National News

With across-the-board spending cuts now on autopilot, there's a momentary lull in Washington's budget brinksmanship. So the president is using this window to try to craft a more lasting approach to the federal debt.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

A federal judge could rule as soon as Thursday in the case, which comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is also set to deal with gay marriage later this month. In Michigan, a lesbian couple sued because the state bans same-sex couples from adopting kids. Then, the judge invited them to go even further.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Nogales, Ariz., is home to one of the nation's busiest ports of entry. Trucks line up for inspection before heading to grocery stores in the U.S. But the sequester is forcing the ports to make cuts, leading some to fear higher prices for food and strained relationships with foreign trading partners.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Widespread police brutality under Hosni Mubarak helped fuel the uprising of 2011. But two years later, many say the police have begun to act like armed gangs, meting out collective punishment in restive areas. The police say they are the victims, under attack by anti-government protesters.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Widespread police brutality under Hosni Mubarak helped fuel the uprising of 2011. But two years later, many say the police have begun to act like armed gangs, meting out collective punishment in restive areas. The police say they are the victims, under attack by anti-government protesters.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Two months ago, the popular political blogger left the comfortable world of big media and struck out on his own. His bold new plan: Ask readers to pay to subscribe to his blog.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

A rice enriched with beta-carotene promises to boost the health of poor children around the world. But critics say golden rice is also a clever PR move for a biotech industry driven by profits, not humanitarianism.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Shifting course in the face of political gridlock, President Barack Obama is making rare overtures to rank-and-file Republicans. He invited GOP senators to dinner Wednesday.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

It's one of the most famous phrases in the English language, and it was relayed live from the moon via a radio system that a man named Dean Cubely used to manage. These days, Cubely works as CEO of ERF Wireless, and still uses radio waves hopscotched over short to medium distances. His mission? To bring high-speed wireless Internet to places that wires or fiber optic cables can’t reach. 

Cubely joined Marketplace Tech host David Brancaccio to share his vision for a fully connected America.

Senator Rand Paul has ended his filibuster blocking Senate confirmation of the president's CIA nominee John Brennan. The filibuster lasted 12 hours and 54 minutes.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

The U.N. Security Council demanded the immediate release of the 21 peacekeepers who were seized in the Golan Heights area between Syria and Israel. A Syrian rebel group called the Martyrs of Yarmouk claimed responsibility.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

When President Obama signs an updated version of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday afternoon, the law will include new requirements for how colleges and universities handle allegations of sexual assault.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

When President Obama signs an updated version of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday afternoon, the law will include new requirements for how colleges and universities handle allegations of sexual assault.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Iraqi and U.S. officials interviewed for the report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction said the $60 billion the U.S. spent on reconstruction efforts in Iraq "should have accomplished more." The findings could portend what lies ahead for the U.S. in Afghanistan where it is also engaged in reconstruction.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

The House has approved a bill to fund the federal government through the end of September. The continuing resolution introduced by Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY), who heads the Appropriations Committee, would avoid a potential government shutdown on March 27.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

The stock market's long climb has some people concerned it may be a bubble about to burst — a bubble artificially pumped up by the Federal Reserve's easy-money policy. That's led to calls — even from within the Fed — for an end to the central bank's extraordinary efforts to keep interest rates low.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

The High Arctic was a warmer place 3.5 million years ago. The surprising find can tell us a lot about our future and global warming.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

The High Arctic was a warmer place 3.5 million years ago. The surprising find can tell us a lot about our future and global warming.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Love that bacon, but realize that porking up on processed meat ups the risk of cancer and heart disease. That's the word from a big new study that tracked the eating habits of almost a half-million Europeans over 20 years.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

For high school students about to graduate and head off to college, February is a month filled with acronyms, abbreviations and confusion. There's the FAFSA. EFC. PLUS. SAR.

Understanding and navigating that student aid alphabet can seem like a calculus problem in itself, which is leading some parents to hire private college aid planners to help paint the best financial picture (or worst, as the case may be) possible.

That’s what brought high school junior Caya Williams and her mother Erika Ijames-Wilson to Karen Powell’s office in suburban Atlanta. Powell is a Certified Financial Planner and a senior college planning consultant.

“We’re squarely middle class,” says Ijames-Wilson. She and her husband make a decent living, but have told Caya it’s up to her to pay for college if she wants to go.

And she wants to go.

Her first choice is Spelman College, a private historically black women’s college in Atlanta. A year can approach $40,000.

“Our reality is that estimated family contribution is hers, and that’s a lot to put on an 18-year-old,” says Ijames-Wilson.

That’s why she’s considering paying college planner Karen Powell between $350 and $2,500 to help Caya take advantage of opportunities for scholarships and aid.

So what will they get for that money?

Powell says a comprehensive, six-pronged approach that begins with beefing up academics. Since Caya is already in good shape there, the next move is to scrutinize finances.

“There’s tax strategies and income shifting and asset shifting,” says Powell.

Take income shifting: if a family owns a business where the student works, for instance, Powell recommends raising the teenager’s salary, then sitting aside that money for school. That offers a tax savings, because the student’s tax bracket is lower than the parents’.

Another way to shift income is hit up the college fund ahead of time to buy things the students will need for school. That way there’s less cash in the bank, cash that could count against financial aid eligibility.

But Powell says it’s not about gaming the financial aid system.

“We especially look for ways they will not be disadvantaged by the way their either income or assets are being held,” she says.

Powell is upfront about her fees, which are priced “a la carte” starting at a few hundred dollars.

Other college planners aren’t so transparent.

Lynn O’Shaughnessy is the author of the book "The College Solution." She says a lot of planners are really just insurance agents looking to sell you a policy. “And the problem is with these insurance guys, they can tell perspective clients, ‘Oh, well, I got a $15,000 scholarship for this family,’ or ‘$13,000 a year for that family.’ And it sounds all well and good, but the thing is, usually those families would’ve gotten that money anyway.”

That’s not to say there isn’t good advice to be had, even if it comes at a price. Mary Fallon says some parents need help filling out the financial aid form. She’s a spokeswoman for Student Financial Services, Inc., which runs the website FAFSA.com.

“The federal government lets you prepare your own income taxes for free, or you can get help from an income tax preparation service,” Fallon explains. “And the same thing works with the FAFSA.”

Fallon’s group charges between $80 and $300 to help fill out the federal aid form.

With in-state tuition averaging more than $22,000 a year, and private schools almost double that, parents and perspective students are easy prey for unscrupulous college planners.

Consumer advocates say avoid those who use the hard sell to get you to shell out cash for their products. And if you don’t know whether something’s legit, call your local college’s financial aid office.

Its services are free.