Entries for November 2007

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has fired what it calls the "opening salvo" in the fight against the Warner-Lieberman climate bill.

The path was a long one, but federal prosecutors secured guilty pleas this week for three individuals who had illegally sold firearms to criminals at a notorious New Orleans gun shop.

Edward Lazear, chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters yesterday that economic growth continues to look good despite the housing and credit crunch.

The social networking site Facebook is changing a controversial new advertising system that turned its users into marketing tools. The advertising system entitled "Beacon" allowed users to see what their friends had recently purchased online and in some instances spoiled Christmas and Hanukkah surprises. Users now have to give explicit permission for their online purchases to be revealed.

A plane heading to southwest Turkey from Istanbul crashed today, killing everyone on board, including 50 passengers and seven crew members. The cause of the crash is unknown, but investigators do not believe terrorism played a part.

After striking for nearly a month, Hollywood writers and studios may be getting closer to an agreement that would put TV shows and movies back in production. Producers yesterday said they would be willing to pay writers millions of dollars for work shown on the Internet. Writers will still picket today and Monday and will head back to the negotiating table Tuesday to consider the deal.

Progress comes slowly, but the Justice Department is making strides in increasing its records of mentally ill individuals to aid in background checks during firearms purchases, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Thursday.

As U.S. News 's Liz Halloran reported earlier today, the heated CNN/YouTube Republican presidential debate last night proved particularly rough for Iowa caucus front-runner and former Gov. Mitt Romney, who was pushed repeatedly to clarify his stances on a number of fire-and-brimstone issues, like abortion.

His defensiveness showed. According to an (unscientific) U.S. News analysis of all eight candidates at the debate, Romney, over the course of the two-hour event, had the fastest average rate of speaking, as measured in words per minute.

Insurance companies aren't the only ones who can negotiate lower prices for medical bills; patients can too. Only 31 percent of Americans have tried to negotiate the price of medical bills, a survey by Consumer Reports National Research Center found. But of those who tried, 93 percent have been successful at least once, and more than a third saved over $100. U.S. News's Emily Brandon writes today about five ways you can lower those hefty bills.