House
CIA, Pentagon, too close to filmmakers, lawmaker contends
WASHINGTON -- A House committee chairman charged Wednesday that the CIA and Defense Department jeopardized national security by cooperating too closely with filmmakers producing a movie on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Date: 05/23/2012 | Nation & World
Speaking up for tribal women
Tulalip leader lobbies for protection for women
Date: 05/23/2012 | Local News
Postal Service to begin closing plants this summer
WASHINGTON — The nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service is moving forward with a multibillion-dollar cost-cutting plan that will close nearly 250 mail processing centers, saying on Thursday it can no longer wait as Congress remains deadlocked over how to help.
Date: 05/17/2012 | Nation & World
County councilman to run for 1-month Congress post
Snohomish County Council Chairman Brian Sullivan said Sunday he's agreed to be the Democratic Party's candidate in this year's special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee.
Date: 05/13/2012 | Local News
Proposal would delay end of C-130 work in Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY — A proposed amendment in the U.S. House Armed Services Committee would — if accepted — delay efforts to end a program in Oklahoma City to upgrade the cockpits of U.S. Air Force C-130 transport planes.
Date: 05/09/2012 | Business
House votes to renew charter of Ex-Im Bank
WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday to extend the life of the Export-Import Bank, culminating a struggle that has split Republicans between pro-bank business groups and anti-big government conservatives seeking to have it dismantled.
Date: 05/09/2012 | Business
Two things Congress can agree on to fix budget mess
At some point in the intellectual development of a child, there is the discovery that blowing into an empty bottle at just the right angle and velocity it will make a loud noise that can be quite annoying and virtually impossible to ignore -- two very important goals for some kids.
Date: 05/04/2012 | Business
One month in Congress will pay $15,000
Whoever wins this year's special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee can count on a nice salary and decent benefits for a month's work in arguably the world's most powerful political institution.
Date: 04/29/2012 | Local News
House puts imprint on Obama's defense budget
WASHINGTON -- Domestic military base closings are out. The Global Hawk drone is back in.
Date: 04/28/2012 | Nation & World
GOP student loan plan taps into health funds
WASHINGTON -- Republicans defied a veto threat and the House voted Friday to prevent federal loan costs from doubling for millions of college students. The vote gave the GOP a momentary election-year triumph on a bill that has become enmeshed in partisan battles over the economy, women's issues and...
Date: 04/28/2012 | Nation & World
Buffett Rule might be fair, but it’s not the answer
The "Buffett rule" tax bill failed in the Senate by a vote of 51-45. Mark Twain once described composer Richard Wagner's music as "better than it sounds." The Buffett Rule legislation is just the opposite: It sounds better than it really is.
Date: 04/20/2012 | Business
Goodman ends bid for 1st District House seat
State Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, said today he is ending his campaign for the 1st Congressional District seat and instead will seek re-election to the Legislature.
Date: 04/13/2012 | Local News
JOBS Act’s merits unclear, but it can’t hurt
One balmy day last week in the Rose Garden, President Barack Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act into law. He was surrounded by a cheerful group of Democratic and Republican senators and representatives -- the main supporters of the legislation who had held its hand and...
Date: 04/13/2012 | Business
75-plus House Democrats are communists, GOP lawmaker says
WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Allen West said he believes 75-plus House Democrats are members of the Communist Party, a claim that echoed Joe McCarthy's unsubstantiated 1950s charges that communists had infiltrated the top ranks of the U.S. government.
Date: 04/11/2012 | Nation & World
IRS chief warns of congressional inaction on taxes
WASHINGTON -- IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman warned Thursday of a disastrous tax filing season next year if Congress puts off dealing with tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of the year or have already expired.
Date: 04/06/2012 | Business
Election called to replace Inslee for 1 month
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Chris Gregoire said Monday a special election to replace Democratic U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee will be held in the old boundaries of the 1st Congressional District and it may cost taxpayers as much as $770,000 to conduct.
