Rory Reid, the eldest son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), is the chief representative for a Chinese energy firm planning to build a $5-billion solar plant on public land in Laughlin, Nevada. ENN Energy Group, a clean-energy firm that manufactures a range of renewable energy solutions, is seeking to construct its solar panel facility on a 9,000-acre stretch of land on a Clark County desert plot.

The controversy stems from the fact that Clark County officials voted to sell ENN the public land for $4.5 million, even though it was appraised at $38.6 million. Conveniently, Sen. Reid has been one of ENN’s most prominent supporters, having helped mobilize the firm during a 2011 trip to China.

The U.S. national debt eclipsed the $16-trillion mark on August 31, the Treasury Department reported September 4, adding to Republicans’ growing criticisms of President Obama’s purportedly failed economic policies. In the fiscal year ending September 30, the government is estimated to spawn a deficit of more than $1.1 trillion, leaving tax revenue far behind government spending and nudging the national debt closer to its $16.394-trillion borrowing limit. 

The federal government, via the U.S. Department of Labor, is dispersing $75.7 million in taxpayer-funded grants to offer high school dropouts vocational training in construction, healthcare, information technology, and other in-demand occupational fields. 

An Atlanta math teacher allegedly offered students the answers to a test because she thought they were “dumb as hell,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported August 29. Shayla Smith, a former fifth-grade teacher at Dobbs Elementary School, was responsible for overseeing students while they were taking state-sponsored tests, and all tests monitored by Ms. Smith were reportedly blotched with questionable erasure marks, amounting to a “practically impossible frequency of changes from wrong to right [answers],” according to the Atlanta paper.

Among all types of U.S. educational institutions, Americans believe that public schools offer the worst quality of education, according to a new Gallup poll released August 29. In addition to public education, the survey examined four types of U.S. schooling: charter schools, independent private schools, parochial or church-related schools, and homeschooling.

The attorney general of New York has launched an investigation into whether the energy-drink industry is misleading consumers about the ingredients and overall health effects of its products. Eric Schneiderman issued subpoenas to three manufacturers — including Monster Beverage Corp., Living Essentials LLC, and PepsiCo Inc., which manufactures the popular AMP energy beverage — last month requesting details regarding the firms’ marketing and advertising practices.

“Is ObamaCare a government takeover of medicine?” That’s the question Forbes contributor Carolyn McClanahan posed in a recent blog post, as she attempted to quell “misconceptions” about the President’s Affordable Care Act, while promoting key aspects of the law. McClanahan concedes the law is far from perfect, but that it is “the most significant attempt our country has ever made at reforming our costly and inefficient health care system.”

McClanahan attempts to belittle those ObamaCare opponents who allege, “If the government has one iota of involvement in any form, it is a government takeover.” But while President Obama’s landmark healthcare overhaul may not establish a single-payer healthcare system, it has authorized the government to take over crucial aspects of the system, so analysts can arguably conclude that the law has ignited a “government takeover.”

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who defected from the Republican Party in 2010 to run for the U.S. Senate as an independent, is slotted to speak at the Democratic National Convention September 4-6 in Charlotte, North Carolina. After being defeated by Republican Marco Rubio for the Florida senate seat in 2010, Crist has steadily drifted away from the Republican Party, now seemingly evolving into a full-fledged Democrat.

Strict lead-based paint regulations imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have resulted in costly fines to businesses and landlords looking to sell or rent their property. “Thinking of renting or selling a home or apartment?” the EPA asked in a press release in April 2010, when its Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule went into effect. “Make sure you disclose its lead-based paint history. Mr. Wolfe Landau did not and it cost him a $20,000 fine.”

Billions of dollars in federal tax credits are flowing to illegal immigrants thanks to a loophole in the tax code that allows them to reap government dollars without authorization to work. A report issued last year by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration estimated claims of $4.2 billion in 2010.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) projected that through the Additional Child Tax Credit, illegal immigrants could procure about $7.4 billion this year, more than quadruple what was paid out four years ago and a startling sum more than the $161-million payout in 2001. While illegal immigrants are not eligible for similar tax credits, a dubious provision in the law grants them eligibility to receive the child tax credit — even if they paid no taxes.