http://www.mail.com/locations/2976-district-columbia.html Mail.com - the best personalized free web-based Email en en http://sec-s.uicdn.com/mail.com/2.20/img/mailcom_logo_rss.png http://www.mail.com/locations/2976-district-columbia.html http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1763296-fiscal-cliff-talks-vexing-official-washington.html WASHINGTON (AP) — Five weeks after President Barack Obama won re-election and gained more leverage to make GOP conservatives bend on taxes, the new balance of power is proving vexing for both sides. Republicans still aren't budging on Obama's demands for higher tax rates on upper bracket earners, despite the president's convincing election victory and opi... Thu, 13 Dec 2012 11:49:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1763296-fiscal-cliff-talks-vexing-official-washington.html 2012-12-13T11:49:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1763312-election-over-administration-unleashes-rules.html WASHINGTON (AP) — While the "fiscal cliff" of looming tax increases and spending cuts dominates political conversation in Washington, some Republicans and business groups see signs of a "regulatory cliff" that they say could be just as damaging to the economy. For months, federal agencies and the White House have sidetracked dozens of major regulations th... Thu, 13 Dec 2012 07:23:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1763312-election-over-administration-unleashes-rules.html 2012-12-13T07:23:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1763102-nkorea-policy-seoul-to-soften-despite-rocket.html SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — It is not too early to predict one sure winner of South Korea's presidential election next week: North Korea. President Lee Myung-bak's hardline approach to Pyongyang is going away, no matter who replaces him. The question is: Just how soft will Seoul go? Not even Pyongyang's successful launch of a long-range rocket Wednesday has... Thu, 13 Dec 2012 04:54:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1763102-nkorea-policy-seoul-to-soften-despite-rocket.html 2012-12-13T04:54:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1762516-joe-allbritton-87-dc-media-banking-giant-dies.html McLEAN, Va. (AP) — Joe L. Allbritton, who became one of Washington's most influential men through a media conglomerate of newspapers and television stations and a financial empire that once included Riggs Bank, died Wednesday. He was 87. He was suffering from heart ailments and died at a hospital in Houston, where he lived, said Frederick J. Ryan Jr., pre... Thu, 13 Dec 2012 01:42:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1762516-joe-allbritton-87-dc-media-banking-giant-dies.html 2012-12-13T01:42:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1760524-us-hesitant-condemning-north-korean-launch.html WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is drawing no "red line" for North Korea after a successful long-range rocket test, tempering the public condemnation to avoid raising tensions or possibly rewarding the reclusive communist nation with too much time in the global spotlight. The U.S. has told the world that it won't tolerate Iran's acquisition of ... Thu, 13 Dec 2012 01:11:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1760524-us-hesitant-condemning-north-korean-launch.html 2012-12-13T01:11:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1760408-budging-fiscal-cliff-talks-appear-stalled.html WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans aren't budging on tax rates, and Democrats are resisting steps like raising the eligibility age for Medicare. Negotiations on averting a year-end fiscal train wreck combining big automatic tax hikes and sweeping spending cuts again appear stalled. There are less than three weeks before the government could careen off this "fi... Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:18:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1760408-budging-fiscal-cliff-talks-appear-stalled.html 2012-12-13T00:18:00Z http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/1762418-senate-dems-offer-sandy-disaster-aid-package.html WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats on Wednesday finished cobbling together a $60.4 billion disaster aid package for New York, New Jersey and other states hit by Superstorm Sandy in late October. Working from the emergency spending request President Barack Obama made five days ago, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its draft of the legislation. ... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:10:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/1762418-senate-dems-offer-sandy-disaster-aid-package.html 2012-12-12T22:10:00Z http://www.mail.com/business/markets/1762490-why-its-hard-to-step-fiscal-cliff.html WASHINGTON (AP) — The "fiscal cliff" crisis bundles together some of Washington's toughest decisions — the ones lawmakers have dodged for years — and says settle them all right now. Or else. Yet bedrock differences between Democrats and Republicans stand in the way. No wonder it's hard to shake hands on a deal by New Year's. Failure is a lousy option, non... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:01:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/business/markets/1762490-why-its-hard-to-step-fiscal-cliff.html 2012-12-12T22:01:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1761854-senate-intern-sex-offender-faces-deportation.html WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Robert Menendez employed as an unpaid intern in his Senate office an illegal immigrant who was a registered sex offender, now under arrest by immigration authorities, The Associated Press has learned. The Homeland Security Department instructed federal agents not to arrest him until after Election Day, a U.S. official involved in the case told the AP. ... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 21:01:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1761854-senate-intern-sex-offender-faces-deportation.html 2012-12-12T21:01:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1761994-lieberman-urges-compromise-final-senate-speech.html WASHINGTON (AP) — Retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman on Wednesday used his final Senate floor speech to urge Congress to put partisan rancor aside to break Washington's gridlock. "It requires reaching across the aisle and finding partners from the opposite party," said Lieberman. "That is what is desperately needed in Washington now." The Democrat-turned-indepen... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:19:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1761994-lieberman-urges-compromise-final-senate-speech.html 2012-12-12T19:19:00Z http://www.mail.com/business/markets/1761996-fiscal-cliff-threatens-federal-aid-heat.html PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Poor and elderly Americans who rely on aid from the federal government to heat their homes stand to get less help this year if Congress and the White House fail to figure out a way to avoid the combination of tax increases and automatic spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff. If that happens, there'll be an automatic 10 percent red... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:27:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/business/markets/1761996-fiscal-cliff-threatens-federal-aid-heat.html 2012-12-12T18:27:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1760412-obamas-fiscal-cliff-strategy-tricky-balance.html WASHINGTON (AP) — Playing both sides, President Barack Obama is trying to balance his public pressure campaign on Republicans over the looming "fiscal cliff" with his private negotiations with GOP leaders. The White House is loath to abandon the two-pronged strategy even as the Dec. 31 deadline nears. Obama's advisers see the carrot-and-stick approach as ... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:18:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1760412-obamas-fiscal-cliff-strategy-tricky-balance.html 2012-12-12T17:18:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1760560-panetta-afghanistan-to-meet-with-karzai.html KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — President Barack Obama will decide shortly how many U.S. troops he wants to keep in Afghanistan after the U.S.-led coalition military mission ends in December 2014, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday as he opened two days of consultations with top U.S. commanders and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Panetta offered no cl... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:41:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1760560-panetta-afghanistan-to-meet-with-karzai.html 2012-12-12T16:41:00Z http://www.mail.com/business/markets/1760704-us-economy-withstand-fall-cliff.html WASHINGTON (AP) — It's the scenario that's been spooking employers and investors and slowing the U.S. economy: Congress and the White House fail to strike a budget deal by New Year's Day. Their stalemate triggers sharp tax increases and spending cuts. Those measures shrink consumer spending, stifle job growth, topple stock prices and push the economy off ... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 10:18:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/business/markets/1760704-us-economy-withstand-fall-cliff.html 2012-12-12T10:18:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1759738-cliff-movement-obama-boehner-trade-proposals.html WASHINGTON (AP) — In a test of divided government, President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner sought an elusive compromise Tuesday to prevent economy-damaging tax increases on the middle class at year's end, conferring by phone after a secretive exchange of proposals. Details were sparse and evidence of significant progress scarcer still, altho... Wed, 12 Dec 2012 01:41:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1759738-cliff-movement-obama-boehner-trade-proposals.html 2012-12-12T01:41:00Z http://www.mail.com/business/markets/1758366-fiscal-cliff-private-bargaining-public-wrangling.html WASHINGTON (AP) — In a test of divided government, the White House and congressional Republicans bargained in secret and sparred in public Tuesday over a deal to prevent year-end tax increases for middle class millions and spending cuts to the military as well as other federal programs. Officials disclosed that President Barack Obama and House Speaker Joh... Tue, 11 Dec 2012 21:35:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/business/markets/1758366-fiscal-cliff-private-bargaining-public-wrangling.html 2012-12-11T21:35:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1757648-fiscal-cliff-looms-voter-angst-palpable.html HOOKSETT, N.H. (AP) — Five hundred miles from Washington, the lunch crowd at Robie's Country Store and Deli is filled with angst over America's elected leaders and their latest struggle to prevent a fiscal crisis. "I don't know if I know all the ins and outs," says Kimberlee Roux of nearby Manchester as she waits for her lunch order at the popular New Ham... Tue, 11 Dec 2012 18:47:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1757648-fiscal-cliff-looms-voter-angst-palpable.html 2012-12-11T18:47:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1758906-gop-throws-obamas-deficit-stands.html WASHINGTON (AP) — Some of the best Republican arguments against President Barack Obama's proposals to avoid a "fiscal cliff" come from the president himself, in comments he made months or years before his re-election. Stung by the GOP's midterm election gains in 2010, Obama took stands that differ from his current positions on raising tax rates, adjusting... Tue, 11 Dec 2012 18:18:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1758906-gop-throws-obamas-deficit-stands.html 2012-12-11T18:18:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1757452-meeting-delay-sign-cooling-us-vietnam-ties.html HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The U.S. and Vietnam, former enemies who share concerns about China's rise, are finding that one issue — human rights — is keeping them from becoming closer friends. Stress between the nations is clear from a delay in an annual meeting between Washington and Hanoi on human-rights concerns. Such consultations have been held every year... Tue, 11 Dec 2012 06:15:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1757452-meeting-delay-sign-cooling-us-vietnam-ties.html 