Date: 04/02/2012 | Local News
House approves Republican deficit-cutting plan
WASHINGTON — Republicans pushed an election-year, $3.5 trillion budget through the House on Thursday that relies on biting spending cuts and a revamping of Medicare to curb massive federal deficits, drawing a sharp contrast with how President Barack Obama and Democrats would tackle the...
Date: 03/29/2012 | Nation & World
First look at six Democrats running for Congress
Democratic voters shopping for a candidate in the 1st Congressional District enjoy plenty of choices from their party right now.There are three men and three women in the race, and each is a slightly different shade of Democrat.
Date: 03/29/2012 | Local News
Lawmaker dons a hoodie in U.S. House (video)
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Bobby Rush donned a hoodie during a speech on the House floor Wednesday deploring the killing of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, receiving a reprimand for violating rules on wearing hats in the House chamber.
Date: 03/28/2012 | Nation & World
Medicare rationing? An election-year House vote
WASHINGTON -- House Republicans resurrected the specter of Medicare rationing Thursday in an election-year vote to repeal cost controls in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
Date: 03/22/2012 | Nation & World
Small business bill bogs down in Senate
WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans on Tuesday thwarted a Democratic attempt to add investor protections to legislation aimed at helping small businesses, leaving Democrats scrambling to find their next course of action.
Date: 03/21/2012 | Business
'Buffet rule' tax would bring in $31 billion in 11 years
WASHINGTON -- A bill designed to enact President Barack Obama's plan for a "Buffett rule" tax on the wealthy would rake in just $31 billion over the next 11 years, according to an estimate by Congress' official tax analysts obtained by The Associated Press.
Date: 03/20/2012 | Business
Birth control a hot topic
Rep. Rick Larsen gets an earful in Everett over divisive issue
Date: 03/14/2012 | Local News
Students seek to stop loan interest rate hike
WASHINGTON -- Millions of college students could be in for a shock this summer when the interest rate on a popular federally subsidized student loan doubles unless Congress acts.
Date: 03/13/2012 | Business
Inslee resigns House seat
Democratic U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee said Saturday he is quitting Congress to devote himself full-time to becoming the state's next governor.
Date: 03/10/2012 | Local News
Kucinich won't run in Washington despite visits
SEATTLE -- A spokesman for Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich says he's not looking to Washington state after losing his primary.Spokesman Andy Juniewicz said Kucinich would have to resign to establish residency in Washington and he has no plan to do that.
Date: 03/08/2012 | Northwest
Contenders start race to replace Rep. Norm Dicks
BREMERTON -- State Sen. Derek Kilmer announced Monday he's running for the seat in Congress that Rep. Norm Dicks is giving up after 18 terms.Kilmer is a Gig Harbor Democrat who works as vice president of the Pierce County Economic Council. He says he's focused on creating jobs.
Date: 03/05/2012 | Northwest
Losing our 'third senator'
With Norm Dicks' retirement, state will lose a power player
Date: 03/02/2012 | The Petri Dish
Dems denounce Republican 'war on women'
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., says some Republicans are "waging war" against women by opposing insurance coverage for contraceptives, but, she said, there's an easy way to fight back: Send $5 or $10 to help get more Democratic women elected to the Senate.
Date: 03/02/2012 | Nation & World
Obama, Congress leaders considering cooperation on jobs
WASHINGTON -- After quarreling for months, President Barack Obama and the top two Republicans in Congress expressed optimism Wednesday about finding a common jobs and energy agenda, prodded by political reality to show results in an election year.
Date: 03/01/2012 | Nation & World
GOP promotes plan to help small businesses
WASHINGTON -- House Republicans on Tuesday unveiled a package of largely uncontroversial measures they said will help small businesses raise capital and create jobs while showing that Congress can put aside its partisan differences and act in the country's economic interests.
