Daily Archives: January 22, 2008

Corruption may topple Italian ruling coalition

Italian Justice Minister Clemente Mastella has resigned after police placed his wife under house arrest following an investigation into corruption in the local health care system. Mastella, who is also under investigation, still controls seats in the Senate. Prime Minister Romano Prodi, who had a razor-thin one-vote majority prior to Mastella’s resignation, now faces an…

U.S. Congress steamrolls White House on earmarks

Here in the U.S. we’ve seen 7 years of radical expansion of executive branch power. The most frustrating aspect of this power-grab has been the near unanimous lack of opposition from Congress. With a few exceptions, the legislative branch has been unwilling to really push back against the Bush White House. Until today, when both…