Fla. Gov. Scott wants Obama's help to halt possible longshoreman's strike

Florida Gov. Rick Scott appealed to President Barack Obama Thursday to use his authority to halt a potentially devastating longshoreman’s work stoppage that could cripple ports along the eastern seaboard and Gulf Coast. | 12/28/12 06:54:30 By - Charles Rabin

California's budget recovery may be wrecked by fiscal cliff tumble

Gov. Jerry Brown and California lawmakers struck an upbeat tone in recent weeks as they enjoyed their most positive budget outlook since the economic downturn.

Whether that mood survives the winter depends on Washington. | 12/28/12 06:47:49 By - Kevin Yamamura

EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to resign

Lisa Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, announced Thursday that she is resigning. | 12/27/12 11:51:19 By - Anita Kumar

Reid spokesman: GOP should 'drop their knee-jerk obstruction'

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's spokesman swung back hard at House of Representatives Republicans Wednesday, after GOP leaders said the Senate should consider House-passed tax and spending bills. | 12/27/12 07:51:16 By - David Lightman

S.C. group pushes for gas tax increase to repair state's roads

A onetime educational group has hired two lobbyists – including a nine-year veteran of the state Department of Transportation – to push for an increase in South Carolina’s 16-cent-a-gallon gas tax, the third-lowest in the country. | 12/27/12 07:14:47 By - Adam Beam

U.S. will reach federal debt limit on New Year’s Eve

The government will reach the $16.4 trillion debt limit Monday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told congressional leaders Wednesday, adding a new and possibly dramatic wrinkle to negotiations aimed at averting the “fiscal cliff.” | 12/27/12 06:24:48 By - By David Lightman and Kevin G. Hall

House GOP leaders say Senate has to make next move to avoid cliff

House of Representatives leaders talked Wednesday and said they'd wait for the Senate to act on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff. House leaders said that once the Senate acts, they will consider whether to take up that measure. | 12/26/12 16:44:19 By - David Lightman

Gallup: People less optimistic about cliff deal

People are growing pessimistic that the White House and congressional leaders can reach an agreement on avoiding the fiscal cliff, a new Gallup poll said Wednesday. | 12/26/12 09:48:08 By - David Lightman

Alaska lawmakers will likely see more bills inspired by outside groups

Among the hundreds of bills that will be introduced into Alaska's 28th Legislature over the next two years, it's almost certain that some will be inspired or written by the American Legislative Exchange Council, the secretive legislation mill that combines conservative thought with corporate interests. | 12/26/12 06:48:49 By - Richard Mauer

Here are some routes to avoid looming ‘fiscal cliff’

When President Barack Obama and Congress return to Washington later this week, the countdown to the fiscal cliff will be measured in days _ yet no one really knows how, when or even whether an agreement might reached. | 12/24/12 15:59:17 By - By David Lightman

Outgoing S.C. Sen. Jim DeMint shook up Washington

For his first eight years in Washington, Jim DeMint was like most members of Congress – relatively quiet, fairly innocuous and pretty much unknown outside his state. | 12/24/12 07:34:40 By - James Rosen

Obama nominates Sen. John Kerry as secretary of state

President Barack Obama on Friday nominated Sen. John Kerry for secretary of state in his second term, calling the Vietnam veteran and onetime presidential contender the “perfect choice to guide American diplomacy.” | 12/21/12 19:07:02 By -

Much talk, little action from Obama on gun control

Even before he became president, Barack Obama stressed the need to curb gun violence. | 12/21/12 18:15:05 By - By Anita Kumar and Lesley Clark

Judge tosses suit that tried to rid Senate of filibuster

A long-shot lawsuit challenging the Senate filibuster rules, in part over a contentious immigration issue, was tossed out Friday by a federal judge. | 12/21/12 17:07:27 By - By Michael Doyle

Rep. Mike Thompson, former Vietnam vet, hopes for middle ground on gun control

Nancy Pelosi tapped Thompson to head the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. Thompson says he will “meet with as many folks as we possibly can” in crafting a legislative package that will start with reviving an assault weapon ban but might extend into newer ideas. | 12/21/12 16:47:20 By - By Michael Doyle

Obama tries to get stalled cliff talks back on track

President Barack Obama on Friday tried to jumpstart stalled talks over how to avert the fiscal cliff, urging congressional leaders to craft a less ambitious deal that keeps tax rates intact for the middle class and extends jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. | 12/21/12 10:54:42 By - By David Lightman and Lesley Clark

Kerry’s rise from son of a diplomat to secretary of state

With Friday’s announcement by President Barack Obama that he had nominated Sen. John Kerry to become the next secretary of state, the Massachusetts Democrat would go from a diplomat’s son to the nation’s top diplomat – overcoming a few setbacks along the way. | 12/21/12 10:52:01 By - By William Douglas and David Lightman

Obama calls on public to lobby Congress on gun restrictions

President Obama will observe a moment of silence at 9:30 a.m. today at the White House, marking one week since a lone gunman opened fire in a Connecticut elementary school, killing 20 first graders before turning a gun on himself. | 12/21/12 08:01:53 By - Lesley Clark

Former S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford mulling congressional bid

Former S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford is 90 percent certain to run for the 1st District congressional seat that he once held, two knowledgeable sources told The State on Friday. | 12/21/12 07:29:03 By - Andrew Shain

Calif. bill would increase campaign donations disclosure

Following the controversy in California's initiative campaigns over an $11 million donation from a secretive, out-of-state group, Democratic lawmakers have begun introducing legislation to increase disclosure requirements and the power of the Fair Political Practices Commission to enforce them. | 12/21/12 07:02:01 By - David Siders

EPA building to be named after Bill Clinton

Fourteen years after his impeachment, former President Bill Clinton is about to get a big building named after him in Washington. | 12/20/12 18:02:43 By - By James Rosen

House plans votes on spending and taxes in early evening

House Republicans have scheduled two early evening votes Thursday, one on an alternative to automatic spending cuts due to take effect Jan. 2, the other on the plan to continue the Bush-era tax cuts for those earning less than $1 million, with the outcome of the vote too close to call. | 12/20/12 09:58:23 By - David Lightman

Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison gives farewell speech

It was a subdued Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who took to the Senate floor Wednesday, perhaps for the last time, to give her farewell speech after nearly 20 years as a U.S. senator. | 12/20/12 07:08:58 By - Maria Recio

Supreme Court rulings limit options of gun-control task force

The Obama administration’s high-level gun-control task force, established Wednesday, will be navigating tricky legal terrain reshaped by Supreme Court conservatives. | 12/20/12 06:27:29 By - By Michael Doyle

Obama urges Congress to ban military-style assault weapons

President Barack Obama urged Congress on Wednesday to ban the sale of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips and said Vice President Joe Biden would lead an effort to stem an “epidemic of gun violence that plagues this country every single day.” | 12/19/12 17:58:25 By - By Lesley Clark and David Lightman

Obama, Boehner return to verbal fisticuffs on fiscal cliff

President Barack Obama on Wednesday accused House Republicans of letting their animosity toward him prevent them from approving a deal to avert the nation’s imminent fiscal crisis, even though the two sides had been close to a compromise days ago. | 12/19/12 17:38:02 By - By Anita Kumar and David Lightman