Date: 02/29/2012 | Business
Reichert endorses Romney for president
SEATTLE -- Republican congressman Dave Reichert has endorsed Mitt Romney in advance of Saturday's GOP state caucuses.
Date: 02/28/2012 | Northwest
County small business owners tell officials what they need to help economy
EVERETT -- Local small-business owners are ready to lead an economic recovery, if only the companies they supply and the federal government would pay their bills faster.
Date: 02/23/2012 | Business
Congress cuts length of jobless benefits to maximum of 73 weeks from 99
WASHINGTON -- Millions of Americans will continue to receive long-term unemployment benefits under legislation approved Friday in Congress, but the scope of the program is being scaled back to cover fewer people by the end of the year.
Date: 02/17/2012 | Business
Congress deals major blow to wind power industry
CHICAGO -- The wind industry is predicting massive layoffs and stalled or abandoned projects after a deal to renew a tax credit for wind production failed Thursday in Washington.
Date: 02/17/2012 | Business
Payroll tax bill won't add jobs, House speaker says (Video)
WASHINGTON — A compromise bill extending a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed should be enacted, but it's not going to help the economy very much, House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday.
Date: 02/15/2012 | Nation & World
Tentative deal reached to extend payroll tax cut for rest of year
WASHINGTON -- House-Senate talks on renewing a payroll tax cut that delivers about $20 a week to the average worker yielded a tentative agreement Tuesday, with lawmakers hopeful of unveiling the pact Wednesday and sending the measure to President Barack Obama as early as this week.
Date: 02/14/2012 | Business
Planned defense cuts won't leave a ‘hollow force,' congressional report says
The Congressional Research Service has a message for those who suggest planned defense budget cuts and military compensation curbs will return America to the "hollow force" era of the 1970s.
Date: 02/13/2012 | Business
Dems set to retake House; 5 states are key, Nancy Pelosi says
SAN DIEGO -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi predicted Friday that California and four other large states will bring Democrats within striking distance of gaining control of the chamber this year.
Date: 02/11/2012 | Nation & World
Ethics panel probes top lawmaker's stock trades
WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee said Friday he is cooperating with an ethics panel's investigation of his stock trades and expects to be exonerated.
Date: 02/11/2012 | Nation & World
Navy names warship after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
WASHINGTON -- Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced Friday that the next Independence variant littoral combat ship will be named after Gabrielle Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman who survived being shot in the head last January when a gunman opened fire as Giffords met with...
Date: 02/10/2012 | Nation & World
House Republicans propose changes in federal pension rates
WASHINGTON -- Federal employees would pay more toward their pensions and new employees would receive less generous retirement benefits under a House Republican plan to pay for highway programs.
Date: 02/09/2012 | Nation & World
House passes ban on insider trading by Congress
WASHINGTON — The House has passed a bill to ban members of Congress and executive branch officials from insider trading. But critics from both parties accuse House Republican leaders of caving in to investment firms by eliminating a proposal to regulate people who try to pry financial...
Date: 02/08/2012 | Nation & World
House Republicans seek a federal pay freeze
WASHINGTON -- The GOP-led House is ushering forward bills to freeze federal employee pay and ban welfare recipients from accessing their benefits through ATMs at casinos or strip clubs -- moves intended to give Republicans leverage for including those proposals in negotiations to extend President...
Date: 02/02/2012 | Nation & World
Ore. Democrat wins special congressional election
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Democrats will hold onto an Oregon congressional seat left vacant when David Wu resigned in a sex scandal.Democrat Suzanne Bonamici defeated Republican Rob Cornilles Tuesday night. With 69 percent of the vote counted, Bonamici led Cornilles 54 percent to 39 percent.
Date: 01/31/2012 | Nation & World
Rep. Barney Frank to marry his longtime partner
WASHINGTON — Retiring Rep. Barney Frank, a gay pioneer in Congress, said Thursday that he will marry his longtime partner, Jim Ready.Frank spokesman Harry Gural said the liberal Massachusetts Democrat's wedding will be in his home state, but that no date had been set.
