The latest development in the Obamacare debate is to pin the technical failures of federal exchanges on the Republican Party. The exchanges have traditionally been seen as a test of the Obama administration, for the simple reason that they were designed and implemented by the bureaucracy, isolated from Congress’ direct power to interfere or obstruct. […]

There was another oil spill over the weekend, this time in Canada, and this time the result of a derailed train. This comes on the heels of a pipeline leak in North Dakota two weeks ago, and a catastrophic rail explosion in Quebec in July. The train that derailed in Alberta on Saturday carried four […]

Chicago, like New York City, is becoming a microcosm of California, a two-tiered society where public policy props up and privileges the tastes of the rich while ignoring the needs of the poor. A new piece in City Journal explains that Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s ostensibly painful and difficult cuts to services like public safety and […]

As the American economy continues its crawl from the financial crisis, members of generation Y are being left behind: Almost 6 million young Americans aged 16 to 24 are neither in school nor working, according to a new report by the Opportunity National Coalition.The consequences of long-term unemployment can bedevil young americans long after they find […]

The idea of the $10,000 Bachelor’s degree made headlines when Texas Governor Rick Perry brought it up two years ago, but it has nearly disappeared from coverage since then and only two states, Texas and Florida, have taken up the idea.This New York Times piece examining the Texas and Florida programs may explain why the idea has dropped off […]

Ukraine’s days of importing most of its natural gas from Russia’s Gazprom might be coming to a close, much to Moscow’s chagrin and Kiev’s delight. Two new energy deals—one to develop shale gas reserves with Chevron, and another to explore oil and gas projects in the Black Sea with Eni and EDF—are set to be […]

Things really aren’t looking good in Egypt. The number of Christians fleeing the country is growing, a trend capped this weekend by a horrific incident. Unknown assailants on a motorbike opened fire at a wedding ceremony at the Church of the Virgin Mary in a working class neighborhood near Cairo, killing four. One of the dead […]

Is the dramatic rebound of California’s bonds just a mirage? That’s the question on the minds of a number of investors who think the bonds are still too unpredictable and susceptible to fluctuations in the state economy. Bloomberg reports: The best predictor of California’s revenue is the performance of the stock market, Jason Sisney, deputy state […]

You’ve probably never heard of the city of Harbin in northeast China, but 11 million people live there, and they can’t see ten meters in front of them. That’s because a toxic blanket of smog is smothering the city. Local monitors are recording record levels of small, dangerous particulate matter in the air.This could be […]

For refugees from the Syrian civil war, life is pretty bad, but the Alawites who have fled to Turkey might have the worst lot. For starters, their route into Turkey is particularly dangerous. Many came to refugee camps in southern Turkey via a route that took them near Aleppo, which is partly controlled by the […]