4 hours, 15 minutes ago
(AP) The Founding Fathers left one legacy not celebrated on Independence Day but which affects us all. It's the national debt.The country first got into debt to help pay for the Revolutionary War. Growing ever since, the debt stands today at a staggering $11.5 trillion _ equivalent to over $37,000 for ...
10 hours, 28 minutes ago
(AP) President Barack Obama is helping the nation celebrate its birthday and his daughter Malia celebrate hers.The president is to fly Friday morning to Camp David, Md., for the first part of the first family's Fourth of July celebration, including daughter Malia's 11th birthday on Saturday.About 20 of her tween-age friends ...
11 hours, 49 minutes ago
(AP) The top Republican on the Senate committee that will consider Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination says a Puerto Rican civil rights group's papers could shed light on her judicial approach, particularly her view of racial preferences in hiring.White House Counsel Greg Craig, however, told Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., in a ...
11 hours, 49 minutes ago
(AP) First you paid to insure your car. Soon you may have to add health insurance premiums to that stack of monthly bills as well.In a revamped health care system envisioned by senators, people would be required to carry health insurance just like motorists must get auto coverage now. The government ...
12 hours, 6 minutes ago
(AP) President Barack Obama said former Russian President Vladimir Putin and his hand-picked successor should expect an in-person reminder the Cold War is over when the U.S. leader makes his first trip to a Moscow summit.Days before he departs for Russia, Obama said Thursday that Putin "still has a lot of ...
12 hours, 13 minutes ago
(AP) In a slap at President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton will headline a fundraiser for a New York congresswoman challenging White House-backed Sen. Kristen Gillibrand in the state's Democratic primary.Clinton has not endorsed in the race, but his efforts to help Rep. Carolyn Maloney could be seen as a ...
12 hours, 30 minutes ago
(AP) A top Republican pressed for more information Thursday about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's ties to a Puerto Rican civil rights group he said took extreme positions on race, as the White House argued that the material was irrelevant to the judge's nomination.White House Counsel Greg Craig told Sen. Jeff ...
12 hours, 31 minutes ago
(AP) Days from his first Moscow summit, President Barack Obama declared Thursday that former Russian President Vladimir Putin "still has a lot of sway" in his nation and needs an in-person reminder the Cold War is over.On next week's trip, Obama will meet not only with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev but ...
12 hours, 37 minutes ago
(AP) Newly released Defense Department documents and memos about the first years of operation of the jail at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, portray a chaotic and sometimes violent operation that its own commanders described as dysfunctional.President Barack Obama has ordered the detention facility closed next year. It holds ...
12 hours, 37 minutes ago
(AP) Vice President Dick Cheney talked with top White House officials about how to respond to reporters' inquiries into who leaked the identity of a CIA operative, according to a court filing.Cheney told the FBI about his recollection of discussions with his former top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and other ...
12 hours, 37 minutes ago
(AP) Americans who refuse to buy affordable medical coverage could be hit with fines of more than $1,000 under a health care overhaul bill unveiled Thursday by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.The Congressional Budget Office estimated the fines will raise around $36 billion over ...
12 hours, 43 minutes ago
(AP) Sorry, Kobe.President Barack Obama was asked straight out on Thursday: Kobe or Michael?As in, who's the best? Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, a four-time NBA champion? Or the basketball legend to whom he is most often compared, Michael Jordan, who retired as a six-time champ with the Chicago Bulls ...
12 hours, 43 minutes ago
(AP) The man who lost the 1998 Minnesota governor's race to pro wrestler Jesse Ventura now holds the distinction of losing his U.S. Senate seat to former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken.But it's a testament to Norm Coleman's political durability that just a day after he conceded the contest and ...
16 hours, 25 minutes ago
(AP) Vice President Dick Cheney talked with top White House officials about how to respond to reporters' inquiries into who leaked the identity of a CIA operative, according to a court filing.Cheney told the FBI about his recollection of discussions with his former top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and other ...
17 hours, 37 minutes ago
(AP) South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is defending the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and says the rule of law is working in Honduras.Zelaya was ousted in a military coup after he ignored a Supreme Court order to halt a constitutional revamp, which many Hondurans believe was meant to let ...
18 hours, 4 minutes ago
(AP) Newly released Defense Department documents and memos about the first years of operation of the jail at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, portray a chaotic and sometimes violent operation that its own commanders described as dysfunctional.President Barack Obama has ordered the detention facility closed next year. It holds ...
19 hours, 13 minutes ago
(AP) The Obama administration is moving cautiously on a new pilot program that would both detect and stop cyber attacks against government computers, while trying to ensure citizen privacy protections.The pilot program, known as Einstein 3, was supposed to launch in February. But the Department of Homeland Security is still pulling ...
19 hours, 37 minutes ago
(AP) President Barack Obama said Thursday the Supreme Court is "moving the ball" to limit affirmative action, but he stressed that its ruling in favor of white firefighters still allows employers and educators to take race into account in hiring, promotions and admissions.The president, a former constitutional law professor, avoided criticizing ...
20 hours, 3 minutes ago
(AP) The Obama administration is moving cautiously on a new pilot program that would both detect and stop cyber attacks against government computers, while trying to ensure citizen privacy protections.The pilot program, known as Einstein 3, was supposed to launch in February. But the Department of Homeland Security is still pulling ...
20 hours, 27 minutes ago
(AP) A top Republican pressed for more information Thursday about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's ties to a Puerto Rican civil rights group he said took extreme positions on race, as the White House argued that the material was irrelevant to the judge's nomination.White House Counsel Greg Craig told Sen. Jeff ...
20 hours, 51 minutes ago
(AP) President Barack Obama said Thursday he's uneasy about his own proposal to indefinitely imprison some of the most dangerous terror suspects being held now at Guantanamo Bay. He called it "one of the biggest challenges of my administration."The president stopped short of abandoning his tentative idea of continuing to hold ...
20 hours, 51 minutes ago
(AP) Finally, something that intimidates President Barack Obama: a bunch of tween girls.The president talked about his family's plans for the July Fourth holiday during an AP interview Thursday, and revealed that Camp David had been invaded by about 20 girls there to celebrate daughter Malia's 11th birthday on Saturday."There are ...
21 hours, 42 minutes ago
(AP) The Obama administration says it needs two more months to review an internal CIA report on the agency's secret detention and interrogation program before making it public.The Justice Department had originally said it intended to release the report in June as part of a lawsuit, but department officials said Thursday ...
21 hours, 42 minutes ago
(AP) A top Republican senator says a Puerto Rican legal advocacy group advised by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor took extreme positions on capital punishment, abortion and racial quotas.Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions says it's absurd for the White House to argue that documents detailing the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education ...
21 hours, 42 minutes ago
(AP) The chairman of the Senate's upcoming Supreme Court hearings says Republicans told him they would have objected no matter whom President Barack Obama nominated to the high court.Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy told The Associated Press on Thursday that, quote, "They were going to object no matter who it was. ...