Date: 01/26/2012 | Nation & World
Michele Bachmann says she'll seek 4th term in Congress
MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann announced Wednesday she will seek a fourth term in the U.S. House following her failed presidential bid.
Date: 01/25/2012 | Nation & World
Congress stalls action on Internet piracy bills
WASHINGTON -- Caving to a massive campaign by Internet services and their millions of users, Congress indefinitely postponed legislation Friday to stop online piracy of movies and music costing U.S. companies billions of dollars every year. Critics said the bills would result in censorship and...
Date: 01/21/2012 | Business
A Q&A on contested Internet anti-piracy bills
WASHINGTON -- Online piracy costs U.S. copyright owners and producers billions of dollars every year, but legislation in Congress to block foreign Internet thieves and swindlers has met strong resistance from high-tech companies, spotlighted by Wikipedia's protest blackout on Wednesday, warning of...
Date: 01/19/2012 | Business
Several hundred Occupy protesters rally at Capitol
WASHINGTON -- Several hundred protesters affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement converged on the West Lawn of the Capitol Tuesday to decry the influence of corporate money in politics and voice myriad other grievances.
Date: 01/17/2012 | Nation & World
Brian Baird finds his way post-Congress
TACOMA -- Brian Baird is enjoying life after Congress.The former six-term lawmaker, who represented most of Thurston County, has returned to government and politics after a seven-month stint as a stay-at-home dad to twin sons, now 6, The Olympian reported in Tuesday's edition.
Date: 01/03/2012 | Northwest
Congress needs to fix formula for paying Medicare and Tricare doctors
Congress has known for a decade that the formula it set in 1997 for adjusting physician payments under Medicare -- and by extension the fees paid to civilian doctors under Tricare, the military's health insurance program -- is seriously flawed and can't be allowed to take effect.
Date: 12/31/2011 | Business
New map of state congressional districts coming today
OLYMPIA -- Washington residents will learn Wednesday where the state's newest congressional district will land and how the existing ones will be reshaped.
Date: 12/28/2011 | Local News
Grants will help homeless
Area programs serving homeless people will get a boost with grants from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.Thirty-one grants in Northwest Washington, totaling $6.3 million, were announced this week by U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen.
Date: 12/23/2011 | Local News
House Republicans cave in on short-term payroll tax cut (video)
WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Thursday caved to demands by President Barack Obama, congressional Democrats and fellow Republicans for a short-term renewal of payroll tax cuts for all workers. The breakthrough almost certainly spares workers an average $20 a week tax increase Jan.
Date: 12/22/2011 | Nation & World
Payroll tax increase generates GOP infighting
WASHINGTON _ The Senate is gone, the House is packing up, and for now that means working Americans will see their taxes rise in January.
Date: 12/21/2011 | Nation & World
Cuts to Medicare likely to hit on Jan. 18
WASHINGTON — Nearly 650,000 doctors caring for millions of seniors will get a steep cut in Medicare payments Jan. 18 unless a gridlocked Congress issues a reprieve, program officials said Tuesday.
Date: 12/21/2011 | Nation & World
Keep the lights burning
Old bulbs can stay, just when CFLs were starting to look OK
Date: 12/21/2011 | Local News
President Obama blames GOP for upcoming tax increase
WASHINGTON — Continuing a tax cut of up to $40 a week for workers and unemployment benefits for millions of jobless hit a wall Tuesday as the House rejected a two-month extension of both, and President Barack Obama blamed Republicans for the stalemate.
Date: 12/20/2011 | Nation & World
Analysis: Democrats hope for campaign edge on tax issue
WASHINGTON -- Democrats feel they're closer than ever in their long-running bid to paint Republicans as being much more eager to cut taxes for the rich than for the working class.
