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President Barack Obama (Pic by The White House, via Flickr) A petition protesting the EPA’s “numeric nutrient criteria,” a set of stringent water pollution standards specific to the state of Florida, has been sent to President Barack Obama, in an attempt to urge him to “reign in the EPA’s power grab and return water quality regulation to state government.” The petition was backed largely by the Florida Farm Bureau , a group whose members could be hit with costly upgrades or fines because of the new rules. The Farm Bureau worked with “a coalition of municipalities, regulated industries and other agricultural associations” to gather at least 5,000 signatures for the petition, which reads: I am a registered voter in Florida and concerned about the higher costs associated with the EPA’s numeric nutrient criteria rule. Several studies put the cost of this rule in the billions

After spending at least a month “right in the corner of (Wis.) Gov. Scott Walker 100 percent,” Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain told

Arguing that access to health care is the right of everyone, not a privilege for the wealthy, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) explains that while doesn’t really

IOWA CITY — The general public has a warped view of a bill that would make it a crime to produce audio or video of an agriculture facility because media coverage of the proposal “is disingenuous,” according to Iowa Sen. Sandy Greiner (R-Keota).

It was a scenario that tapped into Americans’ deepest fears about increased government involvement with health care: President Obama was planning to a create

State health officials are reassuring people who live near the Kalamazoo River that touching submerged oil on the river bottom is not likely to cause cancer.

The University of Florida campus (Pic by Random McRandomhead, via Flickr) New reports indicate that Gov. Rick Scott is in the early stages of forming his policy to change higher education in the state of Florida.

Hoping to avoid a case of mistaken identity, two Twin Cities–based businesses are trying to make it clear: They’re not affiliated with contentious political figures who share their names. Bachman’s Floral Gift & Garden and Koch Industries, Inc. , a Golden Valley wholesaler of chain, rope and fasteners, have both posted notices on their websites, Bachman’s noting that it is in no way related to the controversial Minnesota congresswoman and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, and Koch stating that they’re not related to the brothers of the same name who famously finance tea party and libertarian causes

The governor of Nebraska said Monday that he will call a special session of the Nebraska legislature to take up the matter of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would cut through that state and cross over the Ogalala aquifer, which supplies nearly all the fresh water for the state.

After being tipped off by a recent Washington Blade article about GOP LGBT groups’ attempts to influence the Republican Party platform at the 2012 Republican

Renewable energy advocates and environmentalists praised the announcement, while noting that the renewable energy standard, or RES, is not stringent enough.

Bowing to the banking industry, House Democrats yesterday weakened legislation empowering bankruptcy judges to alter the terms of primary mortgages to prevent

Michael Riley got former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) on the phone to ask about the just-revealed assault charges against Marcus Epstein, the executive director

Appearing on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports just now, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) sounded an optimistic note about the prospects for comprehensive climate

If you did a free association test on political insiders and said Robert Byrd, 90 percent of them would probably respond immediately with coal. The

For those of us who are still having a hard time wrapping our brainpans around what exactly credit default swaps are and why they made the economy go boom, we

I’ve just gotten my hands on the transcript of last Thursday’s Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing on czars. There’s a lot in

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (Pic by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr) Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona — known for his controversial immigration enforcement measures and his birther conspiracy theories — was heckled Saturday as he spoke at “Choose Liberty,” an event organized by the Eastern Orlando Tea Party and Americans for Prosperity. A Phoenix Fox TV station reported that, ”while delivering remarks — some hecklers tried to steal the spotlight by yelling and moving toward the sheriff.” The Fox affiliate quotes Arpaio as saying: “I’ve been cracking down on illegal immigration for the last three years, which I now have the Justice Department investigating me, ACLU — everybody’s taking shots at me because of my fight against illegal immigration. And I’m going to continue to do it until the problem is resolved.” A 2009 Time magazine article points out that Arpaio “has faced numerous complaints from Amnesty International, the ACLU and other rights groups.

Whenever Bush administration or Sen. John McCain campaign officials open their mouths about Iraq, they portray the country as on a continuous path of

One year and one day after the Bush administration first offered to rescue GMAC, the Obama White House has announced a $3.8 billion bailout for the struggling

Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- currently in the lead, according to Gallup, to be the Republican nominee for president in 2012 -- signed (PDF) on Wednesday the Susan