Religious challenge to health care law can continue

North Carolina’s Belmont Abbey College can keep on challenging the Obama administration’s signature health care law under an appellate court ruling that leaves the challenge on hold. | 12/19/12 15:21:21 By - By Michael Doyle

S.C. lawmaker proposes letting teachers carry guns in schools

Public school employees with concealed weapons permits could carry guns in South Carolina schools if a bill filed Tuesday in the South Carolina state House of Representatives becomes law. | 12/19/12 07:11:48 By - Adam Beam

Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown releases new 'fracking' regulations proposal

The Brown administration on Tuesday released draft regulations that would require oil companies for the first time to disclose where in California they use hydraulic fracturing, a controversial but little regulated method of oil extraction. | 12/19/12 06:56:23 By - David Siders

As House Speaker John Boehner navigates ‘cliff,’ he’s talking compromise, hardball

John Boehner has spent the last month tightening his grip on power, silencing Republican opponents and emerging as the unquestioned voice of his party. | 12/18/12 17:43:48 By - By David Lightman

Obama, Speaker John Boehner edge toward deal on federal budget

President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner inched closer to a solution to avert a looming fiscal crisis Tuesday with a deal that would fail to meet one of the president’s top campaign pledges of raising taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans. | 12/18/12 14:20:09 By - By David Lightman and Anita Kumar

GOP leaders, conservative groups hail pick of Scott to replace DeMint

Prominent Republicans and leading conservative groups on Monday cheered the choice of Rep. Tim Scott to replace retiring Sen. Jim DeMint as South Carolina’s junior senator. | 12/17/12 18:33:11 By - By James Rosen

Sen. Inouye of Hawaii dies at 88

Iconic Sen. Daniel Inouye, a Democrat who represented Hawaii on Capitol Hill since it became a state in 1959, died at 5:01 p.m. Monday at the age of 88 at Walter Reed National Medical Center from respiratory complications. | 12/17/12 18:23:12 By - David Lightman

Sen. Dianne Feinstein ready to renew ban on assault weapons

The slaughter in Newtown, Conn., returns Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein to awfully familiar gun-control turf as she enters her third decade in the U.S. Senate. | 12/17/12 17:30:10 By - By Michael Doyle

Tim Scott chosen for DeMint's Senate seat

U.S. Rep. Tim Scott, who overcame poverty in North Charleston to build a successful business and political career, was appointed today by Gov. Nikki Haley to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Republican Jim DeMint. | 12/17/12 11:10:48 By - Andrew Shain

Electoral College casts its votes today

Kaye Moreno of Fort Worth heads to Austin today for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She will be one of the 538 Electoral College voters nationwide to travel to their state capitols and cast the final votes - the ones that truly matter - in the 2012 presidential election. | 12/17/12 07:30:56 By - Anna M. Tinsley

Sen. Rand Paul says entitlements should be cut, no raising taxes

Congress needs "to cut domestic welfare and entitlement spending" to balance the budget rather than tax the rich more, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told a Commerce Lexington luncheon on Friday. | 12/17/12 07:13:20 By - John Cheves

California's 'gay conversion' law faces two federal lawsuits

He is 14, the son of a Muslim father and a Catholic mother, and is being raised in a household where the family rejects the notion that it is all right to be gay. | 12/17/12 07:03:38 By - Denny Walsh and Sam Stanton

Alaska legislative aide's anti-Islam activism forces resignation

A legislative aide who joined an anti-Islam group and became obsessed with its mission crossed the line and illegally used state resources to promote its interests, a state ethics panel concluded in a ruling released Friday. | 12/17/12 06:58:24 By - Lisa Demer

The new normal? Millions wait for Congress to act

Congress is trying to wrap up its 2012 session, with the fates of help for storm victims, farmers, the military, jobless workers and others uncertain. Such routine matters traditionally aren’t the stuff of last-minute deliberations. But this latest bout of dysfunction is typical of this two-year Congress, one that was unusually polarized from the start. | 12/17/12 00:00:00 By - By David Lightman

Interest in revising Social Security grows as part of budget talks

A Republican “fiscal cliff” proposal to change the way that cost-of-living adjustments are handled in federal programs has sparked renewed interest in a broader overhaul of the way Social Security benefits are calculated. | 12/14/12 06:32:50 By - By Kevin G. Hall

White House won’t rule out age increase for Medicare

A Republican proposal to raise Medicare’s eligibility age gradually from 65 to 67 has gotten the cold shoulder from congressional Democrats, but an awkward silence from the White House. | 12/13/12 19:30:20 By - By Tony Pugh

S.C. Gov. Haley: No political experience necessary to fill DeMint's seat

Gov. Nikki Haley said Thursday that political experience is not a requirement for the successor to resigning U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint. Haley will name that successor, and two of the governor’s five reported finalists for the coveted seat – former first lady Jenny Sanford and state agency head Catherine Templeton – have not held elected office. | 12/13/12 07:24:05 By - Andrew Shain

California Gov. Jerry Brown undergoes prostate cancer treatments

Gov. Jerry Brown is being treated for prostate cancer, his administration said Wednesday, characterizing the condition as "localized" and unlikely to affect his work. | 12/13/12 06:57:31 By - David Siders and Laurel Rosenhall

Estate tax drama builds on edge of ‘fiscal cliff’

Glen Cope owns 500 head of cattle on about 2,500 acres near Aurora, Mo. Like most farmers and ranchers he's worried about the weather, the price he gets for his product, and the cost of fuel and feed needed to run his operation. But as 2012 winds to a close, Cope -- and his neighbors -- say they're more worried about what might happen to their farms and families when they die. | 12/12/12 13:28:17 By - Dave Helling

S.C. Gov. Haley's list for DeMint replacement is down to five

Gov. Nikki Haley’s reported short list of five finalists to succeed resigning Republican U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint includes a pair of congressmen, a one-time S.C. attorney general, a state agency chief and a former first lady. | 12/12/12 07:30:40 By - Andrew Shain

Religious colleges challenge health care law’s contraception rule

North Carolina’s Belmont Abbey College is trying to resurrect a religious school charge against the Obama administration’s signature health care law. | 12/12/12 06:23:20 By - By Michael Doyle

White House, GOP trade new offers on fiscal cliff budget debate

House Speaker John Boehner on Tuesday rejected a new White House offer aimed at averting the tax increases and automatic spending cuts that are due to take effect in three weeks and countered with a plan of his own, an indication that the two sides are starting to negotiate. | 12/11/12 19:12:45 By - By David Lightman and Anita Kumar

What Election Day bounce? Voters’ outlook falls to Earth

Forget the post-Election Day tradition of a more upbeat America in the weeks after voters go to the polls and make clear what they want from their leaders. A new McClatchy-Marist poll finds that people are gloomy about the economy and Washington’s ability to make it better anytime soon. | 12/11/12 17:35:43 By - By David Lightman

S.C. Gov. Haley won't pick a placeholder for DeMint's Senate seat

The next U.S. senator from South Carolina can run for the office in a 2014 special election after Gov. Nikki Haley said Monday she would not appoint a placeholder to succeed the resigning Jim DeMint. | 12/11/12 07:20:42 By - Andrew Shain