Date: 12/20/2011 | Nation & World
House Republicans expected to reject Senate payroll tax-cut bill
WASHINGTON -- Rebellious House of Representatives Republicans fought hard Monday to scuttle a two-month extension of the Social Security payroll tax break, seriously jeopardizing chances that 160 million taxpayers will see the lower rate after Jan. 1.
Date: 12/19/2011 | Nation & World
House, Senate negotiators agree on defense bill
WASHINGTON -- House and Senate negotiators late Monday agreed to a sweeping $662 billion defense bill that requires military custody for terrorism suspects linked to al-Qaida, including those captured within the U.S., and indefinite detention without trial for some suspects.
Date: 12/12/2011 | Nation & World
$1T-plus spending bill taking shape in Congress
WASHINGTON -- Weary after a year of partisan bickering, lawmakers reached a tentative agreement Monday on a sprawling $1 trillion-plus spending bill that chips away at military and environmental spending but denies conservatives many of the policy changes they wanted on social issues, government...
Date: 12/12/2011 | Nation & World
Obama prods GOP on tax cut
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama accepted a move by Senate Democrats to scale back his Social Security payroll tax cut extension on Monday, then prodded Republicans to support it despite a requirement for the very wealthy to pay more taxes.
Date: 12/05/2011 | Nation & World
Congress begins probe of lawmaker stock trades
WASHINGTON -- Members of Congress, battling single digit approval ratings, are paying attention to the perception that some lawmakers enriched themselves through insider trading.
Date: 12/01/2011 | Nation & World
House votes to end country limits for worker visas
WASHINGTON -- The House voted Tuesday to end per-country caps on worker-based immigration visas, a move that should benefit skilled Indian and Chinese residents seeking to stay in the United States and the high-tech companies who hire them.
Date: 11/29/2011 | Nation & World
Current tax policy has a lot to do with Congress' gridlock
Congress' supercommittee failed to come up with anything useful as far as the federal deficit goes. If we transform the experience into a practice test question in a high school advanced-placement statistics course, though, we could salvage something useful from its failure.
Date: 11/25/2011 | Business
Dow loses almost 250 on news of supercommittee's failure to reach deal
NEW YORK -- The stock market was not exactly surprised that a so-called supercommittee in Congress failed to reach a deal to cut the federal budget deficit. But since summer, investors have sold at the first hint of trouble.
Date: 11/21/2011 | Business
State’s redistricting committee says new congressional, legislative maps will meet Jan. 1 deadline
OLYMPIA -- The people drawing new political boundaries for the state aren't going to meet their self-imposed goal of finishing in November.
Date: 11/21/2011 | Local News
Deficit supercommittee set to admit defeat; stocks plunge
WASHINGTON — Congress’ supercommittee stood at the brink of ignominious failure on Monday, impotent in the face of enduring political divisions over taxes and spending and powerless to rein in government debt that stands at a staggering $15 trillion and growing.
Date: 11/20/2011 | Nation & World
Plenty of uncertainty about looming debt decisions
The supercommittee that Congress and President Barack Obama created in August to make tough budget choices and slow America's runaway debt has left military people confused and divided over whether to cheer for its success or pray for its failure as its Thanksgiving deadline nears.
Date: 11/19/2011 | Business
Deficit gridlock looms, supercommittee deadlocked
WASHINGTON -- Deadline nearing, the deficit-reduction talks in Congress sank toward gridlock Friday after supercommittee Democrats rejected a late Republican offer that included next-to-nothing in new tax revenue. Each side maneuvered to blame the other for a looming stalemate.
Date: 11/18/2011 | Nation & World
House says no to mandating balanced federal budget
WASHINGTON -- Rejecting the idea Congress can't control its spending impulses, the House turned back a Republican proposal Friday to amend the Constitution to dam the rising flood of federal red ink. Democrats -- and a few GOP lawmakers -- said damage from the balanced-budget mandate would outweigh...
