NY Daily: The mayor slammed reports that Govs. Cuomo and Chris Christie were angling for larger roles at the Ground Zero ceremony. “We’re trying to keep focus on families, and that’s where it belongs,” Bloomberg said. “This day is not above any of us, it’s about the families of 3,000-odd people who lost their lives [...]
The Hill: Senate Democrats, who are desperate to stimulate the economy but don’t have the money to pass traditional stimulus legislation, will turn to cutting business taxes when they return to Washington this fall. In doing so, they will try to drive a wedge between business interests and the GOP leadership, who has tried to [...]
The Ticket: Sarah Palin defended Orrin Hatch, the Republican senator from Utah, Thursday evening, and said that the tea party should stop criticizing him. “He is doing good in terms of trying to get a balanced budget and he has been for the last couple of decades,” the former Alaska governor told Fox News’ Greta [...]
USA Today: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says Iraq has agreed to keep non-combat U.S. forces in the country beyond 2011, and that the Pentagon is negotiating a new agreement, Stars & Stripes reports. “My view is that they finally did say, ‘Yes,’ ” Panetta tells a small group of reporters in his Pentagon office today, [...]
Los Angeles Times: Reporting from Sacramento— California’s stubbornly high unemployment rate rose even higher in July, climbing two-tenths of a percentage point to 12%, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday. It was the second straight monthly increase in joblessness as measured by a federal survey of households. California’s unemployment rate was the second-highest in [...]
AP: Three men convicted in the nightmarish slayings of three Cub Scouts went free Friday, nearly two decades after they were sent to prison in a case so gruesome it raised suspicions the children had been sacrificed in a Satanic ritual. Doubts about the evidence against the trio had persisted for years and threatened to [...]
YNet News: Palestinian sources in Gaza reported Friday that IDF aircraft fired a missile at a senior commander of the Popular Resistance Committees’ military wing as he was riding his motorcycle in northern Gaza. Samad Abdul-Mati was evacuated to the hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. The IDF confirmed that the Air Force [...]
AJC: For the first time, students admitted to Georgia’s five most competitive public colleges had to prove they’re legal citizens before enrolling in fall semester classes. So far only one out of the more than 10,000 students granted preliminary acceptance were barred from enrolling because the student is an illegal immigrant. College officials aren’t sure [...]
Los Angeles Times: That stunning rise in the price of gold is having a ripple effect: A rash of jewelry store robberies, street muggings and home burglaries. Now, merchants are stepping up security and police are warning everyone against flaunting their bling. When Capt. Mark Olvera, who runs the LAPD’s Newton Division, spotted a beefy [...]
The Hill: Outspoken House liberal Rep. Peter DeFazio rates President Obama’s chances of getting reelected in 2012 as “very tough.” DeFazio (D-Ore.), a founding member of the House Progressive Caucus, blasted Obama for conceding to Republicans on important issues such as the debt ceiling. “The Republicans telegraphed to [Obama] they were going to use a [...]
Thousands of unemployed waited overnight, camping out in their business suits and office heels and braving the tormenting heat in Atlanta to stand in line for a job fair Thursday. Authorities treated 20 people for heat exhaustion as they struggled to keep the line moving and get people moved inside. The incredible turnout at the [...]
The Lookout: Hundreds of foreign students on a State Department cultural exchange visa program walked off their factory jobs in protest on Wednesday. The J-1 visa program brings foreign students to the country to work for two months and learn English, and was designed in part to fill seasonal tourism jobs at resorts and seaside [...]
The Hill: Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said he would “be dead” if “ObamaCare” had been in place when he was diagnosed with cancer. Speaking at a campaign event Thursday in Lexington, S.C., the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza said President Obama’s healthcare plan would have limited his choice of doctors and prevented him from [...]
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