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Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) announced a little while ago that he will vote against Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s confirmation when the Senate Judiciary

Michele Bachmann became the first presidential candidate to sign a pledge by The Family Leader, an Iowa-based religious right group. The 14-point pledge ( PDF ) asks candidates to ban same-sex marriage, protect women and children from pornography and reject Islamic law. Signers also must promise to affirm that same-sex marriage is akin to polygamy and that having many children is good for America

One warrantless surveillance mystery solved. My friend Marcy Wheeler beat me to this: George W. Bush personally ordered White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and

Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) is addressing an Republican National Committee meeting in San Diego right now, which so far has featured some of the less successful

Democratic leaders in the House are holding a press conference shortly on their sweeping $1.2 trillion proposal to revamp the nation’s health care system. As

Curious about how Vice President Joe Biden, formerly one of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s biggest supporters, came to oppose an expansive state-building

The League of Conservation Voters is criticizing Rep. Dan Benishek (R-Crystal Falls) for his recent claim that the heavily-subsidized oil industry pays enough in taxes. At a public forum in Petoskey this week Benisek said that while it’s important to close tax loopholes, he feels that oil companies pay enough

State Rep.

When states debate medical marijuana laws, one of the issues sure to come up is whether legalizing marijuana for medical uses sends the wrong message to young people. Does legalizing medical marijuana create an atmosphere of permissiveness regarding marijuana? Does legalizing medical marijuana make it easier for kids to get their hands on dope

Litigation stemming from the massive Gulf oil spill will be consolidated in a federal court in New Orleans, a judicial panel decided today. The panel also

Confirming what many have been saying for years, a new survey finds that teenagers who pledge to forgo sexual activity until marriage were just as likely to

Fred Bartlit, chief counsel for the national oil spill commission, chided reporters today, arguing they misinterpreted one of his key preliminary findings about

Florida’s chapter of Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers-funded right-wing political organization, just released their “2011 Legislative Scorecard,” giving nearly every GOP member of the state Legislature an A or A+ and nearly every Democrat an F. According to the scorecard (.pdf), a total of 79 Republican members of the Legislature received an A+ (100 percent) rating from the group. Americans for Prosperity graded the legislators based on their votes in favor of 12 bills aimed at lowering taxes, undermining the federal health care reform law, reforming the pensions and benefits of government employees, allowing the expansion of charter schools and loosening regulations on businesses in the state.

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan told Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) this afternoon that she believes the death penalty is now settled law and that she has

Advocates for financial regulatory reform must be shaking their heads today after watching Rep. Melissa Bean’s (D-Ill.) efforts to weaken a comprehensive

Anti-immigration groups are accusing Immigration and Customs Enforcement of trying to limit immigration enforcement, citing a draft policy memo ICE released

The consensus seems to be growing that, despite his oft-repeated desire to “look forward rather than backward” when it comes to the Bush administration’s

The Senate Conservatives Fund, chaired by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) (and located squarely inside the Freedom Tent) has launched SpecterVsToomey.com, where people

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie announced yesterday that he and four state judges will oversee the recount of votes in the U.S. Senate