Date: 11/18/2011 | Nation & World
White House opposes balanced-budget amendment
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration said Tuesday that a balanced-budget amendment heading for a House vote this week could impose serious risks on the economy and force cuts to essential programs such as Medicare and Social Security.
Date: 11/15/2011 | Nation & World
Congress pushes back on healthier school lunches
WASHINGTON -- Congress is unraveling the Obama administration's attempt to make school lunches healthier, pushing back against Agriculture Department efforts to limit french fries and pizzas, reduce sodium and boost whole grains on school lunch lines.
Date: 11/15/2011 | Nation & World
House-Senate negotiators unveil spending bill
WASHINGTON -- House-Senate negotiators agreed Monday night on a bundle of spending measures for the ongoing budget year, blending cuts to NASA and community development programs while averting cuts to nutrition programs like food stamps.
Date: 11/14/2011 | Nation & World
Giffords: Won't return to Congress til 'better'
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, struggling to form the words in her first extended interview since a January shooting rampage, said Monday she will not return to Congress until she is "better."
Date: 11/14/2011 | Nation & World
GOP co-chairman of supercommittee says debt talks a 'roller coaster ride'
The Republican co-chairman of a committee in charge of slashing the nation's deficit on Sunday called deliberations a "roller coaster ride" and gave no indication that a deal could be struck before the panel's Thanksgiving deadline.
Date: 11/13/2011 | Nation & World
As deadline nears, deficit-reduction panel has a long way to go
WASHINGTON -- With 10 days remaining for the congressional deficit-reduction committee to strike a deal, a top Democrat said his party hasn't agreed with Republicans on any specifics.
Date: 11/13/2011 | Nation & World
Supercommittee may put off a deal to next year
WASHINGTON -- With time and compromise slipping out of reach, the congressional "super committee" may punt its toughest deficit decisions to next year rather than strike a deal that would enrage both parties' political bases heading into the 2012 election.
Date: 11/12/2011 | Nation & World
Hastings, Young push bill to open ANWR to drilling
JUNEAU, Alaska -- Two U.S. House Republicans on Friday said they plan to propose legislation to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling as a way to spur domestic energy production and create jobs.
Date: 11/11/2011 | Northwest
Deficit 'supercommittee' hits a rough patch
WASHINGTON — With Congress' supercommittee stymied, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Thursday of a "paper tiger" Pentagon if the panel fails to agree on a deficit-reduction plan and automatic spending cuts take effect as a result beginning in 2013.
Date: 11/10/2011 | Nation & World
Dems present offer to cut deficit by $2 trillion
WASHINGTON -- Democrats on Congress' supercommittee secretly presented Republicans with a revised deficit-cutting proposal earlier this week that calls for a blend of $1 trillion in spending cuts and $1 trillion in higher tax revenue over the next decade, officials in both parties said Wednesday,...
Date: 11/10/2011 | Nation & World
Lawmakers reaffirm 'In God We Trust' as U.S. motto
WASHINGTON -- The House took a break from battles over economic policy and returned to a clash from the culture war.
Date: 11/05/2011 | Nation & World
Room for revenue in supercommittee plan, Boehner says
WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that "there's room for revenue" as a congressional deficit-reduction supercommittee seeks $1.2 trillion or more in deficit cuts over the coming decade. But he says it would require a major overhaul of government benefit programs.
Date: 11/04/2011 | Nation & World
100 lawmakers to debt supercommittee: Consider tax, revenue options
WASHINGTON — Breaking with party orthodoxy, 40 House Republicans urged Congress' supercommittee on Wednesday to consider all options for raising revenue as they hunt for ways to trim the gargantuan $14.8 trillion national debt.
Date: 11/03/2011 | Nation & World
Rampage suspect seeks halt to forced medication
SAN FRANCISCO -- Prison officials are unfairly forcing the man suspected of wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to take a powerful anti-psychotic so he can stand trial and possibly face the death penalty for a shooting rampage that also killed six, his lawyers argued Tuesday.
