U.S. Politics & Elections

Senate Dems carry Obama's water on bills

2012-04-24T03:32:05Z

When President Barack Obama called for a vote on the “Buffett rule,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scheduled it for Tax Day. As Obama barnstorms college universities, the Senate will vote to keep interest rates from doubling on student loans....

If health care is undecided...

2012-04-24T03:31:56Z

If America is hoping a Supreme Court ruling will end the legal uncertainty hanging over the health care system once and for all, there’s a chance it could be sorely disappointed. Most legal experts are hoping the Supreme Court will...

Hugh Hefner: GOP 'war against sex'

2012-04-23T16:23:50Z

Although it’s his magazine, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner doesn’t frequently take to its pages to wax poetic about one thing or another. In the May issue, however, Hefner pens a rare, full-page editorial on an unsurprising topic: Sex. This time,...

Report: Blago is prison dishwasher

2012-04-23T16:21:12Z

Rod Blagojevich is spending his days in prison washing pots and pans, according to a report. Blagojevich began serving his 14-year sentence for corruption on March 14 at Englewood, a low-security facility in Littleton, Colo., located 15 miles southwest of...

Ob-gyns deliver on the Hill

2012-04-23T03:17:24Z

They rush to meetings, deal with crying babies, talk about contraception and fall behind on their schedules. It’s the daily schedule for a typical obstetrician and gynecologist, but also for the lawmakers who were ob-gyns before they ditched their white...

Chevy Volt a charged issue

2012-04-23T03:17:20Z

The Chevy Volt — manufactured by bailout recipient General Motors, championed by President Barack Obama and touted as a solution to global warming. No wonder it’s become an election-year punching bag for conservatives. From Rush Limbaugh to Mitt Romney, critics...

U.S., Afghanistan finalize agreement

2012-04-22T16:00:39Z

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan and U.S. officials finalized a long-awaited strategic partnership deal Sunday that is meant to set forth guidelines for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan as forces draw down, the two governments said. Afghan and U.S. officials had said...

French voting Sunday for president

2012-04-22T12:40:50Z

PARIS - Voters were turning out Sunday in solid numbers for the first round of France’s presidential election, with conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy’s political career on the line amid frustration over his personal style and inability to turn around a...

Hatch faces uncharted terrain

2012-04-22T01:59:00Z

SANDY, Utah — Orrin Hatch mustered an 18-point win Saturday. But the gaping margin at the Utah GOP convention felt nothing like a victory. The failure to notch 60 percent of the 3,902 delegates who voted in the U.S. Senate...

Big lobbying spending dips

2012-04-21T22:38:41Z

Many of the nation’s most powerful political forces scaled back their lobbying expenditures early this year during a do-little Congressional season, a POLITICO analysis of new federal disclosures indicates. During the year’s first quarter, General Motors, Wal-Mart, AARP, several oil...

Media stars play special 'Jeopardy'

2012-04-21T17:44:29Z

Hint: This popular 28-year-old game show came to Washington, D.C., Saturday to film five shows with some of the city’s most notable media figures. If you answered “What is Jeopardy?” you are correct! Host Alex Trebek and his crew came...

U.N. authorizes Syria observers

2012-04-21T16:03:42Z

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution expanding the number of U.N. observers in Syria from 30 to 300 and demanding an immediate halt to the violence that has been escalating since a cease-fire took...

In Ariz., Mitt listens on immigration

2012-04-21T02:17:52Z

TEMPE, Ariz. — Here in Arizona as the presumptive Republican nominee on Friday, Mitt Romney dropped his tough-as-nails immigration rhetoric from the primary season. Campaigning in this Phoenix suburb, Romney listened instead. At a “Hispanic Roundtable” organized by the campaign,...

Obama super PAC raises $2.5M

2012-04-21T02:09:19Z

Pro-Barack Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action, buoyed by the president’s personal blessing, raised more in March than it had in any month previous, new federal records show. But the $2.5 million it collected during March — light years better...

MSNBC's Bashir bashed on blogs

2012-04-20T16:21:29Z

Conservative blogs are fuming at MSNBC’s Martin Bashir for warning on the air that if Mitt Romney continues to lie about President Barack Obama, the Republican presidential candidate will suffer “eternal damnation,” with one blog labeling the TV host a...

Poll: Obama, Mitt tight in Fla., Ohio

2012-04-20T15:51:57Z

President Barack Obama holds slight edges over Mitt Romney in the key battleground states of Ohio and Florida, according a new poll. If the presidential election were held today, 45 percent of Florida voters say they would vote for Obama,...

Ex-members do get special access

2012-04-20T03:37:42Z

Companies such as FedEx, Comcast and General Motors have spent big money to win recent significant battles on Capitol Hill. And their government affairs divisions share a commonality: an impressive roster of former congressional members. They’re hardly alone: 188 different...

Political scrimmage before sequester

2012-04-20T03:36:29Z

Guns or bandages. That’s the choice House Republicans are framing for the White House in the early phases of a battle over budget cuts that will hammer the Pentagon later this year if Congress and President Barack Obama don’t slash...

Obama scandal forecast: Slightly hazy

2012-04-19T17:47:31Z

Barack Obama hates the tabloids and usually does a pretty good job of keeping out of them. Too bad he can’t say the same for the people who work for him. This past month — the kickoff of the general...

Poll: Youth vote dips for Obama

2012-04-19T16:49:35Z

President Barack Obama may have enjoyed celebrity status among young voters in 2008, but a new survey suggests they’re less likely to rock the vote for him in 2012. Almost half of 18- to 24-year-olds — 48 percent — said...