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In a move that activists call unnecessary and based on bigotry, Rep. Tom Hooker (R-Byron Center) wants to make sure that Michigan taxpayers do not foot the bill for any gender assignment surgeries Michigan prisoners may need as part of their treatment. Hooker readily admits he knows of no case where a Michigan prisoner has had gender reassignment surgery

By calling for the end of the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program, House Democratic leaders have put themselves in the uncomfortable position of

The Wall Street Journal has a piece today called Cash for Clunkers: An Expensive Environmental Fix, which argues that despite its bigger-than-expected

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: Once BP’s runaway Macondo well is killed, it will no longer be considered part of oil spill reponse and the Department

A marijuana plant (Pic by LancerenoK, via Fotopedia) State Rep. Jeff Clemens , D-Lake Worth, filed a joint resolution last week that would allow Floridians to vote on whether they want to legalize medical marijuana in the state during the 2012 election

Somehow I missed the forest of President Obama’s Iraq visit for the trees. Peter Juul corrects: At the end of his European trip yesterday, President Barack

Excellent rundown from James Besser in the Jewish Week about the coterie of Christian and Jewish peace-process rejectionists ready to support Benjamin

In a recession, can President Obama make the case for immigration?

Last night, the U.S. Senate attempted to move on the House’s version of a war-funding bill, providing much-needed funds to the Pentagon for Afghanistan and Iraq

Under the auspices of the Center for Victims of Torture, two former officials have compiled a list of questions to set expectations for the Obama

Peter Orszag’s New York Times opinion piece has set off a flurry of discussion about whether to extend tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and how the

Earlier today, we previewed an effort by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) to require insurance companies to dedicate a minimum share of premium revenues to health

American Future Fund — a nonprofit with numerous ties to Gov.-elect Terry Branstad and based out of a P.O. Box in Des Moines — spent $9,599,806 in 2010, ranking 7th nationally in spending by outside political organizations , according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics. Because the group is registered as a 501(c)4 nonprofit, it is not regulated by the Federal Elections Commission or the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board

One of the early casualties of massive budget cuts is state funding of nonprofit crisis pregnancy resource centers, according to the first draft of the Texas

As Congress jousts over the effectiveness of the stimulus package to stir economic activity, it’s worth noting that homeowners -- whose troubles are at the root

Until now, the Senate’s health reform debate has been largely partisan, with Republicans blasting the various reform bills as a step toward socialized medicine,

The Jan. 3 Iowa Caucuses will give Iowa Republicans a leg up heading into legislative races in 2012, a leading political observer says. Steffen Schmidt, professor of political science at Iowa State University, said the Republican Party of Iowa will be more organized going into 2012 thanks to the competitive race for the GOP presidential nomination playing out in Iowa

The hype around the Florida Senate race was focused on Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio, who sparred for the GOP nomination before the former was forced to go

So it happens again: another first-class storyteller dupes her agent, her editor, her publisher and a handful of high-falutin’, praise-bestowing reviewers

Declaring that Dawn Johnsen “is so against an unborn child’s right-to-live that she has labeled mothers-to-be ‘fetal containers’, Rep. Steve King