WASHINGTON - In U.S. politics, 2010 is shaping up to be a good year to be a conservative.  Poll ratings for President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress are down, and opposition Republicans are hoping that energized conservatives will carry the party to victory in the November congressional elections.  But the conservative movement is not […]

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will lay out what White House officials call the “final act” in his efforts and those of the Democratic majority in Congress to pass health care reform legislation. The president will use a statement on Wednesday to offer a revised proposal that might contain more ideas from minority Republicans lawmakers […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Democratic and Republican lawmakers to bridge their differences on health care reform, at a special televised summit aimed at reviving legislation that has stalled in Congress.
Opening the meeting Thursday, President Obama said he hoped leaders on both sides would focus on issues of agreement, and avoid what […]

WASHINGTON - New public opinion polls show that President Barack Obama and both major U.S. political parties face a challenging political climate in the months ahead.
Two recent surveys - one by ABC News and The Washington Post newspaper, the other by the Gallup organization - show President Obama’s job approval rating at 51 percent.  Another […]

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration says no decision has been reached on where to hold trials for accused terrorists, including the self-proclaimed mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.  The issue resurfaced after the administration backed away from plans to hold civilian trials in New York City.
Last year, U.S. Attorney General […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama appears to be at a political turning point as he prepares to deliver the annual State of the Union Address on Wednesday before a Joint Session of Congress and a national television audience.  The recent Republican victory in the special Senate election in the heavily Democratic northeastern U.S. state […]

WASHINGTON - Minority Republicans in Congress are claiming a major victory in Tuesday’s Massachusetts special election, which put Republican Scott Brown in the U.S. Senate seat once occupied by the late Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy. 
Republicans describe the result, giving them 41 of 100 seats in the Senate, as a rejection of the way President Barack […]

WASHINGTON - With the U.S. unemployment rate remaining at 10 percent in December, President Barack Obama wants to expand a government program to stimulate hiring in the alternative energy industry.
President Obama acknowledges that 85,000 Americans lost their jobs in December, and he says more work is needed to bring that number down. “The jobs numbers […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama says the United States had enough information to uncover the plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, but failed to put all the bits and pieces of intelligence together.  Mr. Obama spoke after a long meeting with his Cabinet and national security team.
President Obama says the […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday that a “systemic failure” in security allowed the attempted Christmas Day attack on a Northwest Airlines flight. Mr. Obama said information that could have prevented the would-be bomber from boarding the plane did not get the attention it deserved.
President Obama said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab should have been […]

WASHINGTON - The New York Times newspaper says the Obama administration may not be able to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and transfer terrorism suspects held there until 2011 at the earliest.
The administration announced plans last week to acquire an under-utilized state prison in the central state of Illinois to house […]

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has ordered the purchase of a state prison in the central U.S. to house some terror suspects now being held at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  The underused Thomson Correctional Center is in the president’s home state of Illinois.
Shortly after taking office, President Obama said he wanted […]

WASHINGTON - Top Pentagon officials say the U.S. commitment to Afghanistan will not end when the military campaign is over.  They are also predicting U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan will inevitably increase the violence and casualties in the country. 
U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Michele Flournoy, says President […]

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama’s decision to send 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan comes at a time when the American public appears increasingly skeptical about the long-term U.S. role there. 
In addition, Mr. Obama faces opposition from some members of his own Democratic Party who fear a quagmire in Afghanistan, and doubts from some Republicans […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama is ordering some 30,000 more American troops to Afghanistan, starting in early 2010.
In his highly anticipated speech on his new war strategy, President Obama said the United States did not “ask for this fight,” saying that the war started in response to the al-Qaida terror attacks that killed nearly […]

WASHINGTON - A new survey indicates U.S. President Barack Obama’s approval rating has fallen below 50 percent for the first time in his presidency.
The poll, released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University in the northeastern state of Connecticut, shows Mr. Obama’s approval rating at 48 percent among registered voters, down two points from last month.
The survey shows […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama says he wants a relationship with China that goes beyond economic issues, to encompass other matters of global concern.  Mr. Obama spoke in Beijing as he sat down for talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
This was the last big meeting for the president in China.
As cameras recorded the start […]

PENTAGON - The Pentagon says Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered top officials to review security measures following the shootings earlier this month at Ft. Hood in Texas, in which a U.S. Army officer killed 12 fellow-soldiers and one civilian.  

Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman says Secretary Gates has met with top officials and told them […]

WASHINGTON - The stage is set for a historic debate in the U.S. Congress on legislation crafted by majority Democrats to reform the U.S. health care system.  The debate expected in a special Saturday session in the House of Representatives comes amid growing concerns that the U.S. Senate will be unable to bring a measure […]

WASHINGTON - Republican Party candidates won two key governorships Tuesday in U.S. state elections widely seen as a referendum on President Barack Obama’s administration and its policies.  
Statewide issues dominated campaigns in both Virginia and New Jersey, but political analysts said the vote in the two populous eastern states indicated a shift in voters’ preferences, away […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. voters go to the polls in a handful of elections Tuesday that could have implications for President Barack Obama, his Democratic allies in Congress and opposition Republicans.
Voters in Virginia and New Jersey will elect governors on Tuesday, and Republicans appear poised to take back the governor’s mansion in Virginia after a streak […]

WASHINGTON - The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, has presented health care legislation that she says would extend coverage to millions of Americans.
At an event on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol building, Pelosi said the bill reflects the best values of the country and addresses the greatest challenges facing […]

WASHINGTON - For the first time in 30 years, Social Security recipients in the United States will not receive an annual adjustment in benefits.  More than 52 million older Americans depend on Social Security for all or part of their retirement income. As pension funds and the stock market have declined in the last decade, […]

WASHINGTON - A U.S. senator is asking Americans whether a current proposal to overhaul the American health-care system would actually make things better.
Speaking in the weekly Republican address Saturday, Senator Mike Johanns from the state of Nebraska said the proposal could negatively impact “each and every” American.
President Barack Obama, from the majority Democratic Party, is […]