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November 11, 2013 - Big insurance companies -- with the encouragement of penny-pinching employers like Wal-Mart -- created the substandard health insurance plans that are being eliminated to comply with the minimum coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

October 25, 2013 - Representatives of companies that got the lion's share of lucrative contracts to build the problem-ridden federal health exchange website -- including Virginia-based CGI Federal and Atlanta-based Equifax -- testified before a House committee this week and acted as if they were innocent bystanders at someone else's train wreck.

September 20, 2013 - The Republican governor is traveling to states led by Democrats in an effort to lure companies to Texas -- an effort financed largely by corporations that risk alienating political allies and residents in the targeted states.

July 3, 2013 - Wal-Mart is disciplining and firing employees who are demanding improved working conditions -- a sign the Arkansas-based retail giant is worried about historic job actions spreading through its U.S. operations.

June 10, 2013 - Taxpayers help support companies that are hostile to worker organizing through economic development subsidies and also through social safety net programs such as Medicaid and food stamps.

May 29, 2013 - In 2010, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas retracted his apology to BP for the Obama administration's effort to get compensation for those affected by the Gulf oil disaster. Will Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky have to do the same with his call for the Senate to apologize to Apple for criticizing the company's brazen tax dodging?

April 19, 2013 - While terrorism and gun violence dominated this week's headlines, the tragedy at a Texas fertilizer plant points to another danger that for most of the population is actually a more significant threat: industrial accidents.