Date: 11/02/2011 | Nation & World
Boehner says he has high hopes for debt supercommittee to reach deal
WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John Boehner said Monday that he has high hopes that a congressional "supercommittee" will be able to reach common ground on a plan to cut the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion over a decade.
Date: 11/01/2011 | Nation & World
Google doubles its spending on lobbying
Google is dropping a lot of cash on lobbying, hitting an all-time high.The Internet search giant, under heavy scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and regulators, shelled out $2.4 million on lobbying this quarter, nearly double what it spent a year ago.
Date: 10/22/2011 | Business
For a jobs bill in pieces, Obama hits road in N.C.
FLETCHER, N.C. -- Rolling through small Southern towns in a campaign-style bus, President Barack Obama on Monday pressed lawmakers back in Washington to start taking up pieces of his rejected jobs bill and mocked the Republicans who had shot it down in total. The Senate moved to vote soon on one...
Date: 10/17/2011 | Nation & World
Congress passes 3 free trade agreements
WASHINGTON — Congress approved free trade agreements Wednesday with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, ending a four-year drought in the forming of new trade partnerships and giving the White House and Capitol Hill the opportunity to show they can work together to stimulate the economy and put...
Date: 10/12/2011 | Nation & World
Senate postpones final vote on Chinese currency practices
WASHINGTON -- A Senate vote to impose sanctions on China for its unfair currency practices was put off Thursday, delayed by the partisan divisions that have come to characterize this Congress.
Date: 10/07/2011 | Nation & World
Dispute over terror suspects' detention blocks defense bill
WASHINGTON -- The top Democrat in the Senate said Tuesday that a sweeping defense bill is on hold until lawmakers can resolve a dispute with the Obama administration over provisions that would require military custody of terrorist suspects and limit the government's authority to transfer...
Date: 10/04/2011 | Nation & World
GOP to Planned Parenthood: Hand over records
WASHINGTON -- A Republican-led House panel has asked the Planned Parenthood Federation of America to hand over more than a decade's worth of documents in a probe of whether the organization improperly spends public money on abortions.
Date: 09/27/2011 | Nation & World
Congress dodges one crisis, now on to the next
WASHINGTON -- One crisis averted, on to the next.
Date: 09/26/2011 | Nation & World
Senate blocks House disaster aid bill
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-led Senate blocked a House-passed bill on Friday that would provide disaster aid and keep government agencies open, escalating the parties' latest showdown over spending and highlighting the raw partisan rift that has festered all year.
Date: 09/23/2011 | Nation & World
Obama pushes jobs bill in Republicans' back yard
CINCINNATI — Needling his top Republican adversaries on their own turf, President Barack Obama stood in the shadow of an outdated and heavily used Ohio River bridge Thursday and called his rivals out by name to demand action on his $447 billion jobs bill.
Date: 09/23/2011 | Nation & World
First steps in cutting U.S. spending on Afghan war
WASHINGTON -- Congress on Tuesday took a first step toward scaling back U.S. spending plans for the Afghan war, reflecting a mounting political pressure to reduce budget deficits and a recalculation of what it will take to stabilize Afghanistan as U.S. and allied forces begin to withdraw...
Date: 09/14/2011 | Nation & World
Armed Services chairman criticizes Obama policies
WASHINGTON -- The Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee on Monday criticized President Barack Obama's national security policies as often reflective of a view that "treats American power as the principle adversary, not ally, to world peace."
Date: 09/12/2011 | Nation & World
Democrats and Republicans, stop the sniping and get to work
I was so ticked off with the election campaigns in 2010 that I conducted a little experiment.I decided I wouldn't vote for candidates who didn't offer much of a plan and spent the majority of their money on materials and television ads that trashed their opponents.
Date: 09/12/2011 | Business
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