Politics

President Obama AP

Obama hails auto bailout as good news in Michigan

AP – Fri Jul 30, 5:01 pm ET

A year after the government's big auto-industry bailouts, President Barack Obama on Friday trumpeted increased car sales and progress on battery-powered vehicles as a beacon of success in his administration's battle to revive a hurting U.S. economy. But his upbeat assessment can't mask daunting challenges for U.S. automakers and painfully high unemployment. Full Story »

  • AP EXCLUSIVE: Salazar keeps oil drill ban, for now

    AP – Sat Jul 31, 3:41 pm ET  
    Interior Secretary Ken Salazar touches the blowout preventer... AP

    ON THE GULF OF MEXICO - The helicopter passes over the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico — with surprisingly little oil visible on its surface — when out of the sea rises a skyscraper-like structure nearly 350 feet above the waves. The $600 million rig, nearly 100 miles off Louisiana's coast, has a hull larger than a football field and can drill more than 5 miles beneath the ocean floor. Full Story »

  • Army: Rising suicide rate reflects risk-taking

    AP – Thu Jul 29, 3:30 pm ET  

    WASHINGTON - An Army report on the record number of soldier suicides says the trend reflects a rise in risky behavior including drunken driving and drug abuse in a military stretched to the breaking point by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Full Story »

  • UNESCO declares Everglades endangered site

    Reuters – Fri Jul 30, 5:30 pm ET  

    BRASILIA (Reuters) - A U.N. panel has declared the Florida's Everglades to be an endangered World Heritage site due to the wetlands' continued degradation, officials said on Friday. Full Story »

  • US stalls on Sept. 11 trial for 5 at Gitmo

    AP – 1 hr 6 mins ago  
    FILE - In this this Dec. 8, 2008 file photo reviewed by the U.S.... AP

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - As the U.S. military prepares for the first war crimes trial under President Barack Obama, its most high-profile case against the planners of the Sept. 11 attacks is stuck in political and legal limbo. Full Story »

  • EDUCATION REFORMS WILL HELP POOR KIDS GET BETTER TEACHERS

    Cynthia Tucker – Sat Jul 31, 7:57 pm ET  

    WASHINGTON -- Living in Indonesia with her second husband, Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro couldn't afford a fancy private school for her son, Barack, but she made up for her lack of funds with discipline and dedication. Obama was only 9 years old when she supplemented his education with a U.S. correspondence course. Full Story »

  • Connecticut's McMahon No.4 All-Time Self-Funder

    CQPolitics.com – Sat Jul 31, 9:34 am ET  

    Only three Congressional candidates in history have donated more personal money to their campaigns than Connecticut Senate hopeful Linda McMahon, and she's hardly done spending yet. Full Story »

  • When will spill be cleaned up? Maybe never

    McClatchy Newspapers – Fri Jul 30, 8:51 pm ET  

    After more than three months, BP appears finally to have gotten a firm grasp on its runaway Deepwater Horizon well. Now the big question in the Gulf of Mexico is how, and if, an environmental mess of unprecedented scope can be cleaned up. Full Story »

  • House to Vote on Easing Drilling Moratorium

    CQPolitics.com – Fri Jul 30, 1:22 pm ET  

    The House will vote Friday on a measure that would ease the Obama administration's temporary ban on new deepwater drilling. Full Story »

  • Obama slips behind wheel of a Volt in Motor City

    McClatchy Newspapers – Fri Jul 30, 5:47 pm ET  

    DETROIT — Out to convince voters that the bailout of the U.S. auto industry has been a success — and to build buzz for its controversial poster child, Chevy's Volt electric car — President Barack Obama on Friday drove a car publicly for the first time in more than three years and implored consumers, "Don't bet against the American people." Full Story »

To rebut a lengthy list of alleged ethical misdeeds, Rep. Charles Rangel is trotting out this three-way defense: I didn't do it. I did it, but was inattentive. Others lawmakers were allowed to do the same thing without penalty. Full Story »

Informant says WikiLeaks suspect had civilian help

AP – Sat Jul 31, 6:11 pm ET

An Army private charged with leaking classified material to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks had civilian help, a key figure in the case said Saturday. Full Story »

Obama says he'll call GOP's bluff on deficit talk

AP – Sat Jul 31, 3:03 pm ET

President Barack Obama has a warning for Republicans who denounce the federal deficit but reject proposals to cut it. Full Story »