2012-12-11T06:15:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1755262-retreating-cliff-talks-standstill.html WASHINGTON (AP) — A year-end deadline approaching, quiet negotiations to avoid an economy-rattling "fiscal cliff" yielded no tangible signs of progress on Monday as Republicans pressed President Barack Obama to volunteer spending cuts he will support while the White House insisted the GOP endorse higher tax rates on upper incomes. At a campaign-style even... Tue, 11 Dec 2012 03:34:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1755262-retreating-cliff-talks-standstill.html 2012-12-11T03:34:00Z http://www.mail.com/business/markets/1756420-fiscal-cliff-stalemate-spurs-anxiety.html JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A plunge over the federal "fiscal cliff" may sound like a terrifying risk for many state officials anxiously watching as Washington struggles to avert automatic tax hikes and spending cuts set to start with the new year. Yet their greatest angst may stem not from the potential loss of billions of dollars, but the confusion surrounding it all. ... Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:16:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/business/markets/1756420-fiscal-cliff-stalemate-spurs-anxiety.html 2012-12-10T19:16:00Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1754068-sight-fbis-unloved-hoover-building.html WASHINGTON (AP) — Just six blocks from the White House, the FBI's hulking headquarters overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue has long been the government building everyone loves to hate. The verdict: It's an ugly, crumbling concrete behemoth, an architectural mishap — all 2.4 million square feet of it. But in this time of tight budgets, massive deficits and the... Mon, 10 Dec 2012 08:38:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1754068-sight-fbis-unloved-hoover-building.html 2012-12-10T08:38:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1755316-gay-couples-wash-start-taking-wedding-vows.html SEATTLE (AP) — Keith Bacon and Corianton Hale wore dress shirts as they recited their vows at Seattle City Hall, as the city hosted more than 100 weddings on the first day same-sex couples could marry in Washington state. A few hours later Sunday, the happy couple had changed into matching t-shirts that read "Looks Like We Made It." "It's tremendously mea... Mon, 10 Dec 2012 08:16:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1755316-gay-couples-wash-start-taking-wedding-vows.html 2012-12-10T08:16:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1753906-same-sex-couples-wash-start-wedding-vows.html SEATTLE (AP) — Scores of same-sex couples crowded Seattle City Hall for a day of wedding ceremonies on Sunday, the first day they could marry after the state's voter-approved gay marriage law took effect. While numerous weddings were taking place across the state, both private and public, the city hall weddings were the largest public event, with more tha... Mon, 10 Dec 2012 02:45:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1753906-same-sex-couples-wash-start-wedding-vows.html 2012-12-10T02:45:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1754282-obama-boehner-meet-to-discuss-fiscal-cliff.html WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner met Sunday at the White House to discuss the ongoing negotiations over the impending "fiscal cliff," the first meeting between just the two leaders since they both won re-election. Spokesmen for both Obama and Boehner said they agreed to not release details of the conversation, but em... Mon, 10 Dec 2012 02:05:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1754282-obama-boehner-meet-to-discuss-fiscal-cliff.html 2012-12-10T02:05:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1753124-same-sex-weddings-wash-to-sunday.html OLYMPIA, WASH. (AP) — Two retired military women who fought for the rights of gays in the military were among the hundreds of couples who received their marriage licenses this week as Washington state's voter-approved law allowing same-sex marriage took effect. Former Air Force flight nurse Maj. Margaret Witt, of Spokane, and retired nurse, Army Col. Gret... Sat, 08 Dec 2012 19:23:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1753124-same-sex-weddings-wash-to-sunday.html 2012-12-08T19:23:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1752700-us-envoys-pivot-mideast.html MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — American envoys challenged assertions Saturday that Washington seeks to diminish its role in Middle East affairs, insisting U.S. political ties and energy needs bind the country closely to a region full of "threat and promise." The defensive tone by U.S. officials, in response to questions raised at an international security summit ... Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:04:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1752700-us-envoys-pivot-mideast.html 2012-12-08T18:04:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1752892-booze-smokes-agenda-quirky-govt-group.html BELTSVILLE, Md. (AP) — Deep in a secure laboratory just outside Washington sits the federal government's heaviest smoker. It is a half-ton hulk of a machine, all brushed aluminum and gasping smoke holes, like a retrofit of equipment used on an Industrial Revolution production line. It can smoke 20 cigarettes at once and conclude which are unsafe because t... Sat, 08 Dec 2012 14:29:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1752892-booze-smokes-agenda-quirky-govt-group.html 2012-12-08T14:29:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1752564-obama-request-sandy-aid-face-hurdles.html WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's proposal for $60.4 billion in federal aid for states hit by Superstorm Sandy adds a huge new item to an end-of-year congressional agenda already packed with controversy. The president's request to Congress on Friday followed weeks of discussions with lawmakers and officials from New York, New Jersey and other aff... Sat, 08 Dec 2012 07:46:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1752564-obama-request-sandy-aid-face-hurdles.html 2012-12-08T07:46:00Z