Challenge to the Voting Rights Act Reaches Supreme Court
Hemera/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The opposing sides in a landmark Supreme Court case concerning a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 have filed court briefs that suggest they see America through two different lenses.At issue is a key provis…
GEICO Pig on a Date Angers One Million Moms
File photo. iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The insurance company giant GEICO has used a gecko and a pig to promote its business, but its latest commercial has the advocacy group One Million Moms claiming the ad is not cute. The ad, the group clai…
LaHood Warns Budget Cuts Would Be ‘Very Painful for the Flying Public’
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned Friday that looming across-the-board spending cuts would cause flight delays at major airports, force the Federal Aviation Administration to furlough workers an…
President Obama Honors Newtown Victims with Citizens Medal
The President on December 14, 2012(WASHINGTON) — In an emotional ceremony at the White House Friday, President Obama honored six educators who “gave all they had for the most innocent and helpless among us” with the Presidential Citizens M…
Obama Open to Getting Rid of the Penny
Photodisc/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — President Obama says it may be time to get rid of the one-cent coin.The copper coins cost more to mint than they are worth and are increasingly used less and less, leading many economists to ask why the U.S. hasn&rsq…
Pentagon Announces New Medal for Drone, Cyber Warriors
DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey, US Air Force(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon’s keeping up with the times. Now that cyberwarfare and drone strikes are part of modern combat, Defense Secretary Panetta has approved a new Distinguished War…
Sierra Club President Arrested During Keystone XL Protest
Comstock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Sierra Club President Allison Chin was arrested Wednesday outside the White House while leading members of her organization in protest for the first time in the group’s history.Chin wrote on her blog Wednesday t…
Some Senators Going Postal over Saturday Mail
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — In the aftermath of the Postal Service’s announcement that it will end Saturday mail delivery come August, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs met Wednesday to chew over possibl…
Gun Violence Victims Sound Off as State of the Union Guests
ABC News(WASHINGTON) — “Do something. You can.” That was the plea of Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton to Congress Tuesday afternoon, hours before she was set to appear in the guest box of first lady Michelle Obama during the State of the Un…
NRA President Defends Ad Attacking Obama, Vows ‘Battle’ Ahead
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — In an interview with ABC News Wednesday evening, NRA President David Keene said the gun-rights lobby is aggressively preparing for “battle” with the White House and Congress over President Obama&…
Northeast Cuisine Dominates Menu for Inauguration Luncheon
Hemera/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on behalf of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, released a plan for the Inauguration luncheon Wednesday featuring New England chowder and New York wines.As in 2009, th…
Senate Intel Committee Probes Bin Laden Movie Torture Scenes
COLUMBIA PICTURES(WASHINGTON) — The Senate Intelligence Committee has launched a new probe to determine how much the CIA may have influenced the portrayal of torture scenes shown in Zero Dark Thirty, the Hollywood dramatization of the decade-long hunt…
Hillary Clinton Released from Hospital; Expected to Make Full Recovery
State Department photo by Maxwell’s/ Public Domain(NEW YORK) — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been released from the hospital following treatment for a blood clot in her head, the State Department confirmed on Wednesday.In a statement, Deputy …
Tweets Liken ‘Fiscal Cliff’ to Y2K, Mayan Calendar
Hemera/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Remember Dec. 31, 1999, when the Y2K bug caused airplanes and satellites to fall from the sky, physically crashing into financial centers that had already crashed figuratively after important banking computers caught fire…
Girl Who Defied Taliban Makes Top 10 Most Admired List
Veronique de Viguerie/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — The results are in and America has spoken: Malala Yousafzai is among the top 10 most admired women of 2012.The fifteen-year-old Pakistani teenager became an international symbol after she was shot by the …
Senior Administration Officials Warn Business Leaders About Boehner’s Fiscal Cliff "Plan B"
Hemera/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Senior Obama administration officials met with business leaders to argue that House Speaker John Boehner’s “Plan B” could put the nation on a path to go over the fiscal cliff, a source familiar with th…
Gay Marine Proposes to Boyfriend at White House
Mike Tapscott / American Military Partner Association(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Matthew Phelps made history Saturday at the home of his commander in chief.The 35-year-old active-duty officer proposed to his boyfriend, Ben Schock, 26, in th…
‘Our Hearts Are Broken Today,’ President Obama Says
The White House(WASHINGTON) — Wiping away tears for the victims of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting, President Obama came to the White House briefing room Friday afternoon to mourn the victims of this morning’s carnage. “The majori…
First Lady Visits Children’s Hospital, First Dog in Tow
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Young patients at the Children’s National Medical Center were entertained today with Christmas festivities, including a visit from Santa Claus and a story reading from first lady Michelle Ob…
Big Oil, Big Tobacco…Big Beer?
Ryan McVay/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Standard Oil was broken up in 1911. Could the beer industry be next?A powerful Washington think tank says big beer companies are edging smaller microbreweries out of the market — and antitrust regulators are …