N.C. can't offer only 'Choose Life' license plates, federal judge rules

A federal judge has ruled that North Carolina cannot issue “Choose Life” license plates without offering a choice of plates with a different viewpoint. | 12/10/12 13:26:24 By - Anne Blythe

Alaska state lawmakers to push for voter ID laws again

In an early sign of Republican muscle-flexing in the reordered Alaska Legislature, an Anchorage House member says he plans to revive a dormant bill to require Alaskans to show a photo ID to vote. | 12/10/12 06:46:34 By - Richard Mauer

North Carolina’s Triangle will have a louder voice in next U.S. Congress

When the new Congress convenes in January, the Triangle region will have double the political firepower it had this year. | 12/09/12 00:00:00 By - By Renee Schoof

Potential new S.C. senator, if chosen, would be promotion of significance

Rep. Tim Scott likes to say that his political ambitions depend on what God has in store for him. | 12/07/12 19:18:01 By - By James Rosen and William Douglas

Supreme Court will hear same-sex marriage challenges

The Supreme Court turned to same-sex marriage Friday in a big way, by agreeing to review a California ballot measure that banned it and a federal law that blocks benefits for married same-sex couples. | 12/07/12 18:46:41 By - By Michael Doyle

Speaker Boehner hints he could accept higher tax rates

House Speaker John Boehner on Friday wouldn’t rule out higher income-tax rates as part of an agreement to avert the coming “fiscal cliff,” but he also said no such movement was possible unless President Barack Obama showed more interest in compromising. | 12/07/12 17:09:29 By - By David Lightman and Anita Kumar

Senate gives final OK to Russian trade deal; Obama says he’ll sign it

Ending nearly 40 years of trade restrictions with Russia, the Senate voted Thursday to approve a bill that will allow U.S. companies to expand business ties with the world’s ninth-largest economy and its 140 million consumers. | 12/07/12 07:22:02 By - By Rob Hotakainen

Jim DeMint burned fresh conservative path through Senate

In typical blunt fashion, Sen. Jim DeMint recently warned of the dangers to America from the lame-duck zombie Congress that’s poised to resolve weighty issues such as the looming “fiscal cliff” before it adjourns at the end of the year. | 12/06/12 18:51:25 By - By William Douglas

Rand Paul: Ashley Judd is 'way damn too liberal for our country and our state'

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky, told a Washington, D.C., radio station Wednesday that actress Ashley Judd was "way damn too liberal for our country and our state." | 12/06/12 12:31:21 By - Beth Musgrave

Proposal to drug test welfare recipients may gain steam in Kansas

Just a day after he joined the new leadership team in the Kansas Senate, Republican Jeff King revealed part of its agenda.

Drug testing for welfare recipients. | 12/05/12 07:16:52 By - Brad Cooper

Dole watches vote on UN treaty on disabled

Former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, his 89-year old body now weakened by age, illness and war injuries, sat quietly in a wheelchair on the Senate floor Tuesday, watching the debate over a United Nations treaty on the rights of the disabled. | 12/05/12 10:59:36 By - Linsey Wise and Dave Helling

Mississippi disaster chief tells Congress that recovery efforts need aid faster

In a hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill about recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy, Mississippi’s top emergency-management official told Congress that federal dollars need to be released to disaster relief officials sooner. | 12/04/12 18:30:59 By - By Gillian Roberts

VA trademarks term 'GI Bill' to shield vets from deception

Hoping to prevent online ads and the websites of for-profit schools from misleading Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs has trademarked the words “GI Bill.” | 12/04/12 18:16:16 By - By Renee Schoof

If feds flood your land, Supreme Court says, they may owe you

Private property owners might deserve payment when public agencies temporarily flood their land, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a case closely watched by farmers around the country, and in California in particular. | 12/04/12 16:26:43 By - By Michael Doyle

Obama keeps Debbie Wasserman Schultz as Democratic Party chair

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, who won her fifth term in Congress last month, is credited with helping to steer the Democratic National Committee to a successful election, though she was criticized for a platform snafu during the party’s convention. | 12/03/12 18:17:07 By - By David Lightman

Bill Clinton to speak in California

There was a time when Bill Clinton looked like a failed president, one who might be driven from office in disgrace and consigned to history as a Warren Harding or Calvin Coolidge. Brother, that is so 1998. | 12/03/12 06:58:40 By - Sam Stanton

Mitch McConnell has one eye on Obama, another on 2014

The Senate Republican leader’s daily blasts at Democrats on the Senate floor contrast sharply with the let’s-get-along attitude that’s wafted through the Capitol since Election Day. Part of his hard charge may be a concession to 2014, when he’s up for re-election in a state where he might fear a tea party primary challenge if he’s not forceful enough standing up to a Democratic president who didn’t do well in Kentucky. | 11/30/12 15:47:43 By - By David Lightman and Jack Brammer

Obama and Boehner talk, but not to each other

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Friday that budget talks with the White House to avert the so-called fiscal cliff were “nowhere" as his aides called an Obama administration’s budget proposal "unserious." President Barack Obama, meanwhile, visited a Pennsylvania toy factory, where he accused congressional Republicans of holding lower income-tax rates for the middle class “hostage” to prevent tax hikes on higher incomes. | 11/30/12 16:56:38 By - By William Douglas and Lesley Clark

White House proposes $600 billion in unidentified tax hikes, $50 billion in new stimulus spending

The Obama administration Thursday offered to get the nation off the fiscal cliff with a package that includes $1.6 trillion in tax increases over 10 years, more controversial spending to stimulate the economy and a permanent solution to the fights over raising the nation’s debt ceiling. | 11/30/12 08:15:33 By - By David Lightman, Anita Kumar and Kevin G. Hall

Fiscal cliff crisis: Made in the GOP

Both major political parties may have their fingerprints on long-simmering problems in the federal budget, but just one created the current crisis known as the fiscal cliff. | 11/30/12 06:30:35 By - By David Lightman

S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley takes blame for state’s data breach

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Wednesday for the first time accepted personal blame for a massive cyber-attack that stole the Social Security and bank account numbers of millions of South Carolinians, saying she should have done more to ensure the data’s security. | 11/29/12 07:50:35 By - By James Rosen McClatchy Newspapers

Sen. DeMint leaves door open to White House bid

Sen. Jim DeMint on Wednesday backed away from his previous ironclad insistence that he had no interest in running for president and was focused only on helping to elect conservatives to the U.S. Senate. | 11/29/12 07:49:51 By - By James Rosen

N.C. congressional delegation will compromise to avoid fiscal cliff

Members of the N.C. congressional delegation say they’re ready to compromise on some hardened positions to reach a deal that would prevent the country from plunging over the “fiscal cliff.” | 11/29/12 07:20:27 By - Franco Ordoñez

Obama and Romney to meet Thursday

President Barack Obama will have lunch with former governor and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at the White House on Thursday, the White House announced Wednesday. | 11/28/12 10:29:54 By - Anita Kumar

