An article in Thursday’s Post-Dispatch reports that a group of health officials are advocating for a penny-an-ounce tax on sugary soda waters.

The group, which had an article in Wednesday’s New England Journal of Medicine, say the tax could raise $14.9 billion in its first year and help reduce American’s caloric intake by 10 percent.

The group argues that the tax could help curb consumption of sodas and other sugary drinks just as tobacco taxes have curbed cigarette use.

While President Barack Obama has said the tax would be worth considering, the idea is a tough sell to members of Congress who are…

The Associated Press has reported:

The House formally rebuked Republican Rep. Joe Wilson Tuesday for shouting “You lie” at President Barack Obama during last week’s nationally televised speech to Congress.

The rare resolution of disapproval was pushed through by Democrats insisting that Wilson, a South Carolina lawmaker, had violated basic rules of decorum and civility in his outburst. Republicans dismissed the vote as a political “witch hunt” and a waste of precious time and taxpayers’ money.

Wilson had called the White House to apologize shortly after the incident, and he said at the time that the president “graciously accepted my apology and the…

First it was allegations of torture, now it’s a CIA program kept secret from Congress that has the Bush administration in hot water again.

According to The New York Times, leading Democrats on Sunday demanded investigations of the highly classified counterterrorism program kept secret from the Congressional leadership on the orders of Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Wall Street Journal cited anonymous government officials who said the secret program was a plan to kill or capture al-Qaida operatives. The Journal also reported that money had been spent on planning and training but had not become fully operational.

The assertion that Vice President Dick Cheney ordered…

As Congress considers the Obama Administration’s proposed cap-and-trade program, Republicans recently drafted their own energy proposal that focuses heavily on nuclear power.

Republicans’ Energy Proposal (Source: New York Times)

• sets a goal of building 100 Nuclear reactors over the next 20 years
• provides incentives for increased oil and gas production on public and private lands and offshore
• authorize oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska
• does not include any mandatory cap on emissions of heat-trapping gases, relying instead on nuclear energy, natural gas and renewable fuels like wind, solar and biomass power to reduce production of the gases

Here’s a video of Senator Lamar Alexander talking…