Voting, Thomas Paine once said, “is the beating heart of democracy.” It’s what makes our democracy possible. Without it, Paine said, “man would be reduced to slavery.”

It’s for this very reason, of course, that conservatives have worked since the founding of our republic to make it harder or downright impossible for people who are not part of the political and economic elite to vote.

Eight years after we bailed the big banks to the tune of $14 trillion, American taxpayers could soon be on the hook again, this time to help out the coal industry.

Just a few years ago, Big Coal was riding high on the crest of a nice little boom. Energy prices were high, as was demand from China’s rising economy.

Another day, and another coal company is trying to rob its workers of their pensions and health plans.

On Monday, Alpha Natural Resources became the most recent coal company to file a petition with U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

There's a huge debate going on right now about the role of the media in American politics.

And two of the main questions are: How much is the media to blame for fueling the rise of Donald Trump? And what's the real relationship between Trump and the media?