Barack ‘Black Eagle’ Obama loses his adoptive father

As a freshman senator campaigning for president in May of 2008, Barack Obama made a stop on the Crow Indian Reservation in southern Montana, where he became part of a new family. | 11/28/12 16:38:53 By - By Rob Hotakainen

Mexican President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto wants to help U.S. overhaul immigration

Mexico’s incoming president told President Barack Obama on Tuesday that he hopes to help him pass a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. immigration policy. | 11/27/12 18:54:41 By - By Lesley Clark

Post-meeting, Susan Rice still troubles 3 key GOP senators

Republican opposition to the potential nomination of United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice as secretary of state appeared to harden Tuesday after she met behind closed doors with three key Republican senators. | 11/27/12 20:24:32 By - By William Douglas and Lesley Clark

Texas Rep. Kay Granger: Congress has a chance 'to fix things'

U.S. House members returning to work today face two key issues before the end of the year: trying to avoid the looming fiscal cliff and determining whether to continue the Bush tax cuts. | 11/27/12 07:14:48 By - Anna M. Tinsley

N.C. Rep. Heath Shuler takes Duke Energy job

Rep. Heath Shuler will go to work for Duke Energy, heading its federal affairs team in Washington once his term ends in January. | 11/27/12 07:01:06 By - Bruce Henderson

Complaint filed against Kentucky teacher who wrote 'You can't be a Democrat & go to heaven'

The mother of a Laurel County high school student has filed a complaint against a teacher who wrote "You can't be a Democrat & go to heaven" on her classroom whiteboard. | 11/26/12 20:49:39 By - Bill Estep

Bipartisan ‘gangs’ in Congress ready for a deal on fiscal cliff

Armies of lawmakers from both parties are sending signals that they stand ready to back a bipartisan deficit reduction compromise, giving President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner an instant base of support if they can reach an agreement. | 11/26/12 17:46:48 By - By David Lightman

Cybersecurity bill is likely agenda item for Congress in 2013

The long political fight over the security of the nation’s computer networks is expected to re-ignite next year — with the safety and convenience of virtually every American on the table. | 11/26/12 07:06:20 By - Dave Helling

Rubio, Wasserman Schultz attend Miami rally supporting Israel

Local and national power-brokers joined hundreds of Israel’s supporters Sunday night in North Miami Beach at a rally sponsored by the Greater Miami Jewish Federation in the wake of last week’s Gaza cease-fire and the ongoing turmoil in Egypt. | 11/26/12 06:53:50 By - Diana Moskovitz

Alaska labor unions take advantage of Citizens United ruling

When the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door to unlimited campaign contributions in the 2010 Citizens United case, most experts and advocates said it would lead to an overwhelming flood of donations from corporations and wealthy individuals. | 11/26/12 06:44:15 By - Richard Mauer

Erskine Bowles' Fix the Debt group launches campaign in N.C.

A group co-founded by Charlottean Erskine Bowles brings its campaign to reduce the federal debt to North Carolina next week, making the state the latest front in the battle to avert the “fiscal cliff.” | 11/23/12 07:23:19 By - Jim Morrill

Missouri Republicans are unlikely to expand Medicaid

Here's how much Missouri Republicans oppose Obamacare. GOP lawmakers are reluctant to spend one dollar in state money for every 19-plus dollars of new federal money if that means expanding Medicaid eligibility in line with the president’s health care overhaul. | 11/23/12 07:10:44 By - Jason Hancock

Behind the scenes, some budget cuts may not be that hard

Saving billions of dollars in anticipated federal spending, at least for awhile, may not be that difficult. | 11/21/12 14:10:33 By - By David Lightman

Pay cuts on the way for California's elected officials

California elected officials from governor to legislator will see their pay cut by thousands of dollars next month under decisions made by appointees of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. | 11/21/12 06:48:01 By - Jim Sanders

Supreme Court will hear raisin farmers’ case

Dissident raisin farmers from California’s San Joaquin Valley and their ideological allies will get a shot at attacking a federal farm program, under a case that the U.S. Supreme Court accepted Tuesday. | 11/20/12 17:41:49 By - By Michael Doyle

GOP Sen. Rand Paul hints at 2016 presidential run

Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky says he is interested in running for president in 2016.

"I'm not going to deny that I'm interested," Paul told ABC's Jonathan Karl in a segment called "Spinners and Winners." | 11/20/12 15:19:24 By - Beth Musgrave

Grapes (and raisins) of wrath: Supreme Court may hear farm program cases

Supreme Court justices on Tuesday will chew over several challenges to farm programs filed by disgruntled California raisin and table grape growers. | 11/19/12 17:27:26 By - By Michael Doyle

After a week of uncertainty, California’s Ami Bera heads home as congressman-elect

Dr. Ami Bera came to the nation’s capital this week for freshman orientation in the House of Representatives not yet knowing whether he’d actually won his seat. | 11/16/12 18:34:41 By - By Curtis Tate

House passes Russian trade deal, but Moscow isn’t happy

Ignoring threats of retaliation from Moscow, the House of Representatives passed a long-delayed trade deal with Russia on Friday, adding language aimed at cracking down on human rights abuses. | 11/16/12 16:56:25 By - By Rob Hotakainen

Obama and Congress make opening bids on budget fix

President Barack Obama and congressional leaders were optimistic Friday after opening talks aimed at avoiding a tumble over the “fiscal cliff,” offering hints of a compromise that would combine new tax revenue with steep spending cuts. | 11/16/12 18:08:21 By - By Lesley Clark and David Lightman

S.C. military faces budget cuts unrelated to fiscal cliff

Members of the S.C. congressional delegation have told the state’s military boosters that $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts set to take place Jan. 3 – called “sequestration” or the “fiscal cliff” – likely won’t occur. | 11/16/12 07:32:19 By - Jeff Wilkinson

CIA investigates Petraeus; Pentagon wants to improve ethics

The CIA said Thursday that it had opened an “exploratory” investigation into the conduct of former director David Petraeus, who resigned after admitting to adultery, on the same day that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered the military services to review ways to strengthen ethics standards “that keep the military well led and well disciplined.” | 11/15/12 20:32:39 By - By Jonathan S. Landay

Sen. Graham ‘sick’ over friend Petraeus’ affair and downfall

No member of Congress knows disgraced former CIA chief David Petraeus better or has worked more closely with him than Sen. Lindsey Graham. | 11/15/12 19:03:30 By - By James Rosen

With Republicans onboard, can immigration overhaul pass?

