A significant – and often overlooked -- result of what’s been dubbed the Great Recession is that in just over half of the 50 states, the programs that pay unemployment insurance to workers who’ve lost their jobs are insolvent, leading states to borrow more than $39 billion from the federal government to keep writing checks.

In just a little over two months, the Coffee Party movement has evolved into a media powerhouse.  Viewed as a less emotional, more left-leaning competitor to the Tea Party, the Coffee Party continues to draw the attention of concerned citizens seeking a new vision for American politics.

As of March 31, the Coffee Party had racked up the following impressive stats:

1.  192,850 fans on Facebook

Obama's proposed 2011 budget has California conservationists fretting. Several agricultural conservation programs initiated in the 2002 Farm Bill (whose funding has declined each year since then) are now facing drastic cutbacks. The concerned groups argue that the proposed cuts could result in further damage to California’s rural economy and halt the steady progress being made to make the state's farms more sustainable and ecologically sound.

Key issues remain to be hammered out with the comprehensive immigration reform blueprint proposed by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).  This is the conclusion from a recent Yahoo News article covering potential fallout from the new legislation.

Caltrain is a commuter rail line serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley. It is operated by Amtrak, funded by local and regional governmental entities, and runs from Gilroy north to downtown San Francisco. It is heavily used by commuters to get to work, and connects to BART and other major transportation lines, as well as San Francisco Airport and sporting events.

In January 2002, detentions at Bagram Air Force base in Afghanistan began.  With a reputation worse than Guantanamo Bay, President Obama continues to oversee its operations.  Today, the number of detainees at Bagram has climbed to 800, a number greater than its better known Cuba counterpart at its height.  The fact is, while the number at Guantanamo diminishes sl

California's new early release program, authorized by Senate Bill 18, will result in the early release of over 6,000 prison inmates classified as "low-risk" offenders. Proponents argue that the new program will save the state hundreds of millions, but it still raises the perennial question when it comes to the state's prison policy: how safe is safe enough for Californians?

According to three Winston Group telephone surveys, 57% of Tea Party supporters are Republicans, while 41% are Democrats and Independents.  Winston Group, a Republican leaning firm, utilized three surveys, each consisting of 1,000 registered voters, between December and February to accumulate the relevant data on the burgeoning grassroots movement.

Here are some of the other pertinent highlights:

Nonpartisan, or 'decline to state', voters represent the fastest growing segment of California's electorate.  Generally speaking, these independents are highly educated, fiscally conservative, and socially moderate. Not tied to either parisan ideology, independent voters have supported both Democrats and Republicans in the golden state, and because of their rapidly growing influence, both major parties are mounting more serious efforts to win their critical votes.

Receiving little press attention over the Easter weekend, filings with the Security and Exchange Commission on April 2 revealed that WellPoint Inc.