“Government” on The Daily Caller

WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI background interviews of some people who knew Apple co-founder Steve Jobs reveal a man driven by power and alienating some of the people who worked with him. (more)

On Sunday’s broadcast of ABC’s “This Week,” National Public Radio’s legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg spelled out the consequences of the government becoming “intertwined” with the press in response to the scandal Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World publication is embroiled in England. (more)

A $500 ticket for not having a vendor’s permit issued to…six kids running a lemonade stand? Yup. (more)

Like the rest of America, I cheered at the news of the killing of Osama bin Laden. I was thrilled. It made my night — and the next day too. One of the most vile, evil villains of modern history had been eliminated. If you weren’t celebrating, there is a chip missing from your DNA. (more)

Pessimism about the impact of government anti-poverty programs is widespread, according to a new poll released by Rasmussen. (more)

During the government shutdown of 1995, about 800,000 federal employees in the executive branch were sent home. According to a senior White House official, there is not yet an estimate on what that number will look like should Congress and the president not reach a spending agreement by the weekend, though it will likely be “in the same vicinity.” (more)

Congress gave itself a three-week reprieve on a government shutdown, then spent the first 10 days on vacation. Now, lawmakers return with the shutdown deadline once again looming, and a deal seemingly as far away as ever. (more)

The wisest and most successful bond investor of all time, Bill Gross, has dumped his bond fund’s $150 billion investment in U.S. bonds. One should not ignore the importance of this event. The largest bond fund in America no longer believes that Treasury bonds are a good investment. Moreover, Gross is not alone. Blackrock, the world’s largest money manager, is now underweighting Treasuries overall and reducing the duration of the bonds it still holds. That means they are dumping their long-term bonds, which are the most sensitive to interest-rate changes, in favor of Treasury instruments that mature in a year or less. (more)

In the wake of the US government projecting record budget deficits, Bill Gross, the man who runs the world’s biggest bond fund, has eliminated all government-related debt from his flagship fund, Bloomberg news reports. (more)

News this week of the first departure of a Cabinet secretary from the Obama administration comes amid a wide-ranging effort under the new chief of staff, William M. Daley, to repair badly frayed relations between the White House and the Cabinet. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House called for $6.5 billion in immediate spending cuts Thursday as negotiations opened with tea party-backed Republicans in Congress seeking reductions nearly 10 times as large in their drive to reduce the size of federal government. (more)

Reporting from Tunis, Tunisia — (more)

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — International pressure on Moammar Gadhafi to end a crackdown on opponents escalated Monday as his loyalists fought rebels holding the two cities closest to the capital and his warplanes bombed an ammunition depot in the east. The U.S. moved naval and air forces closer to Libya and said all options were open, including patrols of the North African nation’s skies to protect its citizens from their ruler. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security checks would still go out. Troops would remain at their posts. Furloughed federal workers probably would get paid, though not until later. And virtually every essential government agency, like the FBI, the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard, would remain open. (more)

CHICAGO (AP) — Federal prosecutors asked a judge for permission Wednesday to dismiss racketeering charges against ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich as he heads to a retrial, trying to simplify a case that deadlocked jurors in the first trial complained was too hard to follow. (more)

If a government falls and practically nobody hears it, does it make a sound? (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — How many federal bureaucrats does it take to carry out President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul? Don’t expect to find an easy answer in his new budget. (more)

Washington (CNN) – With funding for the federal government set to expire in less than two weeks, Senate Democrats and House Republicans are in discussions to avoid a government shutdown, a Senate Democratic leadership source told CNN. (more)

If House Republicans have their way, the Obama administration’s “czars” will no longer be able to dictate pay at bailed-out mega-firms or negotiate new emissions standards for U.S. vehicles. An amendment attached to the 2011 spending package, which passed the House last week, would strip funding for a select list of the so-called czars. (more)

The Department of Homeland Security and the National Basketball Association are joining forces to heighten public awareness of suspicious activity. And as incongruous as it may seem, they’re a perfect match: an American dream team, actually. (more)