On Friday, the nation watched as the Boston area went under lockdown during a manhunt for the armed and dangerous marathon bombing suspect. If you were in that situation, would you want a gun at your side? Most American voters say yes, according to a new Fox News poll. Sixty-nine percent say if they were [...]Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama put his weight behind legislation unveiled by a bipartisan group of senators on Tuesday to reform the U.S. immigration system and urged lawmakers to advance it quickly. “This bill is clearly a compromise, and no one will get everything they wanted, including me. But it is largely consistent with [...]Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress are traveling less and worrying more about meeting office salaries. Their aides are contending with long lines to get inside their offices and fewer prospects of a raise. Such are the indignities thrust upon the men and women who brought the country $85 billion in government spending cuts this [...]Continue Reading
Advocates of online sales tax legislation are worried that their bill could become bogged down in the larger debate over reforming the federal tax code. The measure’s backers — including the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin (Ill.) – say it doesn’t affect federal revenue collection and therefore there’s no reason for their [...]Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Automatic spending cuts postponed at the start of the year will go into effect as scheduled in March but “no one” is talking about allowing a U.S. government shutdown, the Republican House of Representatives Budget Committee chairman said on Sunday. The automatic spending cuts had been delayed by two months as part [...]Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — In an earlier era, a move like the one engineered by House GOP leaders to pass a “no budget, no pay” measure probably would have been stopped in its tracks. But with Congress’ approval ratings in the gutter, House lawmakers pushed aside questions about fairness and constitutionality and tacked the idea onto [...]Continue Reading
Eyeing the Golden Goose Are tax hikes on the way? Some federal lawmakers hope so. “It’s a great opportunity to get us some more revenue,” Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) recently said of the upcoming debate over the federal budget. You know what that means: calls to raise taxes on the rich. Lawmakers can’t seem [...]Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will launch a campaign next week aimed at overhauling the nation’s flawed immigration system and creating legal status for millions, as a bipartisan Senate group nears agreement on achieving the same goals. The proposals from Obama and lawmakers will mark the start of what is expected to be a [...]Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Residents from Newtown, Conn., are joining a march on Washington for gun control on Saturday with parents, pastors, survivors of gun violence and Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Organizers said they are expecting thousands of participants for the rally on the National Mall, including about 100 from Newtown and buses from New Jersey, [...]Continue Reading
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is aiming to force lawmakers to spend within the means of the tax-paying public by introducing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that puts strict limits on the ability of Congress to run deficits and increase the national debt. Introduction of Lee’s bill comes on the heels of House action [...]Continue Reading
The new route of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline was approved Tuesday by Kansas Republican Gov. Dave Heineman completing the local environmental review process and putting the final approval back into the hands of President Barack Obama. Heineman told Obama in a letter that the new route will avoid fragile areas and that the pipeline [...]Continue Reading
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Abortion opponents marked the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Tuesday with workshops, prayers and calls for more legislation chipping away at the abortion rights the U.S. Supreme Court decision seemed to guarantee. Many looked to Kansas, where Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a series of tough, anti-abortion measures [...]Continue Reading
“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.” President Barack Obama spoke these words [...]Continue Reading
