Citizen Cartwright

Congress oversees current laws and makes new ones. If you don't like the way things are or the way things are headed, write to your two senators and your representative (they pay attention to the mail — no joke — they want to be re-elected, after all). To find out who they are and to track legislation of interest to you, click on opencongress.org.

After bills passed by Congress are signed by the president and become law, the executive branch writes regulations to implement them. The public is given time to comment before the regulations are finalized. For an easy way to track regulations and comment on them, click on regulations.gov.

But do you get discouraged, thinking there's no way to compete with big-money lobbyists? Here's what veteran Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., says: "Money is important, but votes will beat money any day."

 

Momentum seems to be shifting back to Romney

Media are pretty negative about Newt Gingrich's debate performance Thursday night.

Here's Politico's lead: "With Florida and perhaps his presidential hopes in the balance, Newt Gingrich turned in an oddly passive debate performance that left his supporters scratching their heads and illustrated his unpredictable and even whimsical style."

Romney "gets the best" of Gingrich, reads the Los Angeles Times' headline.

Gingrich's performance came as conservative media and Republicans including former Sen. Bob Dole and former Rep. Tom DeLay were sharply critical of him.

At the end of a bruising day, when the full breadth of the Republican establishment descended on him, Gingrich seemed to concede that he was outgunned, The New York Times says.

Several Florida polls indicate that the surge that started during the South Carolina campaign may have been capped, USA Today says. Romney is ahead of Gingrich in Florida by 7 to 8 percentage points, according to the three automated polls released Thursday.

Lots of the super-rich have a 15 percent tax rate

Mitt Romney's effective tax rate of less than 15 percent in 2010 is in line with an increasing number of the country's 400 top earners, Bloomberg reports.

Among that group, 131 paid less than 15 percent in 2008, compared to just 38 in 1999.

Thousands of federal employees are tax delinquents

They're paid by taxpayers, but tens of thousands of congressional staffers and executive branch employees themselves collectively owe billions in back taxes, according to an Internal Revenue Service report.

For example, 467 employees of the House, about 4.2 percent of people employed there, owed more than $8.5 million as of Sept. 30, 2010. Over in the Senate, 217 employees, about 3 percent, owed $2.13 million. And in President Obama's executive office, 36 people, about 2 percent, owed $833,970.

The reasons they haven't paid up? Many people file returns but can't pay the full amount when their taxes are due, says IRS spokesman Anthony Burke. And others may be disputing the bill, may have filed jointly with a spouse who owes taxes or may have had their tax bills increased by an audit and can't pay that higher amount.

Beware of fake reviews when you buy online

As the collective wisdom of the crowd displaces traditional advertising, one example of the lengths to which companies go to get good reviews is VIP Deals' refund offer to customers in exchange for a write-up, The New York Times reports.

VIP Deals says the Times is "totally off base."

 

Also in the news

Ex-Guatemala military leader Rios Montt facing genocide charge

Defense budget cuts would limit raises, close bases

New Obama initiative will coordinate probes of mortgage meltdown

NASA's Kepler space telescope discovers 11 new planetary systems with 26 planets

Study: Brainwaves show autism risk from age of six months

What it's like for the workers who made your iPhone, iPad

In the second article in its series on the iEconomy, The New York Times describes harsh conditions in which it says workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often work.

The Times worked with the Chinese business magazine Caixin to publish the article in Chinese. Here are Chinese readers' comments.

Owners of some of America's most popular electronics, including iPhones and iPads, are less concerned than other Americans about where their devices are made, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the Times.

Fed commits to keeping inflation to 2 percent

For the first time, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday published its forecasts for the federal funds rate.

The projections show that a majority of policymakers expect the benchmark lending rate to stay below 1 percent for the next three years, Bloomerg reports.

Nanomaterial risks need study, panel says

While nanomaterials — engineered on the scale of mere clumps of atoms —  already are being used in products ranging from cosmetics and food additives to solar cells and drug delivery systems, the health and environmental effects need research, according to a report by the National Research Council.

Navy's new drone has no pilot anywhere

The X-47B, being tested near the Chesapeake Bay, "could usher in an era when death and destruction can be dealt by machines operating semi-independently," the Los Angeles Times reports.

Also in the news

U.N. human rights chief: Prisoners are being tortured in Libya

In a first, researchers make three-dimensional object invisible from all angles

Washington ranked most literate American city for second year

Why you should care about Google's new privacy policy

Bachmann says she's running for re-election to the House

New map for what to plant in your garden reflects global warming