The federal government is wading into the supermarket aisle, making its first effort to provide better nutritional information on food products since it developed the black-and-white Nutrition Facts label 15 years ago. Margaret A. Hamburg, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said Tuesday that shoppers are bombarded by slogans ("Heart Healthy," "Good for You," "A Better Choice") on products ...

The gap between average pay for federal and private sector workers rose 1.25 percent during the past year, the Federal Salary Council reported on Thursday. The council did not recommend a specific pay raise for federal employees in 2010. The pay gap between public and private sector workers increased from 25.17 percent in 2008 to 26.42 percent in 2009. The salary ...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) ― It appears likely that state government will announce another round of layoffs soon. Gov. Ed Rendell said Monday that he might make an announcement on layoffs by the end of the week. The state has laid off more than 300 employees since July because of spending cuts. Rendell signed a state budget on Oct. 9 that cuts ...

Federal employees submitted more than 38,000 ideas to help the government save money. An Office of Management and Budget official says as of Oct. 14 employees suggested about 38,400 ways to make the government more effective and efficient. OMB stopped accepting official entries as of last Tuesday, but says on its Web site that it would still take ideas. The official, ...

LANSING -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm flexed her veto muscle Monday, wiping out $54 million from a public school budget and putting lawmakers on the spot to come up with more cash for schools or watch deep cuts at 39 select districts, including 26 in Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties. That's certain to stoke debate over higher taxes to pay for schools. ...

You know things are bad at a government agency when a Cabinet secretary says as much while swearing in the new boss. It happened at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in August, when Commerce Secretary Gary Locke showed up to swear in the new director, David Kappos, and told the rank-and-file that the agency's backlog had a negative impact on ...

Remember when President Obama said he wanted to make working for the federal government "cool again"? The government's chief human resources officer told lawmakers Thursday that they need to approve a bill that extends full benefits to the domestic partners of gay and lesbian federal employees to ensure that the government remains competitive with the private sector. "Young people are looking ...

WASHINGTON - Businesses receiving federal contracts under President Barack Obama's economic stimulus program reported creating or saving more than 30,000 jobs in the first months of the program, according to data released Thursday by a government oversight board. The numbers, based on jobs linked to less than $16 billion in federal contracts, represent just a sliver of the $787 billion stimulus ...

WASHINGTON - There will be no cost-of-living increase for more than 50 million Social Security recipients next year, the first year without a raise since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975. Blame falling consumer prices. By law, cost-of-living adjustments are pegged to inflation, which is negative this year because of lower energy costs. Social Security payments, however, do not go down ...

Remember when President Obama said he wanted to make working for the federal government cool again? The government's chief human resources officer told lawmakers Thursday that they need to approve a bill that extends full benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of gay or lesbian federal employees in order to ensure the government's coolness factor. “Young people are looking at this ...

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had cancer surgery earlier this year, was kept at a hospital overnight after she became drowsy and fell from her seat aboard an airplane. Court officials blamed a reaction to medicine. Ginsburg was taken to Washington Hospital Center around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday by paramedics and released Thursday morning, court officials said. Ginsburg, ...

Is David Letterman to blame for the lack of diversity at the Department of Homeland Security? The talk show host's recent admission of trysts with women who worked for him, a Republican lawmaker said Wednesday, has provoked not outrage among his fans and the media, but rather a sense of reluctant acceptance. And Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) suggested that such a ...

In recent years, the web portal, USA.GOV has become one of the most popular destinations in the federal government's web presence. But now, the site's managers are plotting the "next generation" of the site, at a time when social collaboration tools are reshaping the way that people use the World Wide Web. David McClure, associate administrator with the Office of Citizen ...

Madison — The first solid - if still incomplete - employment numbers for federal stimulus spending by Wisconsin state government show that retaining government positions was job one. Three-fourths of 8,284 stimulus-related jobs accounted for so far were public-sector posts protected by the federal infusion into state and local government coffers, Gov. Jim Doyle's office reported. That included teachers, police officers ...

Miami house painter Alexis Marichal was driving his work truck when police pulled him over, placed him under arrest and sent him to jail for a night. His crime: not having a business sign on the side of the vehicle. In court later, the judge dismissed the charge after Marichal proved he had purchased the sign and was a legitimate painter. ...

Frustrated California voters think a state government overhaul is needed, but a majority believe it shouldn't be so easy for them to change the state's constitution at the ballot box, a new Field Poll has found. Raising the ballot box threshold for approving a constitutional amendment from a majority to two-thirds was favored by 56 percent in the poll and opposed ...

Gamblers can now play the ponies without leaving the comfort of home after the Illinois Racing Board gave permission Tuesday to three companies to host online horse betting. The decision means gamblers can place bets on horses through approved Web sites or by phone, interactive television and mobile devices. Previously, wagers could be made only at a horse track or an ...

Current and former federal employees angered by premium increases in the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program will get their day before Congress on Wednesday, when senators hope to get answers about why the impending price jump is warranted and what the government did to inform participants. Most federal and postal employees are eligible for the program, which is run by ...

Federal stimulus spending has created or saved thousands of Oregon jobs, state officials boasted Monday, but at least three out of every four positions were in government work, according to the state's own figuring. The lion's share of the money -- about $750 million, went to beefing up entitlement programs, such as Medicaid, unemployment benefits and food stamps. But the remaining ...

Stand on a busy corner in the District, and you'll notice that cellphones appear glued to the ears of dozens of passing drivers who openly flout the city's ban on hand-held phone use. That appearance is deceiving, according to a new study, which concludes that use of hand-helds would be 43 percent higher were it not for the District's ban and ...