Franken wins Minn. Senate race; Coleman concedes (AP)

July 1st, 2009

AP - Al Franken ascended Tuesday from the ranks of former “Saturday Night Live” comedians to an even more exclusive club, outlasting Republican Norm Coleman in an eight-month recount and courtroom saga to win a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Court: Stay tuned on campaign funds, civil rights (AP)

July 1st, 2009

AP - On civil rights and campaign cash, the Supreme Court earned an “incomplete” grade in the term that just ended. There is a good chance the court will have a new member but the same right-of-center tilt when the justices return in late summer to deal with unfinished business.

Analysis: US role in Iraq doesn’t end just yet (AP)

July 1st, 2009

AP - U.S. troops are out of Iraq’s cities but not its future. Even a best-case scenario is likely to feature an American role there for years — militarily as well as diplomatically.

House passes climate change bill (Politico)

July 1st, 2009

Politico - A close vote after intense debate.

Palin story sparks GOP family feud (Politico)

July 1st, 2009

Politico - Vanity Fair piece has started a blistering exchange between high-profile Republicans.

Administration sends Congress consumer legislation (AP)

July 1st, 2009

AP - President Barack Obama asked Congress on Tuesday to create a new agency to police the fine print on credit card bills and mortgage documents and determine what fees, penalties and interest rates are fair.

Source: NKorean ship headed back to north (AP)

July 1st, 2009

AP - U.S. officials said Tuesday that a North Korean ship has turned around and is headed back toward the north where it came from, after being tracked for more than a week by American Navy vessels on suspicion of carrying illegal weapons.

AP sources: Group sends Sotomayor docs to Senate (AP)

July 1st, 2009

AP - Senate aides say a Puerto Rican legal advocacy group has sent a trove of documents on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s past to the panel considering her nomination.

EPA approves California pollution rule (AP)

July 1st, 2009

AP - The Environmental Protection Agency took a major step toward tougher reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks Tuesday by giving California the green light to impose new requirements that could become the national model for combatting tailpipe pollution linked to global warming.

Foes of Sotomayor emboldened by discimination case (AP)

July 1st, 2009

AP - Foes of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor celebrated the high court’s reversal of her decision in a reverse discrimination case.

White House open to new tax on health benefits (AP)

June 29th, 2009

AP - The Obama White House left open the possibility Sunday that the president would break a campaign promise and raise taxes on people earning less than $250,000 to support his health care overhaul agenda.

Analysis: Obama scores major, much-needed victory (AP)

June 29th, 2009

AP - Facing a rare defeat, President Barack Obama put a big dose of political capital on the line and scored a major victory just when he needed one.

Republicans eyed for 2012 weigh Sanford fallout (AP)

June 29th, 2009

AP - A potential White House contender in 2012 staked a claim Sunday to rehabilitating the Republican Party in the wake of extramarital affairs by two leading Republicans that have damaged the GOP’s family-values image.

Obama adviser not ready to back a second stimulus (AP)

June 29th, 2009

AP - A senior White House adviser said Sunday the economic stimulus has not yet “broken the back of the recession” but set aside calls for a second massive spending bill. Republicans, meanwhile, called spending under way a failure.

GOP leader says time needed for Sotomayor records (AP)

June 29th, 2009

AP - Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday the committee preparing for hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor needs time to review 300 boxes of records that recently turned up in connection with her work for a legal advocacy group.

GOP urges more spending restraint in programs (AP)

June 29th, 2009

AP - Republicans concerned about the Obama administration’s big spending on economic stimulus, energy and health care are asking, “Where are the jobs?”

Roberts: Supreme Court not setting school rules (AP)

June 29th, 2009

AP - Don’t look to the Supreme Court to set school rules, only to clarify them when officials have abdicated that responsibility, Chief Justice John Roberts said Saturday.

73-year-old Scottish man dies of swine flu (AP)

June 29th, 2009

AP - Health officials in Scotland say a 73-year-old man infected with swine flu has died at a hospital outside Glasgow.

House passes major energy-climate bill (AP)

June 27th, 2009

AP - In a triumph for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed sweeping legislation Friday that calls for the nation’s first limits on pollution linked to global warming and aims to usher in a new era of cleaner, yet more costly energy.

AP sources: Obama eyeing order for Gitmo detainees (AP)

June 27th, 2009

AP - Stymied by Congress so far, the White House is considering issuing an executive order to indefinitely imprison a small number of Guantanamo Bay detainees considered too dangerous to prosecute or release, two administration officials said Friday.