Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
Yemeni Link To Airline Plot Complicates Gitmo Plan (AP/YAHOO!)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The alleged Yemeni roots of the attack on a Detroit-bound airliner threaten to complicate U.S. efforts to empty Guantanamo, where nearly half the remaining detainees are from Yemen.
Finding a home for them is key to President Barack Obama’s pledge to close the prison, but emerging details of the plot are [...]
Credit Card Companies Slam Consumers With New Fees Not Covered By Credit Card Act (Creditcards.com)
While the Credit CARD Act of 2009 puts an end to abusive tactics card issuers have long used to boost their profits, consumers need only to look at their card statements to know there’s no reason to celebrate.
In the past year, card issuers have rolled out or expanded their use of other ways to collect [...]
Artificial Sweetners: Are They Any Good For You?
The Internet is flooded with rumors that artificial sweeteners are dangerous to your health. Is there any truth to these rumors? Should you worry?
A short introduction to intense sweetness:
Sweet tasting foods are rare in nature. Fruits and vegetables have some sweetness to them, but they’re also packed with lots of fiber, water, micronutrients and phytochemicals, [...]
Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Obama Approval Continues To Drop (Rasmussen)
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 25% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -16 (see trends).
Confidence in the War on Terror has fallen following the [...]
MAN IN THE MIDDLE OPINION: TIME FOR OBAMA TO LEAVE THE GOLF COURSE, RETURN TO WASHINTON AND HAND NAPOLITANO HER ‘WALKING PAPERS’
Regarding the attempted terrorist attack on an inbound international flight, there is enough blame to go around. As fresh intelligence information reaches us by the hour it is clear the failure stretches from Yemen to Amsterdam to London to Washington. The breakdown of procedures and information sharing will span several key agencies and a number [...]
The Pros and Cons of Coffee Drinking (Wall Street Journal)
To judge by recent headlines, coffee could be the latest health-food craze, right up there with broccoli and whole-wheat bread.
But don’t think you’ll be healthier graduating from a tall to a venti just yet. While there has been a splash of positive news about coffee lately, there may still be grounds for concern.
This month alone, [...]
GM Plans Fire Sale To Dump Inventory: Pontaic & Saturns Get Deep Discount (Wall Street Journal)
General Motors Co. is offering its dealers hefty incentives to move thousands of leftover vehicles from its discontinued Saturn and Pontiac brands. The unusual tactic could inflate the car maker’s December sales and cut the cost to car buyers by as much as 46% off the sticker price.
In what is equivalent to a year-end fire [...]
Estate Tax Set To Expire Thursday (USA Today)
Benjamin Franklin’s maxim that “nothing is certain but death and taxes” remains true. But a congressional stalemate has left the federal estate tax, the levy on assets left to heirs, in doubt for at least part of 2010.
The tax is poised to expire Thursday, though the House and Senate are expected to pass a reauthorization, [...]
TERROR UPDATE: Obama Orders Review of Flight Screenings (CNN)
President Obama has ordered a review of security screening processes after Friday’s botched terror attack on a U.S. airliner, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Sunday.
Appearing on the ABC program “This Week” and the NBC program “Meet the Press,” Gibbs said Obama is receiving regular briefings by his national security staff on the incident [...]
When To Start Taking Social Security (Yahoo! Marketwatch)
Calculating the best age to take Social Security benefits is tricky, but critical.
Many Americans take Social Security early, at age 62, because they really need it. They’re in poor health or unemployed or both. Others take benefits early because they’re worried they’ll lose out on what’s rightfully theirs if benefits are reduced. But few people [...]
