Unless you live in Washington, D.C., or the Minnesota Iron Range, it’s possible you’ve never heard of James L. Oberstar, who wants to spend half a trillion federal tax dollars over the next six years on highway and transportation projects.

But, be…

Thomas J. Reese writes in the Washington Post about the pope’s message on the economy:

Pope Benedict’s long awaited encyclical calls for a radical rethinking of economics so that it is guided not simply by profits but by “an ethics which is people-centered.”

“Profit…

Post-Dispatch file photo.

By any standard, American health care is the world’s most expensive.
• We spend twice as much per person as the average of other large developed nations — $6,714 in 2006, compared to $3,414. In 2008, per person spending is…

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has asked state legislators to submit proposals for a major capital program to fund projects on university campuses and at other state facilities. It’s a sound idea.

The money, perhaps as much as $1 billion, would be…

President Obama at Georgetown: How's that for visuals? (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

In a major economic speech Tuesday at Georgetown University’s Gaston Hall, President Barack Obama turned to the Sermon on the Mount to urge that America, in rebuilding its economy, “build our…

The Obama speech: The people liked it, the markets didn't.

On Wednesday, the day after President Barack Obama appeared before Congress to outline his hyper-ambitious economic recovery to the nation, the financial markets opened 1 to 2 points lower. The Libertarian Party…

Stimulus money could be flowing to states as soon as this week, CNN reports. Obama still is warning governors, mayors and others not to use the money irrationally or without directed purpose.

The Washington Post says that most Americans back Obama on…

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved an $819 billion economic stimulus plan that contains the most sweeping expansion of Medicaid in more than a decade.

For the first time, millions of unemployed Americans and their families would become eligible —…

Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America today in Washington, D.C.

In his speech after the oath, administered clumsily by Chief Justice John Roberts, Obama asked Americans to work hard so that America…

Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg

So, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg wants Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat. Is she qualified? The New York Times takes a look at her resume. New York Daily News takes a look at her spirit. Is this the rebirth of the Kennedy dynasty? If…

Nearly 2 million American jobs have disappeared over the past 12 months. Nearly 3 million more could be lost if the American auto industry fails. In that context, a $15 billion federal loan hardly seems unreasonable.
But congressional efforts to broker…

This AP story reports scary figures from the Labor Department. (Go here for the NYT the story.) More than 533,000 jobs were cut in November, the highest in 34 years, according to the story. NPR reported this morning that the Big Three…

President George W. Bush meets with President-elect Barack Obama in the oval office last week.

McClatchy Newspapers has an interesting piece today about the co-presidency taking shape between outgoing President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama.

David Lightman writes:

WASHINGTON — America has…

Chicago Tribune photo

Call it a sign of these painful economic times: The Chicago Tribune reported this week that as the economy sours, the number of people being paid to donate blood plasma has jumped. Three years ago, about 10 million…

Now comes the hard part. President-elect Barack Obama, having won a historic mandate for change, must make it happen.
He faces monumental problems: “Two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century,” as he put it in…

As a candidate for Missouri governor, Attorney General Jay Nixon told anyone who’d listen about his plans to restore Medicaid coverage to the more than 100,000 poor, elderly and disabled people who lost it in 2005.
On Tuesday, voters responded, sweeping…

Congress traditionally avoids controversial issues in the weeks between a presidential election and the Christmas holidays. This year may be different.
Spooked by the economy’s slow response to the $700 billion Wall Street rescue package passed in September and the erratic…

Last week’s 18 percent stock market plunge was sparked by fear that the American economy is headed into a deep recession driven by a disastrous worldwide freeze-up of the credit system. Monday’s 11 percent rally reflected hope that the industrial…

Krugman

Princeton economist and New York Times columnist won the Nobel Prize in economics. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said it selected Krugman, whose columns appear on Tuesdays in the Post-Dispatch, “for his analysis of trade patterns and location of…