Search results for

It's tax week, and many Americans are likely scrambling to get their paperwork in before Tuesday's deadline. Weekends on All Things Considered takes a look at why the top 10 percent of income earners pay 70 percent of all federal income taxes. And, is it possible to live legally without paying any taxes at all?

With the huge supply of foreclosed homes, the rental housing market is becoming increasingly dominated by investment companies — not the mom-and-pop operations down the street that used to fill that role. Some experts worry about what kind of landlords the companies will make.

Researchers found 6 percent of middle-schoolers in Portland, Ore., have tried a game that involves asphyxiation to get high. About a quarter of them have tried it at least five times.

In Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man, Bill Clegg described his addiction to crack and the dramatic spiral of self-destruction that left him nearly broke and suicidal. His latest book, Ninety Days, picks up where that story left off. Clegg talks about his harrowing journey and second chances.

Crawford Kilian advises aspiring writers to avoid Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and eight other well-known novels. In a piece for the Canadian online daily The Tyee, the columnist writes, "their readable styles look so easy that they might seduce a young writer into imitating them."

A 14-time All Star, Rodriguez won a record 13 Gold Gloves.

Last month, a Washington, D.C. subway station was plastered with posters of giant dollar bills. One of them said: "Tell Congress to stop wasting time trying to eliminate the dollar bill." The $70,000 ad blitz was part of a small lobbying war over the fate of the dollar bill.

Mitt Romney spoke at a shuttered factory in Lorain County, Ohio, Thursday. He was giving a response to President Obama, who spoke in the same county a day before. Romney blamed the president for failing to turn around the economy and re-open the factory. Ari Shapiro tells Melissa Block Ohio is once again expected to be a battleground state.

The American Legislative Exchange Council is the group behind voter ID and "stand your ground" laws adopted around the country. But it's a charity under the tax code — and its donors get a tax write-off for their contributions. ALEC says it does no lobbying, but its critics are pushing back.

Alabama is near the bottom of the country's academic rankings. The state has problems with test scores, school improvement ratings and dropouts. But the district in Birmingham has a different kind of issue. The state recently took over the school board because of infighting on the board. The move has triggered cries of racism.