Reid Wilson

Delta Air Lines and rival carrier Alaska are duking it out for Pacific Northwest dominance, with Seattle-based Alaska trying to defend its home turf from Delta, which has interest in Seattle as a jumping-off point to Asian and European markets.

The average American family pays nearly $7,000 in state and local taxes in a given year, but the actual amounts vary wildly.

Corporations and some of the wealthiest Americans spent more than $1 billion over the past 18 months on ballot initiatives in just 11 states, according to campaign finance data, an explosion of money used to pass new laws and influence the public debate.