Top Dems: Obama Won't Get Health Care Bill in 2009 Catch a Clue Time: Obama on Oct. "I am absolutely confident that we are going to get health care done by the end of this year, and Nancy Pelosi is just as confident."
Buddhists believe in reincarnation — but courts do not. A Buddhist bank robber has pled for the right of his cat to visit him in jail, saying the animal is the reincarnation of his dead mother. The man, serving five years in a German jail for armed robbery, made the court application this week, (Snip) ''I need to see her like other prisoners see their wives and children.'' The court turned down his application, arguing that he had no proof that it was
Congratulations, Chris Christie, and good luck. You’ll need it. The campaign that ended with today’s voting may have seemed a difficult ordeal, but it was a day at the beach compared to the task ahead. Now comes the really hard part. The list of problems facing the state would try the patience of Job:
Berlin - Relations have been tense between Iran and Syria in recent weeks, according to the German weekly Der Spiegel, which quotes Western intelligence sources. Iran has demanded that Syria return the uranium delivered to it prior to the Israeli bombing of the Syrian reactor two years ago, says the weekly. Moreover, Iran reportedly wants the radioactive material restored in its entirety and without Syria's receiving compensation in
Former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie has defeated Gov. Jon Corzine in his bid for re-election. Christie, 47, who rose to political prominence as a corruption-buster, becomes the first Republican in 12 years to win a statewide contest in heavily Democratic New Jersey. With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Christie had 49 percent of the vote, compared with 45 percent for Corzine.
Women are seen as a key constituency of Democrats, particularly on issues like health care. But current congressional proposals not only concern women, they may actually drive women away from the party. The Independent Women's Forum (IWF) commissioned a survey to better understand women's health-care concerns. We asked extensive questions of 800 registered voters, deliberately taking a broad sample to be
Hours after urging reporters not to draw sweeping conclusions from Tuesday's gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told POLITICO President Barack Obama wasn't even keeping an eye on the results. "He's not watching returns," Gibbs said. The Obama administration and other top Democrats have consistently tried to play down the import of this week's contests, which
Robert F. McDonnell handily defeated R. Creigh Deeds in Virginia's gubernatorial election Tuesday night as Republicans swept the state's top three offices and ended nearly a decade of Democratic dominance at the top of the ticket. Mr. McDonnell, a former attorney general, captured strong support from independents and voters in the Northern Virginia exurbs of Prince William and Loudoun counties that had been key to President
Top Democrats predicted that the backlash against the Republican Party in a New York congressional election Tuesday marked the start of a wave that will continue in key 2010 Senate races, saying they think independent voters will abandon a divided Republican Party. "What we are seeing here is a fractured GOP in Senate races all over the country," said Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat and chairman of the Democratic
Kabul - Hamid Karzai offered an olive branch to his ''Taliban brothers'' in a victory speech a day after he was declared president. He promised an inclusive government and said he would ''eradicate the stain of corruption'' as his foreign backers pressured him to clean up his regime. In a televised speech he said: ''We call on our Taliban brothers to come home and embrace their land''. Mr Karzai's previous calls for talks with Mullah Mohammad
Christopher J. Christie, a Republican former United States attorney who said he would vanquish corruption from the halls of New Jersey government, won the New Jersey governor’s race on Tuesday, defeating the incumbent, Gov. Jon S. Corzine, and striking a blow against the Democratic party on a national stage. Mr. Christie, who accused Mr. Corzine of leading the state into economic turmoil, had nearly half of the vote to Mr.
Baghdad - Despite major bombings that have rattled the nation, and fears of rising violence as American troops withdraw, Iraq’s security forces have been relying on a device to detect bombs and weapons that the United States military and technical experts say is useless. The small hand-held wand, with a telescopic antenna on a swivel, is being used at hundreds of checkpoints in Iraq. But the device works ''on the same principle as a Ouija
Noor Almaleki, whom I wrote about over the weekend, has died, the latest Western victim of a Muslim honor killing. If there were a Matthew Shepard murder every few months, Frank Rich et al would be going bananas about the "climate of hate" in our society, but you can run over your daughter, decapitate your wife, drown three teenage girls and a polygamous spouse, and progressive opinion and the press couldn't give a hoot. Indeed, as
Democrat Bill Owens is leading in the 23rd Congressional District race. The Plattsburgh attorney has 42,019 votes compared to Conservative Doug Hoffman, a Lake Placid CPA, with 39,012 votes. Dede Scozzafava, a Republican who dropped out of the race Saturday, has 4,578 votes. Owens now leads in Jefferson, St. Lawarence, Franklin, Clinton and Essex counties. Hoffman leads in Oswego, Oneida and Madison counties.
