National

Is your family budget really like the federal budget?

How The Federal Budget Is Just Like Your Family Budget (Or Not)

7:51pm March 19, 2013

by Tamara Keith

Amid the budget debate, there's one comparison you hear a lot. As House Speaker John Boehner has put it: "Every family in America has to balance their budget. Washington should, too." But just how accurate is that analogy?

Queue Listen Now

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., questions Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke during a Senate hearing last month. Senators from both ends of the political spectrum argue that financial reforms are insufficient to protect taxpayers from potential r

Odd Political Bedfellows Agree: Banks Still Too Big To Fail

7:51pm March 19, 2013

by John Ydstie

On the political far left and right, some believe that large banks still pose a threat to taxpayers. These banks are so big, they argue, that the government will step in with support if needed. Still, the more mainstream view in Washington is that the Dodd-Frank reforms are sufficient to handle the problem.

Queue Listen Now

Veterans Face Red Tape Accessing Disability, Other Benefits

5:05pm March 19, 2013

On the 10-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, journalist Aaron Glantz talks about the challenges American service members face in accessing disability and other benefits. Glantz says there is a backlog of 900,000 claims and that the average waiting period is 273 days.

Queue Listen Now

Led by the Rev. Willie Phillips (center), protesters march in February against violence in and around Club Majestic.

National

Among Thousands Of Gun Deaths, Only One Charles Foster Jr.

9:45pm March 18, 2013

by Melissa Block

Charles Foster Jr., 24, died on New Year's Day in Columbus, Ga., just one of tens of thousands of Americans who will be killed by a firearm this year. While mass shootings like the one in Newtown, Conn., attract a frenzy of media coverage, most gun homicides, like Foster's, garner little news attention.

Queue Listen Now

Arizona Attorney General Thomas Horne talks with reporters outside the U.S. Supreme Court after oral arguments in the case challenging Arizona's voter registration law on Monday.

National

Supreme Court Tests Limits Of Voter Registration Law

6:57pm March 18, 2013

by Nina Totenberg

The court heard arguments Monday in a case that seeks to redefine a federal law aimed at streamlining the nation's voter registration process. At issue is an Arizona requirement that prospective voters prove their citizenship.

Queue Listen Now

Ruth Ann Steinhagen, then-19, in the Cook County Jail after she shot Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Eddie Waitkus in 1949. On the table: a photo of Waitkus taken in the hospital where he was recovering from his bullet wound. The story of his shooting

Stalker Who Inspired 'The Natural' Dies; Lived Real Life In Obscurity

5:54pm March 18, 2013

by Mark Memmott

Ruth Ann Steinhagen was 19 when she shot Eddie Waitkus, a Philadelphia Phillie. She had been obsessed with him, and lured Waitkus to a Chicago hotel room. Initially judged to be insane, she was never tried. For about 60 years, she lived a quiet life in Chicago.

Queue Listen Now

News Corp. Education Tablet: For The Love Of Learning?

1:32pm March 18, 2013

by David Folkenflik

The Amplify tablet is specially designed for K-12 classroom interaction. While the company touts the ability to improve teaching and learning, critics have questioned News Corp.'s motives.

Queue Listen Now

A voter fills out her ballot during early voting before the 2012 presidential election at the Gila County Recorder's Office in Globe, Ariz., on Oct. 26.

Can States Go Beyond Federal Law On Voter Registration?

12:38pm March 18, 2013

by Nina Totenberg

At issue at the Supreme Court on Monday is an Arizona law that requires prospective voters to provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote. A federal appeals court ruled last year that the state law must fall because it conflicts with federal law allowing registration by mail.

Queue Listen Now

An opponent of the New York Police Department's controversial stop-and-frisk policy marches last year in New York City. The NYPD says the stops assist crime prevention, while opponents say they involve racial profiling and civil rights abuses.

National

Lawsuit Over NYPD's 'Stop And Frisk' Program Heads To Court

12:38pm March 18, 2013

by Joel Rose

A lawsuit challenging the New York Police Department's use of warrantless stops in high-crime neighborhoods goes to federal court Monday. Critics say the practice is an unconstitutional invasion of privacy. But defenders say it's legal and has helped make the city safer.

Queue Listen Now

Sanford's House Bid A Test Of S.C. Voters' Will To Forgive

12:38pm March 18, 2013

by Kathy Lohr

Mark Sanford, the South Carolina governor whose infamous affair led to his political downfall, is among 16 Republicans in Tuesday's primary. But he is by far the best-known and the most controversial. The special election will fill the seat left open when Tim Scott was tapped to replace retiring Sen. Jim DeMint.

Queue Listen Now