The ingredients of a new immigration bill are beginning to take shape, with many Republicans now rushing to join Democrats to develop a comprehensive plan. | 11/15/12 17:39:28 By - By Franco Ordonez

California's budget shows signs of a surplus, analyst says

The state's fiscal analyst said Wednesday that California's long-tattered budget is on the verge of producing surpluses, but he cautioned that Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers must first avoid a spending spree. | 11/15/12 07:01:52 By - Kevin Yamamura

Alaska rejects state-run health insurance exchange

Gov. Sean Parnell announced in July that Alaska would not create a state-run health insurance exchange, and he is sticking by that, Parnell spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said Tuesday. | 11/15/12 06:55:01 By - Rosemary Shinohara

3 Republicans demand special Libya probe; Democrats, Boehner say they have it covered

Three Republican senators on Wednesday demanded the creation of a special panel to investigate the September attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. | 11/14/12 18:43:32 By - By James Rosen

Republicans, Democrats elect leaders on Capitol Hill

Congress partisans elected new leaders Wednesday, with Senate Democrats and Senate and House of Representatives Republicans choosing essentially the same people with the same message, though a toned-down Republican team sounded willing to deal with Democrats after their presidential electoral defeat. | 11/14/12 19:05:54 By - By Maria Recio

McCaskill pushes tax increase for wealthy to avoid ‘fiscal cliff’

Republicans will have to accept some sort of tax increase in order to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said in her first interview since Election Day. | 11/14/12 19:48:34 By - By Lindsay Wise

Honeymoon over – partisan warfare erupts over Susan Rice as possible secretary of state

A visibly annoyed President Barack Obama and tough-talking Senate Republicans clashed sharply Wednesday over Susan Rice’s qualifications to become secretary of state, a strong reminder that all the post-election talk about bipartisanship has its limits. | 11/14/12 17:32:30 By - By David Lightman

Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran chosen to bring Senate back to GOP

Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas ascended to the chairmanship of the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Wednesday in a unanimous vote by his colleagues on Capitol Hill. | 11/14/12 16:54:03 By - By Lindsay Wise

Shifting focus to Asia, Obama to visit Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia

Two weeks after winning re-election to a second term, President Barack Obama will embark on a four-day, three-nation trip to Southeast Asia as he continues to try to leave his imprint on a region increasingly influenced by China. | 11/14/12 15:36:22 By - By Anita Kumar

Obama: Voters support my plan to raise taxes on wealthy

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that his re-election showed that the majority of voters agreed with him that taxes should be raised on the wealthiest Americans as part of a solution to reduce the nation’s gaping budget deficit. | 11/14/12 18:59:13 By - By Lesley Clark

Pelosi will stay as House Democratic leader

Nancy Pelosi will remain as House Democratic leader. | 11/14/12 10:55:31 By - David Lightman

Senate readies bill allowing hunters to import stored polar bear pelts

Legislation poised to pass the Senate would allow a small group of hunters who’ve been storing polar bear pelts in Canada to import them to the United States. | 11/14/12 06:31:51 By - By Erika Bolstad

Election brings more female lawmakers to Capitol Hill

Twenty years after the “year of the woman” election, when a record number of female candidates joined the storied “Senate club,” female lawmakers will be seen in even greater numbers in the halls of Congress come January. | 11/13/12 19:13:23 By - By Maria Recio

Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran eager to be national player for 2014

Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran is angling for a key leadership role in the Republican Party, a move that could catapult the 58-year-old politician from Plainville into the national spotlight. | 11/13/12 17:50:33 By - By Lindsay Wise

Some Missouri residents file secession petitions to White House

Residents in Missouri and nearly two dozen states have filed petitions on a White House website seeking approval for their state to "withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government." | 11/13/12 07:06:10 By - Jason Hancock

Former Defense Secretary Gates warns against U.S. military cuts

Former Secretary of Defense and Wichita native Robert Gates said the world is “more turbulent, more unpredictable and in many respects more dangerous” than it used to be, and cautioned against making further drastic cuts to the Pentagon’s budget. | 11/13/12 06:53:42 By - Fred Mann

S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley's administration reaches a crossroads

Gov. Nikki Haley is facing decisions over the next few months that will determine her future and legacy in South Carolina. Two years after her election, any ambitions that Haley had of joining a Mitt Romney administration, which she denied, were quashed last week. Now, talk will start about the 2014 election for the South Carolina Governor’s Mansion. | 11/12/12 07:11:44 By - Andrew Shain

Analysis: Kansas, Missouri remain solid red states

A speckled wave of Democratic blue swept across parts of America last week, handing President Barack Obama a second term and tossing a handful of party members into the Senate and House of Representatives. But the wave didn’t reach the entire nation. | 11/12/12 06:58:58 By - Dave Helling and Steve Kraske

Supreme Court agrees to hear challenge to Voting Rights Act

The Supreme Court said Friday that it would consider a challenge from several Southern states to the Voting Rights Act, setting up another landmark clash over federal power and the legacy of discrimination. | 11/09/12 18:58:09 By - By Michael Doyle

Obama, House speaker Boehner say they’re ready to deal, but will parties let them?

President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner said Friday that they want to work together to avert spending cuts and tax increases that could throw the economy back into a recession – but both also come to the negotiations with the same sharp differences they had before this week’s elections. | 11/09/12 17:39:33 By - By Anita Kumar and David Lightman

Obama, Boehner open to talks on solving 'fiscal cliff'

President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner began the public versions of their negotiations Friday over the impending “fiscal cliff,” with each sounding notes of both compromise and caution. | 11/09/12 12:24:13 By - David Lightman and Anita Kumar

Put up or shut up time for Congress, Obama on fiscal cliff

Congress returns to the nation’s capital next week with hopes of a big deal but strong odds favoring another piecemeal approach to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, in a race against the clock to address tax and budget issues while keeping the U.S. economy from tumbling back into recession. | 11/08/12 16:18:21 By - By Kevin G. Hall and David Lightman

Can status quo US government find post-election compromises?

Call this week’s election a political mulligan — a new opportunity for divided, dysfunctional government to find a compromise on tax increases, spending cuts, debt and a mediocre economy. | 11/08/12 07:21:13 By - Dave Helling and Steve Kraske

Analysis: Todd Akin can blame his own words for Senate race loss

U.S. Rep. Todd Akin couldn’t beat a television interview and Sen. Claire McCaskill.

In August, just a few weeks after his surprise victory in Missouri’s Republican Senate primary, the six-term congressman told a reporter that a woman’s body can prevent pregnancy after a “legitimate” rape. He was explaining his views on abortion, which he has long opposed. | 11/07/12 07:31:06 By - Dave Helling

Romney was unable to translate economic argument into a win

Mitt Romney staked his campaign on the economy, and the economy let him down. | 11/07/12 00:03:02 By - By David Lightman and Lindsay Wise

Voters endure delays, lines and misinformation to cast ballots

A massive turnout, voting machine breakdowns and misinformation about voter eligibility requirements snarled balloting at many of the nation’s polling places Tuesday, forcing Americans determined to help decide the fiercely fought presidential race to wait as long as five hours to vote. | 11/06/12 22:40:20 By - By Greg Gordon and Tony Pugh

Women make gains in Democratic Senate, House stays Republican

The election will bring a host of fresh faces to Congress, but the control of the two chambers will remain the same: Republicans keep a majority in the House of Representatives, and Democrats hold onto control of the Senate. | 11/06/12 19:26:30 By - By William Douglas and Erika Bolstad

Obama wins, tells nation 'we can seize this future together'

Winning a second term in a closely divided election, President Barack Obama said Wednesday that America's "common bond" can help the country overcome its biggest disagreements, because "that's who we are." | 11/06/12 19:13:44 By - By David Lightman and Curtis Tate

