The Governor’s Eugenics Compensation Task Force advocates that North Carolina provide reparations to surviving victims of the state’s past sterilization program. The program, which spanned from 1929 to 1974 — most popular during the 1930s — subjected 7,600 residents to forced sterilization, of whom analysts estimate 1,500 to 2,000 are still alive today.

Another political sex scandal has surfaced, as U.S. Rep. David Wu (D-Ore., left), has been exposed for indulging in elicit relations with an unidentified 18-year-old woman, only a few weeks after Rep. Anthony Weiner was caught sending lewd photos to young women on Twitter � and only a week before the U.S. default deadline.

Over the years, the Federal Trade Commission�s promotion of "consumer protection" has escalated, and a dominant role the agency currently holds involves regulating corporate marketing strategies. The FTC�s latest victim in the arena of consumer protection is food marketing, more specifically, food marketing to children.

Legislated in 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson, the Federal Trade Commission Act was a "trust-busting" prescription of the Progressive Era, but it further evolved into a broad, regulatory regime that now envelopes the private marketplace.

Despite high unemployment and the prolonged burden of lethargic economic growth, U.S. Congressional leaders are seeing their personal wealth rise. With unemployment at 9.1 percent and the private sector short on cash, everyday Americans desperately seek work, while those fortunate to have work suffer from benefit and wage cuts.

In a 51-47 vote, the U.S. Senate nixed a Democratic proposal to confiscate billions of dollars in tax breaks from some of the largest oil companies. Sixty votes were needed to push through Sen. Robert Menendez’s (D-N.J.) bill, which would have stripped billions in tax deductions from the "big five" oil companies, which includes BP, Exxon, Shell, Chevron, and ConocoPhilips.

President Obama benefits from a fundraising advantage that Republican presidential hopefuls can’t quite match: Access to the White House. According to an investigation by The Associated Press, over 60 of the President’s top campaign donors have attended the White House more than once for state dinners, holiday events, and meetings with top administration advisers.

President Obama’s reelection campaign reported Monday that it raised more than $45 million in February, a significant boost from the $29.1 million raised in January but far behind what it collected in February of 2008. "In February, 348,000 people donated to raise over $45 million for this campaign," read a tweet posted by the campaign. "Thank you."

Solyndra’s financial woes prompted White House officials to snub company executives from President Obama’s exclusive State of the Union box in January 2011, according to new e-mails released Friday. In May 2010, the President said that "companies like Solyndra" are the "true engine of economic growth," and in his 2010 State of the Union address, Obama claimed that the firm was "a California business that will put a thousand people to work making solar panels."

"Pool-mageddon" was avoided last Thursday, albeit temporarily, when a federal regulation requiring all public pools to install handicapped-accessible ramps and lifts was extended for 60 days. Falling under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), hotels and other organizations with publicly-accessible swimming pools could face a $100,000 fine for not complying with the rule. The regulation stems from amended rules under Title II and Title III of the ADA, which President Obama announced last July.

President Obama raised several hundred million dollars during the 2008 election, more than twice what Republican rival John McCain raised and a far cry more than any other U.S. President before him. The result? Obama’s fundraising achievements have ushered in a degree of crony capitalism Americans have quite possibly never witnessed before.