Despite some direct prodding – and funding – from the federal government, summer school programs are being cut back across the country. Alice Cooper may well approve, but where does this leave American parents?

Community colleges around the country are facing tough choices on how many students they can actually serve – choices that Public Agenda's research shows are running right into the public's biggest concerns about higher education.

The House is still scheduled to vote on a major bill on global warming today, and the debate is getting extremely bitter – not to mention confusing. So if you're having trouble following along, there are a couple of stories that may make you feel better.

Sometimes, the old setup lines are the best ones, and with that in mind it's fair to say that the Energy Learning Curve offers good news and bad news for lawmakers working on a massive climate change bill this week.

Anyone who's even remotely following the narrative impact of our current economic woes on the deficit should be well aware that our government is living way beyond its means. And in fact, it was living way beyond its means in debt and liabilities even before this economic crisis began. Calls for reform have surfaced in many forms and been made more pressing by the multitude of crises on the horizon, from energy to health care, not to mention Medicare and Social Security.

President Obama signed a federal memorandum late yesterday to extend some benefits to partners of gay and lesbian federal employees. This was the first significant move from the Obama administration regarding gay rights, which news sources report comes as a direct result of increasing pressure from advocates of gay rights.

The digital tool that started out silly (asking users "What are you doing?") grabbed the world by the horns as Iranians doubting the integrity of Friday's announced election victory used 140-character bursts on Twitter and posts to other social networks to get the word out inside and outside Iran.

Perhaps no meeting of the American Medical Association, at least not in recent memory, has attracted more public attention than this one. The powerful doctors' group has set the stage for a major speech Monday from President Obama at their Chicago convention by coming out against the creation of a government-sponsored insurance plan.

President Obama's announcement that he'll support so-called "pay as you go" legislation is getting most of the coverage today, but if you care about the federal deficit and national debt, David Leonhardt's big-picture piece in The New York Times is the one to read.

Congress is getting serious about a "cash-for-clunkers" plan, essentially offering people cash vouchers to "trade in old cars for new fuel-efficient models."

Under the plan currently in Congress, consumers could get vouchers for up to $4,500 on trading in a vehicle that gets 18 miles per gallon or less for something that gets at least 10 miles per gallon more.