California Supreme Court orders Arizona nonprofit to release donor records

The California Supreme Court on Sunday ordered an obscure Arizona nonprofit to submit its donation records immediately to state regulators, but it remained unclear whether voters would know the source of the contribution before Tuesday's election. | 11/05/12 06:57:18 By - Kevin Yamamura

GOP redistricting, money give N.C. Rep. Ellmers edge in race

Democrat Steve Wilkins, running in a tough congressional race against Republican Rep. Renee Ellmers, says his 22 years of military service – which include a key role in planning the invasion of Iraq – show the spirit of public service Washington needs to break the partisan logjam. | 11/02/12 07:28:10 By - Renee Schoof

In Congress, Democrat Kissell is stuck in the middle

The Republicans have worked hard to paint Democratic Rep. Larry Kissell as an incompetent congressman who is best friends with a left-wing president and responsible for lost jobs in his rural North Carolina district. | 11/02/12 06:26:14 By - By Franco Ordonez

PAC vows to spend $800,000 on Todd Akin in Missouri

A group that calls itself the Now or Never Political Action Committee announced Wednesday it will spend $800,000 on television ads to back Todd Akin for the U.S. Senate in Missouri. | 11/01/12 07:10:43 By - Steve Kraske

California Dems seek probe of GOP House candidate Maldonado

The California Democratic Party called Wednesday for a state investigation into whether the Republican former lieutenant governor, enmeshed in a tight race for the U.S. House of Representatives, failed to disclose two 2007 state campaign fund-raising events to regulators in violation of campaign financing law. | 10/31/12 18:33:40 By - By Jonathan S. Landay

Senate control teeters on a handful of states

Democrats appear poised to retain control of the Senate, but this year’s forecasts are full of more uncertainty than usual. | 10/31/12 17:18:21 By - By David Lightman

Safety of genetically modified foods is debated in California

Susan Lang doesn't know for certain if her son's itchy skin and upset stomach were caused by eating food made from crops whose genes were altered in a lab. But over the years, she believes she's been able to soothe the 8-year-old's eczema and digestive problems by eliminating genetically modified organisms from his diet. | 10/31/12 06:53:31 By - Laurel Rosenhall

PBS newsman sees danger in fragmented nation

A fragmented nation and a fragmented audience for news is making the country more difficult to govern, PBS News Hour co-anchor Jeffrey Brown said during a weekend talk at Western Washington University. | 10/30/12 12:38:42 By - John Stark

S.C.'s Nikki Haley is national star but struggles at home

Politics is a game of addition, normally. Politicians work to keep the support of their base and, at the same time, win new supporters. Not so with S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, critics say. In the two years since her election, the first-term Republican has turned that adage on its ear, playing a game of subtraction. | 10/29/12 09:54:02 By - Gina Smith

S.C. Gov. Haley is a national GOP star but struggles at home

Politics is a game of addition, normally. Politicians work to keep the support of their base and, at the same time, win new supporters. Not so with S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, critics say. In the two years since her election, the first-term Republican has turned that adage on its ear, playing a game of subtraction. | 10/29/12 07:21:06 By - Gina Smith

Colin Powell: I plan to 'stick with' President Obama

The former Secretary of State and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff -- who gave Obama a critical endorsement in 2008 -- says he's still on board in 2012. | 10/25/12 09:34:20 By - Lesley Clark

Obama plays critic; Romney tries being presidential

How they debated reflected where they stand in the closing days of the 2012 presidential campaign. President Barack Obama wanted to shake things up. Mitt Romney wanted to settle things down. | 10/22/12 23:40:26 By - By Steven Thomma

Full transcript of the third presidential debate

Full text of the third and final presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. | 10/22/12 23:25:55 By -

Facts and fiction in foreign policy debate

President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney traded barbs on foreign policy Monday night, dueling over everything from military spending to Middle East events to how best to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. | 10/22/12 23:11:19 By - By Kevin G. Hall

Obama, Romney tackle Libya, Iran and Syria in final debate

President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney spent their final debate Monday circling the globe’s hot spots as they clashed over the merits of diplomacy and brinkmanship in Libya, Israel, Iran, the Middle East and other volatile areas. | 10/22/12 18:56:17 By - By David Lightman and Lesley Clark

Miami Herald to host live debate shows today at noon

The Miami Herald will produce two live video shows on Monday about the final debate between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. | 10/22/12 07:06:52 By -

U.S. traders eager to cash in on Russia pact, but it’s stalled in Congress

When Russia formally joined the World Trade Organization as its newest member in August, more than 150 countries began expanding trade with the ninth-largest economy in the world. | 10/19/12 13:21:06 By - By Rob Hotakainen

Conservative women give backing to Todd Akin

Ignited by the controversy that cost their candidate the backing of national GOP leaders, conservative and anti-abortion women rallied Wednesday in Kansas City to support U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin. | 10/18/12 07:02:53 By - Rick Montgomery

Cornyn drives GOP’s Senate effort, but the road has turned unexpectedly rocky

Senate Republican campaign chief John Cornyn of Texas was riding high after gaining seven seats during his first stint as the election boss two years ago, but the volatile 2012 cycle has produced so many bumps in the road that he’s had to change course. | 10/17/12 17:32:43 By - By Maria Recio

Obama jumps back into campaign with feisty debate

President Barack Obama leaped back into the presidential campaign Tuesday, aggressively challenging rival Mitt Romney in a tense debate likely to reset the contest as it heads into the final weeks. | 10/16/12 23:44:41 By - By Steven Thomma

Presidential debate: Shouting over the 'facts'

President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney traded facts and figures from Medicare to the Middle East on Tuesday night in the second of three presidential debates. | 10/16/12 23:32:30 By - By William Douglas

Complete transcript of the presidential debate

Transcript of the second presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, moderated by Candy Crowley. | 10/16/12 23:23:28 By -

In rematch, Obama and Romney get testy over jobs, energy and immigration

President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney aggressively challenged each other Tuesday night in their second debate, with more than 90 minutes of sharp attacks, interrupted answers and testy exchanges over the economy, taxes, immigration and energy. | 10/16/12 18:36:28 By - By David Lightman and Anita Kumar

Charles Koch relentless in pursuing his goals

Charles Koch's wife says there is much endearingly quaint about the man so many now vilify. Yet even Liz Koch's stories about him show a drive and a relentlessness that sometimes scare her. And she's suffered for some of his decisions that have demonized Charles and David Koch in American popular culture. The family now lives night and day with bodyguards. | 10/14/12 19:00:00 By - By Roy Wenzl and Bill Wilson

Arlen Specter, Senate maverick, dies at 82

Arlen Specter, 82, the longest-serving United States senator in Pennsylvania history, a driven, often contentious figure who placed himself at the center of national controversies for a half-century, from the Kennedy-assassination investigation in the 1960s to the passage of the economic stimulus package in 2009, died Sunday morning at his Philadelphia home. | 10/14/12 13:48:14 By - By Tim Infield and Maria Panaritis

The Kochs' quest to save America

The Koch brothers' political spending and the network of conservative political organizations and think tanks they fund have sparked protests, condemnation and criticism. In his most extensive interview in 15 years, Charles Koch, along with his family and friends, talked about why he wants to defeat Obama and elect members of Congress who will stop what he calls catastrophic overspending. | 10/13/12 19:00:00 By - By Bill Wilson and Roy Wenzl

