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This morning, the Federal Housing Finance Agency ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises that support the housing market, to

A new bill sponsored by Sen.

First came the broke unemployed drummers and poets, then the debt-ridden students, then the retired couples whose pensions and real estate holdings have withered, then the tourists, then, slowly, the journalists.

Following censure earlier this year from the national conservative research group the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, the Texas State Board of Education’s hotly

Just when I thought the Wright controversy was affecting superdelegates thoughts on Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), I find out that Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) plans

The Boston Globe ran a fantastic story Sunday about the lessons Congress can learn from the passage 20 years ago of a successful cap-and-trade program to combat

In the battle for the Republican nomination for president, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann edged out former Massachusetts Gov.

With presidential hopeful Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s blessing, as of this month, Texas women’s health clinics and hospitals that provide medical and

The Christian Family Coalition says “anti-American extremists and racists” forced the cancellation of an appearance by Rep. Allen West, R-Fort Lauderdale, at an upcoming Wilton Manors Business Association meeting. # In response to West’s announced appearance , Michael Rajner, legislative director of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus, demanded that Celeste Ellich, president of the Business Association, disinvite West

Amid a furor over its recent redesign, and with privacy concerns tailing its every move, Facebook has filed paperwork to start its own political action

Pro-immigration reform groups are stepping up local efforts to help illegal immigrants deal with police, learn English and understand deportation proceedings,

Personhood USA co-founder Keith Mason (Pic via personhoodusa.com) Personhood Arkansas, an affiliate of Personhood USA, has submitted amendment language to the state that would define life as beginning at the moment of conception.

For years, opponents of marriage equality have employed the same arguments to justify against legalizing same-sex marriage for gay and lesbian couples. The bulk

Republicans in the New Mexico Senate have coalesced around a redistricting plan that forces no two incumbents to run against each other , reports Deborah Baker: For GOP purposes, that was resolved by the impending departure of Sen. Kent Cravens, a Republican from northeast Albuquerque. Cravens confirmed to the Journal in a recent interview that he plans to resign after the dust from redistricting has settled, to take a governmental affairs job with the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association.

On the last day of Florida’s legislative session, Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Daytona Beach, received the ACLU of Florida’s “Defender of Freedom” award for the week.

Two Colorado congressional leaders who opposed the Iraq War in the beginning praised today’s announcement by President Barack Obama that American troops will be withdrawn by the end of the year. “Having opposed the original Iraq war authorization in 2002, I am pleased with today’s announcement that U.S. troops will withdraw fully from Iraq by the end of the year,” Democratic Rep

McClatchy does a good job outlining the omissions, exaggerations and misstatements in former Vice President Dick Cheney’s speech at the American Enterprise

Rep. Joe you lie! Wilson (R-S.C.), on Twitter, Sept. 7: – You can follow TWI on Twitter and Facebook.

According to reporting by Politico Pro , insurance companies are lobbying GOP-led states, like Florida, to change their mind about not implementing the state health care exchanges from the Affordable Care Act. Florida is currently one of only five states returning grants awarded by the federal government to implement health care exchanges created by the federal health care reform law. While this may be driven by ideology or strategy for GOP legislators, some insurance companies are worried it might be bad for business. Via ThinkProgress : Worried that red-state governors are standing in the way of business opportunities, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is “teaching its member plans how to overcome conservative opposition to the Democrats’ health care law,” Politico’s Kate Nocera reports: At a closed-door meeting Wednesday at D.C.’s Grand Hyatt with member plans from across the country, association officials covered topics like “Moving exchanges forward,” “What motivates conservatives to oppose creating exchanges

Controversial anti-gay minister Bradlee Dean and his evangelical band/ministry You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International (YCR) are suing The American Independent News Network’s senior reporter, Andy Birkey, and are threatening to also sue our site The Minnesota Independent. Rachel Maddow, who also reported about Dean on her MSNBC show, is also named in the suit, which seeks $50 million in damages. The lawsuit describes Andy as taking “a ‘special interest’ in Plaintiffs Dean and YCR because he is a secularist and/or atheist and gay activist with a politically left ideology who despises people of faith.” However, Andy’s award-winning coverage of YCR has received wide praise, including the Society of Professional Journalist’s (SPJ) first prize for Best Continuing Coverage . SPJ stated that Andy took “an even-handed approach into a weighty subject sure to provoke controversy from various standpoints.” We read your comments, tweets, Facebook messages, and emails and know you agree that Andy’s coverage, along with the rest of the reporting by The American Independent News Network, is excellent.

Michigan’s Emergency Manager law is part of a nationwide effort to shrink the electorate in a way that disproportionately eliminates blacks and other voters of color, the NAACP said last week as its members passed a resolution condemning such laws. “We think that it attacks the voting rights of minorities and urban populations,“ said NAACP Detroit Branch President Rev. Dr

Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer is looking to Fox News and Google for answers as to why he is being excluded in the Thursday night debate the organizations are sponsoring. “After proudly gaining my 1 percent in the latest Fox News poll, having started with zero name recognition, I must again ask — why am I being excluded from tomorrow’s debate?” Roemer queried in a circulated statement.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Today Sen. Barack Obama is in Manhattan to commemorate the 9/11 attacks. We will never forget those who died, he said in a solemn

A national nonprofit that’s drawn criticism for allowing corporations to write legislation directly with state lawmakers can be traced to bills introduced in Minnesota last session, including language that would shield large corporations from consumer lawsuits and undermine greenhouse gas reduction goals. The bills were revealed as Common Cause released a report on the influence of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which is financially supported by corporations like Koch Industries and Wal-Mart. At regular conferences, including one going on in New Orleans right now, these corporations draft corporate-friendly legislation that is approved by state legislators on legislative task forces and then introduced at state capitols across the country without disclosure that the business interests wrote them. “The work of ALEC shows how the Minnesota capitol is governed by corporate lobbyists instead of main street voters,” said Mike Dean, executive director of Common Cause Minnesota.