Theodoric Meyer, ProPublica

New IRS Rules On Dark Money Likely Won’t Be Ready Before 2016 Election

«For the people who are pinning their hopes on IRS rules changing how these groups operate, I think they’re kidding themselves, … I don’t think it’s going to happen.»

Photo: Light Brigading/cc/flickr The Internal Revenue Service says it won't come out with new proposed rules for so-called dark money groups until late spring at the earliest, increasing the likelihood that no changes will take effect before the 2016 elections. These groups — social welfare nonprofits that can engage in politics, but do

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What Happened After Congress Announced Rising Sea Levels? Very Little

Congress acknowledged climate change through the rising of sea levels last year, but no progress has been made on how to protect from the future risks of flooding.

  Congress did something unusual last year. It passed a bill that acknowledged that sea levels are rising — i.e., that climate change is happening. The measure in question, buried near the end of a 584-page transportation funding bill, also required some modest action: That the Federal Emergency Management Agency use “the best

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US Aid To Egypt: Where Does The Money Go And How Is It Spent?

Questions about the aid, including how much the U.S. is giving Egypt, what’s changed in the years since the Arab Spring and what the money buys.

  This article has been updated to reflect new developments. It was first published on Jan. 31, 2011. The Obama administration is reportedly preparing to cut much of the $1.55 billion in annual aid that the U.S. sends to Egypt. The move, which has yet to be formally announced, comes after more than 1,000 Egyptians have died in a

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4 Ways The Government Subsidizes Coastal Rebuilding And Ignores Rising Sea Levels

Critics say paying to restore beaches year after year is one of a number of ways the government subsidizes less-than-smart development.

Contractors with the Army Corps of Engineers last month finished pumping more than 1.8 million cubic yards of sand onto the beach in Ocean City, N.J., which had been damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Using a combination of Sandy aid and funds already earmarked for adding sand to beaches, the federal government picked up $14 million of the roughly $18

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Even As Waters Rise, Congress and Obama Cut Funding For New Flood Maps

As the U.S. grows warmer and extreme weather more common, the federal government’s flood insurance maps are becoming increasingly important.

As the United States grows warmer and extreme weather more common, the federal government’s flood insurance maps are becoming increasingly important. The maps, drawn by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, dictate the monthly premiums millions of American households pay for flood insurance. They are also designed to give homeowners and

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Paid To Prescribe? Two Dozen Doctors Named In Novartis Kickback Case

A lavish party was one of many events alleged to be held by Novartis, designed to direct kickbacks to doctors who prescribed their drugs.

On Jan. 23, 2008, the pharmaceutical company Novartis threw a party at a restaurant on Long Island. The party, which cost $1,250, was ostensibly for doctors to learn about cardiovascular drugs made by the company, with Novartis sales representatives present as well. But no doctors ever came, according to a whistleblower lawsuit against Novartis

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What Went Wrong In West, Texas — And Where Were The Regulators?

Casket sit in front of the stage of a memorial for firefighters who were killed in the West, Texas, fertilizer plant explosion prior to President Barack Obama’s arrival, Thursday, April 25, 2013, at Baylor University in Waco,Texas. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) A week after a blast at a Texas fertilizer plant killed at least 15 people […]

A week after a blast at a Texas fertilizer plant killed at least 15 people and hurt more than 200, authorities still don't know exactly why the West Chemical and Fertilizer Company plant exploded. Here's what we do know: The fertilizer plant hadn't been inspected by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration since 1985. Its owners do not

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