Alaska Sen. Begich holds hearing on Shell Oil's offshore Arctic drilling

Better ice forecasting in the Alaska Arctic. More Coast Guard resources. More jobs for North Slope residents. A share of oil revenue for Alaska. Streamlined permits and regulation. | 10/12/12 06:52:36 By - Lisa Demer

In a blur of facts, VP debate strained the truth

In their first and only debate, Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Rep. Paul Ryan verbally wrestled over Medicare, Social Security and abortion. But sometimes it was the truth that got tackled. | 10/11/12 23:28:51 By - By William Douglas and Anita Kumar

Fiery Biden-Ryan debate turns personal

Vice President Joe Biden and Republican rival Paul Ryan sparred Thursday in often personal terms that exposed their passions and core beliefs over the role of their faith, families, and deeply held views about the role of government in American life and foreign policy. | 10/11/12 18:25:16 By - By Lesley Clark and Steven Thomma

As food recalls mount, White House still lingering over new safety rules

Families who’ve lost loved ones to food-borne illnesses have watched with alarm in recent months as producers have recalled mangoes, cantaloupe, ricotta cheese, dog food and peanut butter after people were sickened by the tainted goods. | 10/11/12 08:04:29 By - By Erika Bolstad

More Cuban Missile Crisis documents to be released

As the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis approaches, an additional seven boxes of material from the Robert F. Kennedy Papers, including documents from the autumn that took the U.S. to the brink of nuclear war, will be released Thursday morning. | 10/11/12 07:09:51 By - Mimi Whitefield

In VP debate, GOP looks to boost momentum, Dems want to steady the ship

Vice President Joe Biden will take the stage Thursday to debate Rep. Paul Ryan in a matchup that Democrats hope will restore some of the momentum they’ve lost since President Barack Obama’s widely panned performance in last week’s debate. | 10/10/12 17:59:46 By - By Lesley Clark

Sen. McCaskill touts her record, earmarks opposition

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill on Tuesday defended her stand against congressional earmarks, calling the system “shockingly flawed.” | 10/10/12 07:18:31 By - Steve Kraske

Parental notification before abortion ruled constitutional by Alaska judge

An Anchorage Superior Court judge has upheld as constitutional a state law requiring parents to be notified before a teen's abortion. But the issue may not be resolved. Both sides expect it will wind up before the state Supreme Court. | 10/10/12 06:49:57 By - Lisa Demer

Mickey Mouse is least of worries in Florida voter registration fraud case

The obviously fraudulent applications filed by a vendor hired by the Republican Party of Florida have gained wide attention in a case that’s now being investigated by law enforcement. | 10/09/12 06:58:19 By - Michael Van Sickler

Obama speaks at dedication of Cesar Chavez monument in California

President Barack Obama on Monday dedicated the nation's newest addition to the National Park system, a 187-acre site where labor leader Cesar Chavez lived the last 22 years of his life and where he is now buried. | 10/09/12 06:18:22 By - By John Ellis

Wells Fargo increases its lobbying efforts

Wells Fargo has built up a significant lobbying presence in state capitals to manage the torrent of mortgage-related bills flooding legislatures. | 10/08/12 07:21:02 By - Andrew Dunn

Missouri to vote on raising lowest tobacco taxes in the US

Missouri’s cigarette tax is the lowest in the nation, and that has some people doing a slow burn.

At 17 cents per pack, Missouri’s tax is nearly half as much as the next lowest and well below the $1.49 national average. In Kansas, the tax is 79 cents a pack. | 10/08/12 07:16:56 By - Jason Hancock

California makes it easier for residents to vote

California is bucking a national trend this election season, making it easier for people to vote while many states are making it harder. | 10/08/12 06:48:10 By - Laurel Rosenhall

CBO reports federal deficit dipped to $1.1 trillion in fiscal 2012

The federal budget deficit dipped slightly to $1.1 trillion in fiscal 2012, the 12 month period that ended Sept. 30, according to a report released Friday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. | 10/05/12 14:22:56 By - David Lightman

Texas Rep. Barton continues push for online poker legalization

Anti-gambling forces called on U.S. Rep. Joe Barton Thursday to throw in the cards on his plan to legalize online poker. | 10/05/12 07:30:12 By - Anna M. Tinsley

Florida's voter purge can continue, judge rules

A federal judge in Fort Lauderdale ruled Thursday that Florida’s purge of potential noncitizens on the voter rolls can go on. | 10/05/12 06:58:26 By - Patricia Mazzei

Mitt Romney’s debate performance changes the game

It’s a new race for the White House. Mitt Romney changed it with his aggressive, confident performance in Wednesday’s Denver debate, erasing the specter of doom that had dogged his campaign. | 10/04/12 13:19:12 By - By David Lightman

Alaska state Senate candidate's firm received more than $1 million from BP

After initially declining to disclose the clients and the fees they paid to his engineering firm, Alaska state Senate candidate Bob Bell on Wednesday released a list showing that oil giant BP was the largest client of Bell and Associates in 2011, paying over $1 million. | 10/04/12 06:54:22 By - Richard Mauer

Debate shows off facts and figures, but not all of them exactly correct

As President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney rhetorically sparred in Wednesday night’s televised debate, both candidates exhibited a propensity toward misstatements, falsehoods, and exaggerations. | 10/03/12 23:25:54 By - By William Douglas and Lesley Clark

Obama and Romney clash over economy, taxes, health care

With the presidency hanging in the balance, President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney clashed sharply Wednesday in their first debate, trying to convince voters they’re uniquely qualified to lead the country to full recovery from the worst economic downturn since the 1930s. | 10/03/12 20:00:41 By - By David Lightman and Anita Kumar

Mississippi voters won't need photo IDs at polls

Attorney General Jim Hood said Tuesday voters in Mississippi won't have to show identification at the polls Nov. 6. The U.S. Department of Justice wants more information from the state before it will rule on whether to allow the new voter ID law to move forward, which could take weeks. | 10/03/12 13:11:49 By - Michael Newsom

Election could impact South Carolina's $6-billion Medicaid program

The next president’s biggest impact on South Carolina could be found in the future of Medicaid, the government health-insurance program for children, the poor and the disabled. In South Carolina, the program is immense – both in dollars and impact. | 10/02/12 07:33:25 By - Adam Beam

California cap and trade law sets framework for spending revenue

While businesses deride California's new restrictions on greenhouse-gas emissions as a giant tax, lawmakers have taken steps to carve up the money. | 10/02/12 07:00:42 By - Dale Kasler

Texas Rep. Granger blocks $450 million in aid for Egypt

U.S. Rep. Kay Granger of Fort Worth blocked the transfer of $450 million in economic aid for Egypt's cash-strapped new government Friday, saying she was "not convinced of the urgent need" and could not support it. | 10/02/12 06:25:21 By - Maria Recio

