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United States government

Obama demands quick action to raise debt limit
President Barack Obama demanded on Monday that lawmakers raise the nation's $16.4 trillion federal debt limit quickly, warning that "Social Security ...
Post-election, a push for DC problem solving
Fiscal cliffs and debt ceiling fights are out. Problem-solving is in. Members of Congress, governors and mayors from across the political spectrum ...
Schumer pushes background checks for gun sales
Sen. Charles Schumer says requiring universal background checks is something that could pass Congress despite political opposition to gun control.
Court continues order targeting voter intimidation
The Supreme Court has turned down an effort by the Republican National Committee to end a 30-year-old court order aimed at preventing intimidation of ...
Obama, Netanyahu: Bad blood between key allies
President Barack Obama heads into his second term weighed down by an American government snarled in partisan gridlock, but also by an unproductive ...
Hindus now have a fellow believer in Congress
When Dr. Uma Mysorekar looks at the members of the new Congress, the Indian immigrant and practicing Hindu can see that, for the first time, there's ...
Questions and answers about upcoming inauguration
With his wife and two daughters at his side, President Barack Obama will raise his right hand and place his left on two stacked Bibles as he takes the ...
Will longer school year help or hurt US students?
Did your kids moan that winter break was way too short as you got them ready for the first day back in school? They might get their wish of more ...
Obama lookalike in demand for inauguration season
The lanky man has the security detail, the prominent ears and the U.S. flag pin, but substitute teacher Larry Graves is no Barack Obama. He's a ...
NRA says Congress will not pass weapons ban
As Vice President Joe Biden finalizes a package of recommendations for the president to curb gun violence, the National Rifle Association predicted ...
Somali witnesses to failed rescue describe mayhem
The night of mayhem and death started with the sound of helicopters above pitch-black fields. When it was over, the French intelligence agent who had ...
Fateful B-52 flight revealed deadly weakness
Flying low over snowy terrain on a Cold War training mission, Lt. Col. Dan Bulli's massive B-52 bomber hit turbulence that shook the plane so ...
Armstrong awaits 'candid' Oprah interview
Out for a Sunday morning jog in bright sunshine, Lance Armstrong hardly looked like a man about to finally confront the doping scandal that has ...
Sen. Corker raises issue of Hagel's 'temperament'
A Republican senator says he thinks the issue of "overall temperament" will come up during former Sen. Chuck Hagel's confirmation hearing to be ...
Hundreds of French troops drive back Mali rebels
The battle to retake Mali's north from the al-Qaida-linked groups controlling it began in earnest Saturday, after hundreds of French forces deployed ...
Mississippi rock blasting puts river in ship shape
Crews have completed the most critical phase of removing bedrock that threatened barges along a crucial stretch of the drought-starved Mississippi ...
Hospitals crack down on workers refusing flu shots
Patients can refuse a flu shot. Should doctors and nurses have that right, too? That is the thorny question surfacing as U.S. hospitals increasingly ...
Treasury: Trillion-dollar coin would not be legal
Forget about the government minting a $1 trillion coin to solve its debt-limit crisis. Treasury Department spokesman Anthony Coley said Saturday that ...
Obama's 2nd inauguration smaller, yet still grand
President Barack Obama's second inauguration is shaping up as a high-energy celebration smaller than his first milestone swearing-in, yet still ...
Shifting landscape as Brown mulls Mass. Senate run
Scott Brown was a little-known Republican state senator who shocked Massachusetts Democrats three years ago by winning a U.S. Senate seat in a special ...
With almonds' rising revenues, land values soar
Bill Enns, a central California real estate agent specializing in farmland, fields dozens of calls every week from potential buyers. Many want almond, ...
Q&A: Scramble for vaccine as flu season heats up
Missed flu-shot day at the office last fall? And all those "get vaccinated" ads? A scramble for shots is under way as late-comers seek protection from ...
Obama's fitness put to test at Pentagon clinic
President Barack Obama underwent a fitness test at a Pentagon health clinic on Saturday as part of a periodic medical exam coordinated by his doctor.