Political News
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APNewsBreak: Taliban attacks not down after all
Tweet Share on Facebook 5:59PM February 26, 2013 CommentWASHINGTON (AP) — The American-led military coalition in Afghanistan backed off Tuesday from its claim that Taliban attacks dropped off in 2012, tacitly acknowledging a hole in its widely repeated argument that violence is easing and that the insurgency is in steep decline.
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White House, Congress face cuts; details lacking
Tweet Share on Facebook 5:57PM February 26, 2013 CommentWASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and Congress won't be immune to the automatic cuts in federal spending scheduled to kick in Friday. But for all the grim warnings the Obama administration has been detailing about the effect on everything from meat packing plants to airports, the consequences of the cuts on the politicians who concocted the idea are much sketchier.
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Budget battle guide: This time may be for real
Tweet Share on Facebook 5:30PM February 26, 2013 CommentWASHINGTON (AP) — America's leaders have threatened to shut the government down, drive it over a cliff and bounce it off the ceiling. Now they're ready to smack it with a "sequester." And it sounds like they mean it this time.
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B. Smith to be guest chef in White House mess
Tweet Share on Facebook 5:25PM February 26, 2013 CommentWASHINGTON (AP) — Restaurateur B. Smith will be the guest chef Wednesday in a White House restaurant run by the Navy.
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Court appears conflicted over DNA sampling issue
Tweet Share on Facebook 5:25PM February 26, 2013 CommentWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday struggled with what one of the justices called its most important criminal procedure case in decades, whether to let police take DNA without a warrant from those arrested in hopes of using it to solve old cases.
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DHS releasing illegal immigrants before sequester
Tweet Share on Facebook 5:08PM February 26, 2013 CommentWASHINGTON (AP) — A week before mandatory budget cuts go into effect across the government, the Department of Homeland Security has started releasing illegal immigrants being held in immigration jails across the country, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday.
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Bipartisan agreement on need for more farm workers
Tweet Share on Facebook 5:04PM February 26, 2013 CommentWASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans and Democrats said Tuesday that farmers should be allowed to hire foreign workers more easily as Congress reworks U.S. immigration laws. But there was some disagreement on how it should happen.
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Poll: 87 percent say never OK to cheat on taxes
Tweet Share on Facebook 4:59PM February 26, 2013 CommentWASHINGTON (AP) — With tax season in full swing, a newly released poll says an overwhelming majority of adults don't believe it is ever OK to cheat on their income taxes, with most citing personal integrity as a reason to be truthful.
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Calif. GOP pins turnaround hopes on new chairman
Tweet Share on Facebook 4:48PM February 26, 2013 CommentSACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — As Republicans nationwide reconsider the party's direction, nowhere is their challenge more daunting than in California.
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New VA clinics, expansions left in limbo
Tweet Share on Facebook 3:06PM February 26, 2013 CommentWASHINGTON (AP) — A veterans' health clinic in Brick, N.J. is in such disrepair that when the snow gets heavy, patients have to go elsewhere for fear the roof might collapse. Another in San Antonio has extensive mildew and mold problems that could prove a health hazard for employees and patients in the coming years.
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Terrorism More About 'Bloods and Crips' than 'Koran and Hadith'
Tweet Share on Facebook 2:57PM February 26, 2013 Comment
A new report finds that most Americans convicted of terrorism are actually well-educated and employed.
Former CIA Director Michael Hayden cautions against misinterpreting new study of al Qaeda recruitment.
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Officials debate high pay at bailed-out firms
Tweet Share on Facebook 1:54PM February 26, 2013 CommentGovernment officials argued Tuesday over whether pay is still too high for top executives at bailed-out companies like AIG, General Motors and Ally Financial.
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SPIN METER: A dubious list of budget 'horribles'
Tweet Share on Facebook 1:46PM February 26, 2013 CommentWASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and his officials are doing their best to drum up public concern over the shock wave of spending cuts that could strike the government in just days. So it's a good time to be alert for sky-is-falling hype.
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Hagel Passes One Hurdle, Confirmation Expected Today
Tweet Share on Facebook 1:33PM February 26, 2013 Comment
Former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel delivers opening remarks to the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing to become the next secretary of defense.
Bruised nominee will have to mend fences with GOP critics.
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Military leaders say Congress must stop sequester
Tweet Share on Facebook 1:23PM February 26, 2013 CommentWASHINGTON (AP) — The billions of dollars in defense budget cuts scheduled to begin at the end of the week will have a swift and severe impact on military readiness and Congress needs to take fast action to stop them, members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday in an 11th hour bid to keep the reductions from going into effect.
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THE RESET: Obama can cheer progress on nominations
Tweet Share on Facebook 12:53PM February 26, 2013 CommentAlthough scant progress has been made toward averting deep automatic budget cuts that begin Friday, President Barack Obama can welcome some forward motion elsewhere — on Cabinet nominations and on the economy.
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Court won't allow challenge to surveillance law
Tweet Share on Facebook 12:24PM February 26, 2013 CommentWASHINGTON (AP) — A sharply-divided Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out an attempt by U.S. citizens to challenge the expansion of a surveillance law used to monitor conversations of foreign spies and terrorist suspects.
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Bernanke to Lawmakers: Act Now on Sequester
Tweet Share on Facebook 11:58AM February 26, 2013 Comment
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before the House Financial Services Committee, Nov. 18, 2008.
The central banker advises lawmakers to make deep but gradual cuts to deficits and debt.
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Sequester Blame Game Continues
Tweet Share on Facebook 11:47AM February 26, 2013 Comment
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 12: U.S. President Barack Obama, flanked by Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), delivers his State of the Union speech before a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol February 12, 2013 in Washington, DC. Facing a divided Congress, Obama focused his speech on new initiatives designed to stimulate the U.S. economy.
The debate over Friday's looming sequester is getting more ferocious as President Obama and congressional Republicans blame each other for the $85 billion in budget cuts due to take effect at the end of this week.
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First Lady Announces Healthy Recipe Search Effort
Tweet Share on Facebook 11:46AM February 26, 2013 Comment
Michelle Obama participates in the National Day of Play on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama says five media companies and a social media website are working together to make it easier to find nutritious recipes.
