White House rejects GOP fiscal cliff counteroffer
The White House is rejecting a Republican counteroffer aimed at averting the "fiscal cliff," saying it does not meet what the White House calls "the ...

Dick Cheney working on book about heart treatment
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, one of the world's most prominent heart patients, is working on a book about his many battles with coronary disease ...

5 states to increase class time in some schools
Open your notebooks and sharpen your pencils. School for thousands of public school students is about to get quite a bit longer. Five states announced ...

Small-bore proposals to help avert fiscal cliff
Sure the rich may have to pay more in taxes. But a "fiscal cliff" budget deal could mean pain for nearly everyone else, too: higher airline ticket ...

Obama thanks Bulgaria for Afghanistan efforts
President Barack Obama is thanking Bulgaria for its contributions and sacrifices in the U.S.-lead war in Afghanistan. Obama spoke in the Oval Office ...
US slams Israel on new settlement plan
The Obama administration on Monday harshly criticized its top Mideast ally, Israel, over new settlement construction plans in areas the Palestinians ...
New EPA rule could upend high court runoff case
Wearing his gray morning coat and striped trousers, Justice Department lawyer Malcolm Stewart was the very picture of Supreme Court propriety Monday ...
Sens. Kerry, McCain poke fun over their ambitions
Sen. John Kerry, the next secretary of state? Republican Sen. John McCain had some fun Monday at the expense of his friend and Democratic colleague.

Coast Guard member dies in crash off Calif. coast
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says she's saddened to learn of the death of a Coast Guard member during a ...

Clinton pushes US bid for Czech nuclear project
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton lobbied the Czech government Monday to approve an American bid for a $10 billion expansion of a nuclear ...

Letterman, Hoffman, Zeppelin honored by Obama
David Letterman's "stupid human tricks" and Top 10 lists vaulted into the ranks of cultural acclaim Sunday night as the late-night comedian received ...

House and Senate sit on tax bills the other passed
It may not sound like it from the rhetoric, but both the House and Senate already have passed separate bills to delay big tax increases awaiting ...

Romney's big loss leaves GOP with no clear leader
Mitt Romney's shadow looms over a Republican Party in disarray. The face of the GOP for much of the last year, the failed presidential candidate has ...

Partisan split over UN Ambassador Rice widens
Republicans continue to argue that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice is unfit to be secretary of state. Democrats say the criticism is unfair.

Veterans' gun rights sticky issue in defense bill
Should veterans deemed too mentally incompetent to handle their own financial affairs be prevented from buying a gun? The issue, for a time last week, ...

Risk is at heart of debate on troop withdrawal
The debate over how many U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan after 2014 comes down to risky business. There is a risk that leaving too few troops ...

Man in barista death linked to 7 other killings
A man charged in the death of an Alaska barista was found dead in his jail cell Sunday, and authorities announced hours later that investigators have ...

Turkey's defense, Pakistan top Clinton's agenda
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has arrived in the Czech Republic for talks on energy policy in a country heavily dependent on Russian fuel.

'Cliff' talks: White House waiting on GOP move
Republicans have to stop using "political math" and say how much they are willing to raise tax rates on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans and then ...
Fore: Obama, Bill Clinton enjoy round of golf
Fore — 42 and 44 are playing 18. Former President Bill Clinton — the 42nd president — is joining President Barack Obama — he's No. 44 — for a round ...

Strategy, timing key to states' pot legalization
In the late-1980s heyday of the anti-drug "Just Say No" campaign, a man calling himself "Jerry" appeared on a Seattle talk radio show to criticize U.S
Highlights of the approaching 'fiscal cliff'
The "fiscal cliff" is an economy-rattling combination of expiring tax cuts and major across-the-board spending reductions to the Pentagon and domestic ...

Boehner tells Geithner, 'You can't be serious'
House Speaker John Boehner says he was "flabbergasted" when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner (GYT'-nur) pitched the White House plan to save the nation ...

Brinksmanship on Obama Medicaid expansion for poor
It's health care brinksmanship, with hundreds of billions of dollars and the well-being of millions of people at stake. President Barack Obama's ...

Signal problems preceded NJ train derailment
A signal may have malfunctioned on a southern New Jersey bridge where a train derailed, causing a hazardous chemical to spew into the air and leading ...