) is permissive to say the least: “Any registered voter may vote using a vote-by-mail ballot instead of going to the polls on Election Day.” Further, this can be done extremely soon before the election: voters can mail their requests to vote by mail up until a week before the day of the election. Fo...

Editor's Note: This article is the second in a series of developing stories surrounding the disclosure of the donors behind the Arizona group, Americans for Responsible Leadership. The first in the series is available at "Americans for Responsible Leadership Inquiry [Developing Story]" Americans for Responsible Leadership Appeals Lower Court Ruling in Favor of FPPC Americans for Responsible Leadership (ARL) has followed through with its promise to appeal the Supreme Court’s (i.e., the lower co...

Americans for Responsible Leadership Developing Story - Third District Court of Appeals Denies Attorney General's request to reveal backers of Americans for Responsible Leadership. Arizona group can continue to obscure identity. Appeal to Supreme Court likely. The group Americans for Responsible Leadership (“ARL”) defines itself as an organization that “seeks to promote the general welfare by educating the public on concepts that advance government accountability, transparency, ethics, and rel...