The House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee may try to kill the private debt collection program by shutting off its funding. Here's the story: The IRS' use of private debt collectors has retrieved millions in delinquent taxes but has raised questions about collection techniques and privacy rights. The House plans a vote this week on restricting the program's funds. Democrats critical of the program since it was approved by a GOP Congress in 2004 included only $1 million for private debt collection in the 2008 budget for Treasury Department agencies.

Our neighbors "across the pond" are getting concerned about inequality, too. Check out this article from the Guardian. It also makes the point that inequality might affect housing prices. So here are reasons why it does matter. For a start, house prices have gone mad, partly because too much money is chasing too little property, not just in Mayfair but in places like Doncaster, where City tycoons are buying up whole buy-to-let streets.

True or False: Whether the laws of the United States governing the cooling-off period (currently one year) restrictions for former Congressional staffers to lobby their erstwhile offices apply depends upon the salary of these staffers. Answer: True (per Public Law 101-194). Now -- and no cheating -- staffers are exempt from these revolving door restrictions if they:

• A. Were at no point one of the top-two paid staffers in a Congressional office
• B. Received a total of $200,000 or more during their tenure as Congressional staffers