Checking account overdraft fees have jumped during the past two years, despite an effort by regulators to rein in aggressive practices by banks, according to new reports by two nonprofit groups.

Florida led 35 states in a study issued Wednesday with a whopping 166 percent increase in the estimated average time that released prisoners spent behind bars over a 19-year span. more

Thanks to its gung-ho approach to lengthening jail time, Florida led the charge in beefing up prison sentences during the past two decades at a taxpayer cost of more than $1 billion a year, according to a new study by the Pew Center on the States. more

For the first time since 1980, both property tax revenue and state aid to local governments are declining at the same time. more

While many believe it's easier to move up the economic ladder in America than anywhere else in the world, the United States simply does not do very well on that score.