So President Obama wants to end so-called “tax loopholes” for American oil and gas companies? Sounds like a good idea, until you learn that what the President is really asking. The “Close the Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act” essentially asks American taxpayers and businesses to shoulder the economic brunt of the administration’s ambitious green energy objectives.

The fight to expand Medicaid in Arizona continues as Gov. Brewer pushes the Legislature to pursue legislation to expand coverage to include folks up to 133 percent of poverty guidelines.

9920 S. Rural Road, Suite 108-18

5943 E. McKellips Road, Suite 106

Q: What type of business services or products do you provide?

4425 E. Agave Road, Suite 136

The 2013 legislative session began with a unanimous vote in the House and the Senate to appropriate emergency funding for additional Child Protective Services staff. With that vote, lawmakers affirmed child safety as a top priority.

Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) welcomed two individuals to its administrative team: Matthew Graber, director of marketing, and Zacory Boatright, director of sales and business development.

Arizona’s economic recovery is flattening out statewide, with job growth outside the Phoenix metro area for this year and next predicted to be anemic.

Responding to recent absurd arguments... speeding, stealing and insider trading are not rights guaranteed by the Constitution... the right to bear arms IS!

Dillie Nerios is a Florida food stamp recruiter. Her job is to sign up 150 seniors monthly in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

A survey shows U.S. home prices rose 10.5 percent in March compared with a year ago, the biggest gain since March 2006.

I’m sure by now you’ve heard that we have a short supply of homes to sell. As I have been saying, this shortage is pushing up the price of homes that do go onto the market.

Thanks to everyone who came out and supported the Desert Vista High School band car wash at Sonic on April 20, they raised more than $750 to donate to the music program at Bay Head school in New Jersey that was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. Anyone who would like to make additional contributions can contact the band boosters at dvmb.fundraising@gmail.com.

The Medicaid restoration plan put forth by Gov. Brewer is a prudent economic option that helps our state stay competitive while serving those who are most vulnerable.

15815 S. 46th St., Suite 116

Practicing what we have been preaching about the need to shop locally, the Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce is partnering with a local business on our annual print Resource Guide and Directory. The Chamber’s 2013-14 Directory will be marketed, designed and produced through an agreement with the Ahwatukee Foothills News (AFN), the publisher of this newspaper and a chamber member. We believe this will be a valuable partnership for all chamber members and those who take advantage of this opportunity to get their message out to the public.

It's not a big breakthrough.

OB Sports Golf Management announced summer stay-and-play packages for Scottsdale and Sedona, Ariz., and Las Vegas. The offerings include a number of ready-made packages, and golfers may customize any package and book online at www.obsportsgolfvacations.com. Or, for personalized reservation assistance, they may contact Denise Crawford at (866) 561-4653 or dcrawford@obsports.com.

Here’s a sobering statistic: 46 percent of workers surveyed had little or no confidence that they will have enough money to live comfortably throughout their retirement years, according to the 2010 Retirement Confidence Survey, issued by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. So you may want to explore all possible retirement savings vehicles —including a variable annuity.

The Phoenix City Council will discuss options for the city’s food tax during a public policy meeting on Wednesday, including an idea to phase out a portion of the tax beginning January of 2014.

If you’re just a casual swimmer, you probably don’t have to adjust your diet before jumping in. But that’s not the case with competitive swimmers, who must constantly watch what they eat and drink. You can learn a lot from swimmers’ consumption patterns — particularly if you’re an investor.

You’re probably accustomed to measuring the progress of your investments, and the overall condition of the investment world, by checking on indexes such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500. And since these types of benchmarks focus almost exclusively on American companies, you might get the idea that the best investments are located right here in the United States. But that impression would be false — because there is, literally, a world of investment opportunities beyond the U.S. borders.

Since the beginning of 2013 there have been some announced changes for buyers looking to obtain an FHA loan. FHA is an insurer of mortgage loans and is popular because of the low down payment option. I had the opportunity to ask Dawna Lepler of The Lending Company a few questions many of my real estate clients have asked over the past few months.

AARP and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are teaming up to host National Encore Entrepreneur Mentor Month in April targeted at individuals over the age of 50 who want to start or grow their own business.