It's a common tale: Man meets penguin, penguin meets man, they fall in love. A German zoo has witnessed a bittersweet love affair between two very unequal partners. (Snip) ''I didn't choose her; she chose me. When I would get to work in the morning, she would be there waiting for me and call out to me. And when we did our daily penguin march for exercise, she would always jump to the front of the line to be next to me." With Vollbracht
As voters in Virginia and New Jersey headed to the polls today to elect their governors, Americans across the country were watching these off-year races for implications about the nation's mood heading into 2010. (Snip) In both states the economy topped the list of issues that mattered most to voters in their choice for governor – in Virginia health care was second, while in New Jersey the second choice was property taxes. And what about
Wow: This is looking to be a very long night for the billionaire-incumben-frontrunner in New York.With more than a third of the votes in, it's a one-point race. NBC called it for Bloomberg -- but just reversed that call. The New York Times continues to indicate that Bloomberg has won.
NEW YORK - In the end, all the stumping in the world from the President of the United States wasn't going to stop regime change in New Jersey's highest office. Republican Chris Christie ended Democrat Jon Corzine's four-year run in Trenton with a narrow victory on Tuesday, The Associated Press projected. Independent Chris Daggett, thought of by many as the wildcard who could upset the order of things by siphoning off votes from Christie,
New York - In the end, all the stumping in the world from the President of the United States wasn't going to stop regime change in New Jersey's highest office. Republican Chris Christie ended Democrat Jon Corzine's four-year run in Trenton with a narrow victory on Tuesday, The Associated Press projected. Independent Chris Daggett, thought of by many as the wildcard who could upset the order of things by siphoning off votes from Christie,
TRENTON, N.J. – Chris Christie, an aggressive former prosecutor who racked up a perfect conviction rate in public corruption cases and became the darling of New Jersey's Republican Party establishment, has unseated the deep-pocketed but unpopular Gov. Jon Corzine. (Snip) With 75 percent of precincts reporting, Christie had 50 percent of the vote compared to 44 percent for Corzine. Independent candidate Chris Daggett, who at one
A legally binding agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions is no longer a realistic goal for next month’s Copenhagen summit, the UN Secretary-General says. According to Ban Ki Moon such an agreement will not be signed next month and the most likely outcome is voluntary targets, which countries could announce but then ignore. He said that several key countries were not ready to sign up to binding targets and that the best the
Virginians elected Republican Robert F. McDonnell the commonwealth's 71st governor Tuesday, sweeping the GOP to power and emphatically halting a decade of Democratic advances in the critical swing state. The state's former attorney general defeated Democratic state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds with a promise to create jobs in the down economy and fix the state's clogged roadways without a tax increase. Speaking to
CAIRO -- The Obama administration has all but abandoned hope for an early resumption of high-level negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders or substantive movement toward agreement on a Palestinian state -- an acknowledgment that it has fallen short, for now, of one of its major initial foreign policy goals. With virtually no possibility of comprehensive negotiations in the foreseeable future, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Washington - Republicans surged to victory in governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday, wresting control from Democrats in both states as independents who swept Barack Obama to a historic 2008 victory broke big for the GOP. It was a troubling sign for the president and his party heading into an important midterm election year. Conservative Republican Bob McDonnell's victory in the Virginia governor's race over
Bubba and Dubya are going to engage in a presidential debate for the ages. Former President Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will square off on the same stage at Radio City Music Hall in February as part of a series pitting liberal and conservative thinkers. The event is part of MSG Entertainment's third annual "Minds That Move The World" speakers series. The event -- billed as "The Hottest Ticket in Political History" -- will take
WASHINGTON — For a president elevated to power on the back of history, the tears and euphoria of Grant Park feel like a thousand years ago. It has been just one year, of course, since Barack Obama’s election, a year since that moment when supporters felt everything was possible amid lofty talk of “remaking this nation” and determined chants of “Yes, we can.” A year later, as a few smaller elections yielded a more tempered judgment,
WASHINGTON — House Republicans have come up with an answer to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, drafting an alternative health care bill that would reward states for reducing the number of uninsured, limit damages in medical malpractice lawsuits and allow small businesses to band together and buy insurance exempt from most state regulation. In its opening section, the Republican bill, which has no chance of passing, promises to lower