North Carolina to investigate firm registering GOP voters

A company hired by the North Carolina GOP to register voters is under review by state election officials after the firm was accused of submitting questionable registration forms in Florida. The state GOP has fired the firm and the state may decide this week whether to launch a full investigation. | 10/01/12 07:26:52 By - Elisabeth Arriero

Westboro Baptist Church attendee seeks seat on Kansas education board

Jack Wu isn't shy about his beliefs. Topeka is evil. Harry Potter promotes witchcraft. Christmas trees are pagan idols. Cancer is a judgment from God. And the teaching of evolution should be rooted out of Kansas schools because it’s a satanic lie. | 10/01/12 07:16:43 By - Brad Cooper

Cost of VP debate at Kentucky college estimated at $3.3 million

Hosting the Oct. 11 vice presidential debate at Centre College could cost about $3.3 million, though the college's students and the public aren't expected to pay most of it. | 10/01/12 07:12:10 By - John Cheves

California law will allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses

Hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants in California will be eligible for driver's licenses under legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown late Sunday. | 10/01/12 07:04:09 By - Jim Sanders

Arnold Schwarzenegger moves back into spotlight

Nearly two years after he left office, sullied by his commutation of a prison sentence and by an extramarital affair, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is selling. | 10/01/12 06:59:24 By - David Siders

Risking trade war, administration sides with Florida tomato growers in dispute with Mexico

Rejecting warnings that it could ignite a trade war, the Obama administration on Thursday said it planned to change its tomato-trading rules with Mexico, siding with Florida growers who complained that a glut of imports threatened to shut down the U.S. industry. | 09/28/12 14:31:54 By - By Rob Hotakainen McClatchy Newspapers

Simpson, Bowles renew push for U.S. to tackle debt

Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, champions of deficit reduction through both spending cuts and tax increases, said Tuesday evening too many congressmen value their own re-election over working with both parties to tackle the national debt. | 09/26/12 07:16:13 By - Andrew Dunn

Report: Battleground states could inhibit Latino voters

North Carolina is one of several states that could inhibit 10 million eligible Latino voters from registering and participating to vote, according to a new report authored by a national civil rights group. | 09/25/12 07:19:28 By - Carmen Cusido

President Obama to UN: Denounce Middle East violence, stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon

President Obama pledged continued U.S. involvement in the turbulent Middle East at the United Nations Tuesday and vowed that the U.S. will do "what we must" to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. | 09/25/12 06:28:28 By - Lesley Clark

South Carolina's voter ID case could close with legal fireworks

Closing arguments Monday about South Carolina’s voter ID law will cap an extraordinary case that already has seen charges of racism directed at the law’s author as well as federal judges’ open frustration over state officials’ changing stances on how they would enact the law. | 09/24/12 11:07:19 By - James Rosen

Texas voter rolls purge hits a snag

The goal was simple: clean up Texas voter rolls. But just months before the general election, the names of around 77,000 Texans landed on a statewide list that suggests they may be dead and should be removed from voter rolls. | 09/24/12 07:33:55 By - Anna M. Tinsley

Voter ID fights continue in presidential battleground states

Six weeks before Election Day, states across the country are still wrestling over new voting laws.

• In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court has thrown a tough new voter ID law back to a lower court.

• In Wisconsin, two state courts have blocked a similar law. | 09/24/12 07:22:13 By - Jim Morrill

Bill to steer visas to more highly skilled immigrants doesn’t pass

The U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass a bill Thursday night that would have granted tens of thousands of visas to highly skilled foreign-born graduates. Democrats blocked the measure, calling it a “sinister” ploy to reduce legal immigration. | 09/21/12 13:09:26 By - By Franco Ordonez

Ex-VP Dick Cheney says US should fight back against protests in Islamic world

Instead of pulling out of Afghanistan, the United States needs to flex its military muscles throughout the Islamic world to combat attacks on America, former Vice President Dick Cheney told nearly 2,000 movers, shakers, students and policy makers Thursday at Perspectives 2012. | 09/21/12 06:57:57 By - Stephen Magagnini

Unproductive and unloved, Congress heads home

The most disliked, unproductive Congress in decades planned to leave Washington this week until after the November election, departing without agreements on virtually every big issue it deals with: taxes, defense, spending, farms, even post office policy. | 09/20/12 14:56:12 By - By David Lightman and William Douglas

California businesses want changes to cap-and-trade market

Heavyweight business groups are staging a last-ditch protest against California's new cap-and-trade carbon market, demanding changes to a program they've labeled a job killer. | 09/20/12 07:07:40 By - Dale Kasler

Justice OIG issues 'Fast and Furious' report

The Justice Department's Office of Inspector General on Wednesday issued its long-awaited report on the 'Fast and Furious' gun-walking scandal that has long captivated Congress. | 09/19/12 14:51:10 By - Michael Doyle

Education Secretary Arne Duncan says US must stop playing catch-up

The nation’s education system needs to get out of “the catch-up business,” U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told a rooftop audience Tuesday night at Kansas City’s Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley. | 09/19/12 07:22:40 By - Joe Robertson

Kentucky residents who rely on federal aid expected to vote for Romney

When Mitt Romney told well-heeled donors that 47 percent of Americans don't pay federal income taxes, depend on government assistance and won't vote for him, he was flat wrong when it comes to Kentucky, several observers said Tuesday. | 09/19/12 07:17:22 By - Bill Estep

Fla. Gov. Scott cuts off reporter's state unemployment question

Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday cut off a journalist who tried to ask him about a report from a top state economist who said Florida’s fall in unemployment is almost exclusively due to people leaving the workforce. | 09/19/12 07:06:56 By - Toluse Olorunnipa

S.C. Sen. Lindsey Graham portrayed as informal, vulgar in Woodward book

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham calls President Barack Obama by his first name and curses like a sailor in private conversations with Vice President Joe Biden, according to a new book on the Obama presidency. | 09/18/12 07:27:24 By - Gina Smith

'Birther' Orly Taitz on hand as Kansas ends Obama ballot question

It was all over but the shouting. After the State Objections Board somewhat clumsily disposed Monday of a Manhattan Republican's claim that President Barack Obama shouldn’t qualify to be on Kansas ballots, advocates for and against Obama verbally clashed inside and outside of Memorial Hall, which houses the offices of Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Attorney General Derek Schmidt. | 09/18/12 07:10:11 By - Brent D. Wistrom

Ex-US Rep. Jim Marshall named United States Institute of Peace CEO

Jim Marshall, a former Macon mayor and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, got a new job title Monday: president and chief executive officer of the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C. | 09/14/12 09:37:01 By - Mike Stucka

President Obama's ballot eligibility explored by Kansas group

Kansas has added a little suspense to the 2012 presidential race.

Is President Barack Obama a natural-born citizen? Can he be on the Kansas ballot Nov. 6? | 09/14/12 07:22:32 By - Brad Cooper

Ky. Sen. Rand Paul introduces amendment to pull aid from Pakistan, Egypt and Libya

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, announced Thursday a new version of his amendment to strip foreign aid from Pakistan, Egypt and Libya in the wake of the killings of the American ambassador to Libya and three other diplomats and the torturing in Pakistan of the doctor who helped America find and kill Osama bin Laden. | 09/14/12 07:13:44 By - Jack Brammer