CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday asked congress to grant him special powers to enact laws by decree for one year, just before a new legislature takes office with a larger contingent of opposition lawmakers. The measure would give the president the ability to bypass the National Assembly for the fourth [...]
CNN: The New Hampshire Union Leader, WMUR-TV, and CNN are once again teaming up to present a Republican Presidential primary debate in America’s first primary state. The debate is scheduled for Tuesday, June 7, 2011 in Manchester, which will make it the first debate in the “First in the Nation” primary state of New Hampshire. [...]
Washington Post: Weeks after swearing off earmarks, many senators stand to gain tens of millions of dollars for pet projects in a massive spending bill that could be their last chance at the money before a more conservative Congress begins next month. The $1.2 trillion bill, released on Tuesday, includes more than 6,000 earmarks totaling [...]
New York Times: MEXICO CITY — Despite being a federal fugitive, accused of laundering millions of dollars for one of Mexico’s most ruthless drug cartels, Julio César Godoy says he simply walked into the national legislature here unnoticed in September, right past the cordon of federal police officers watching the building. He then raised his [...]
New York Times: WASHINGTON — As President Obama prepares to release a review of American strategy in Afghanistan that will claim progress in the nine-year-old war there, two new classified intelligence reports offer a more negative assessment and say there is a limited chance of success unless Pakistan hunts down insurgents operating from havens on [...]
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BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Some consider a soldier’s alleged release of classified information to WikiLeaks an act of treason. The City Council in Berkeley is deciding whether to proclaim him a hero deserving of a medal. The council in this famously liberal city is considering a resolution Tuesday night bestowing hero status on Pfc. Bradley [...]
Washington (AP) – The stimulus-sized package aimed at averting a nationwide tax increase is cruising toward passage in the Senate, as House Democrats determine whether and how much to tinker with it. “We don’t have much time left,” House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday evening as he left a caucus meeting. The Bush-era tax [...]
Fox News: Any would-be terrorist can easily outsmart the ubiquitous backscatter scanners found in major airports around the world, two scientists say. The Transportation Security Administration’s X-ray backscatter scanners have been the center of a widespread controversy, following concerns from privacy advocates that they take nearly naked photos of people. The trade-off is improved security, [...]
National Examiner: On December 3, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Nelson Peacock, responding to request from several U.S. Senators, including Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), wrote: “Our conservative estimate suggests that ICE would require a budget of more than $135 billion to apprehend, detain and remove the nation’s entire illegal immigrant population.” [...]
Los Angeles Times: Gov.-elect Jerry Brown said Tuesday that he wants to complete a budget agreement within two months, an accelerated timeline that would allow a late-spring special election for potential tax increases or other revenue generation. “I’m going to try to get the budget agreements done within about 60 days. I don’t think we [...]
AZ Central: WASHINGTON – After years of courting Latino voters with a softer tone on immigration, Republican leaders in Congress have all but abandoned that posture, risking what remains of GOP support among the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population. The latest example is the near-unanimous opposition by Senate Republicans to the DREAM Act, a [...]
