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Governor Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island and Governor Christine Gregoire of Washington have petitioned the federal government to change the schedule of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act, a move they claim will remove the conflict between federal drug laws and state laws that allow the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries. Colorado will file its own request before the end of the year. Shortly after filing the petition, Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont signed on as well.

Via Patrick Appel at Andrew Sullivan’s place, defense theorist Thomas P.M. Barnett, or perhaps his colleague Sean Meade (it’s unclear who wrote this, exactly)

A new report commissioned by the Center for American Progress finds that oil industry contracts with universities to conduct energy research may not adequately

After facing a barrage of attacks aired by outside right-wing groups, Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) is getting a bit of help in his Senate race in the form of a

If you read the stories in The Wall Street Journal last week or The New York Times this week about campaign contributions from financial companies, you might

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has invited Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to testify on his

President Obama will meet with pro-immigration reform Democrats -- Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Reps. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) and Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) --

The U.S. Department of Labor’s latest weekly unemployment report shows another sizable decrease in the number of new unemployment claims, down to 368,000. In the week ending Feb

ABC News reports that the task force President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder empaneled to decide the venue for charging each remaining Guantanamo Bay

This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that initial jobless claims fell by the largest amount in two months. Still, they remain high -- at

Frustrations are running high on Iowa’s Capitol Hill. The 2011 Legislative session inched into the 130-day range this week, and lawmakers are reluctant to give an end date as Republicans and Democrats continue to battle job creation tactics, education funding and budget and property tax relief issues . The split Legislature — a Republican-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate — have been embroiled on these topics since the session commenced in January, while reporting little progress

Antonio Diaz Chacon, 23, who gained national headlines for chasing down a kidnapper to save a six-year old girl in Albuquerque last week, told the media that he is an illegal immigrant.

Spencer sends over a short video clip revealing that Sen. Saxby Chambliss probably needs some rest. Facing a runoff election in a few weeks -- and recently

Arizona wrapped its 50th legislative session this week, with both Republican-controlled chambers passing several pieces of legislation that will likely impact

From Jake Tapper at ABC: Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller said today that Justice Department officials “will not participate in an attempt to drag

For us national-security writers, our version of Iron Man or The Dark Knight is Jane Mayer’s The Dark Side -- the first book on the war on terrorism from

A drumbeat is building for some form of federal takeover of troubled home mortgages. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) is leading the charge in the

GUANTANAMO BAY -- It’s been a persistent point of speculation since The Toronto Star’s Michelle Shephard broke the story Wednesday that the defense had turned

The absence of a progressive income tax structure in Initiative 25 has stopped some progressive organizations from getting on board with State Sen. Rollie Heath’s attempt to stem what has become a yearly bleeding of dollars from public education. While Heath and others agree a graduated tax structure would have been the preferred path, they said the initiative remains education’s best tourniquet while long-term solutions are worked on.