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Oh, Daphne. How right you were. How wrong this post was. Julian Barnes at The Los Angeles Times reports: The Obama administration will announce Friday that it

WATERTOWN, N.Y. -- On a Sunday evening conference call with conservative bloggers -- where he was joined by former Dede Scozzafava campaign manager Matt Burns

Congress returns today to kick off its lame-duck session. Here’s a rundown of the legislative battles to come.

Colorado Congressman Jared Polis wasted no time in taking advantage of his appointment to the Judiciary Committee. Thursday Polis sat down with Attorney General Eric Holder and asked whether the Ogden memo was still in effect. Holder said the memo–which said that the Justice Department would be unlikely to prosecute people on federal drug laws if they were in compliance with individual state’s laws regarding medical mnarijuana–is still in effect.

Personhood USA has been taking its cause outside of the country lately. The group, which works to criminalize abortion and some forms of birth control, recently applauded Hungary for adopting a new constitution (.pdf) that it says “goes further in protecting the personhood rights of all humans by protecting humans from trafficking, medical experimentation and human cloning.” # In a press release , Personhood USA cofounder Keith Mason said that the country’s constitution should be “an example to the entire EU and to us here in the USA.” # According to the release, Personhood sought to establish a similar constitution in the Dominican Republican in 2009, teaming up with San Jose-based group Live Action. According to its website , Personhood petitions are currently active in all 50 states.

The American Legislative Exchange Council ( ALEC ) is a non-profit organization that brings corporations together with state lawmakers to create and advocate for model legislation. Minnesota experts on lobbyist disclosure say ALEC’s activity here requires the group to register as a lobbyist under state law. ALEC denies that the organization lobbies state legislators.

It will come as no surprise to Coloradans force-fed a fire-hose stream of ugly and untrustworthy campaign election material over the last two years that independent spending– that is, spending directly tied to no candidate and mostly free of accountability– more than tripled in the state from 2008 to 2010. This according to a recent report released by watchdog group Follow the Money , which singles out Colorado for study. The authors report that, although the state has relatively strong disclosure laws, larger changes in campaign finance rules have let loose here as everywhere in the country a storm of money and a sea of roiling paperwork that can cover over as much as it reveals

Texas public schools’ accountability ratings were released over the last two weeks — the federal ratings last week, statewide numbers on July 29 — and

One measure of Republican and conservative confidence on their campaign to block a health care bill is the presence of Rick Scott, a once-discredited hospital

In a piece published today, TWI detailed how a recount in the gubernatorial race between Democrat Mark Dayton and Republican Tom Emmer might play out. Dayton

This week, the Senate will likely begin debate on its version of a cash-for-clunkers bill, according to CNNMoney. This legislation began with green intentions

Texas Railroad Commissioner and U.S. Senate candidate Michael Williams -- sporting an incandescent blue bow tie -- drew huge cheers from the CPAC crowd this

There’s talk about how Iran’s apparent rejection of President Obama’s outreach represents the end of a 2008 campaign goal. And it’s not exactly wrong, though it

Unsatisfied with how Maryland’s religious community campaigned against same-sex-marriage legislation that died in the state House of Delegates in 2011, Del.

Recently we noted that a popular kid’s movie, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, was set during the Great Depression and had a very topical theme: Bank

One of the major turning points of 2006 with regard to the Iraq war was the so-called Generals’ Revolt, in which a group of respected and recently retired

The move was cheered by abortion rights advocates, but it may have eroded the support of some moderate Democrats for the underlying bill -- leaving questions about whether another abortion provision will emerge later in the Senate debate.

Last week, Fannie Mae announced it lost $1.2 billion in the second quarter and asked the Treasury Department for an additional $1.5 billion to see it through.

The Hill has a great piece this morning revealing how some powerful Democrats have lobbied the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation urging bailout funds for

The chair of the Senate Committee on Higher Education has filed a comprehensive public information request for documents related to university proposals created

Rep. Chip Cravaack is a top target of Democrats and reproductive rights advocates in 2012 even if the Republican freshman has yet to draw a challenger. Cravaack is one of 14 vulnerable Republicans the Democrats hope to unseat in 2012, and EMILY’s List has announced that Cravaack is one of its top five targets