News aggregator

Is the Coffee Party on the scale of the Tea Party movement? Leaders of the fledgling movement plan to hold 350 to 400 events Saturday at coffeehouses across the country. | MEET THE COFFEE CROWD |

President Obama has set them -- and they've repeatedly been missed. But with Easter recess coming, Obama's latest deadline to pass health care reform legislation could be his last one.

As House Democratic leaders advised their members Friday to prepare for a legislative battle over health care that could stretch through next weekend, four additional rank-and-file Democrats have come out against the Obama administration's signature domestic priority.

The Post-Dispatch challenges Rep. Todd Akin today for his prayers for God to stop "this fatal step pushing our nation into socialized medicine” (i.e., the compromise health care reform legislation). Check it out. 

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was admitted to a hospital in Seoul on Saturday for "minor stomach troubles," the state-run Yonhap news agency reported.

Congressional Republicans named six members to President Obama's deficit-reduction commission Friday, choosing the party's most respected leaders on budget issues and hard-line conservatives who said they are determined to steer the panel toward cutting spending and away from raising taxes.

Democratic staffers at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue scrambled Friday to write the financial reform legislation that Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) has promised to unveil Monday, trying to find language that would please Democrats while preserving progress toward a compromise with Republicans.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday about the state of the U.S.-Israeli relationship, demanding that Israel take immediate steps to show it is interested in renewing efforts to achieve a Middle East peace agreement.

A long-standing dispute over huge disparities in sentencing between crack vs. powdered cocaine appears to be headed for a resolution in Congress.

In a giant auction, the federal government has agreed to sell for pennies on the dollar most of the 120,000 formaldehyde-tainted trailers it bought nearly five years ago for Hurricane Katrina victims. But the sale of the units, perhaps the most visible symbol of the government's bungled response to the hurricane, has triggered a new round of charges that it is endangering future buyers for years to come.

Democratic leaders on Friday stoked expectations that the year-long debate in Congress over health care may be coming to an end, after President Obama delayed his upcoming trip to the South Pacific and House leaders indicated they could deliver a final bill for his signature by the end of next week.

While most 11-year-olds would probably celebrate their birthdays with a party, Marcelas Owens was on the steps of Capitol Hill rallying for health care reform.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday that Israel's announcement of new settlement construction in disputed territory in East Jerusalem was "insulting" to the United States.

In the U.S. Senate, the progressives are restless. A handful of them are making it known that Democratic leaders shouldn't take their votes for granted when it comes to Wall Street reform.

The wife of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid underwent neck surgery Friday after being injured with their daughter in a four-vehicle wreck in suburban Washington a day earlier, her surgeon said.

President Obama's upcoming trip to Indonesia and Australia will be delayed a few days, the White House says.

Let's assume for a moment that there is actually a strategy guiding Peter Kinder's crazy Twitter behavior.

Very few of his tweets have anything to do with Missouri government. Instead, our  Lieutenant Governor spends a great deal of time sharing his profound thoughts on decidedly federal issues. Looking at his hysterical tweets in recent days, Kinder has:

• Written extensively about how federal health care bills will destroy America. (Custom hashtag: #grassrootsprairefiretobeatObamaCare)
• Encouraged former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) to stay in Congress. "Stay in, Massa. Out of spite," he parroted.
• Described right-wing provocateur Andrew Brietbart as "a great guy!"
• Criticized VP Joe Biden's statement that Israel's expanded settlements threaten Middle Easy peace efforts. (Custom hashtag: #IstandwithIsrael)
• Celebrated Sen. Bob Corker's (R-TN) refusal to sign on to financial reform legislation
• Complained about allegedly "dictatorial carbon regs" from the Environmental Protection Agency

Is he bored with what's going on in Missouri?  Or is Kinder having second thoughts about future runs for state office and shifting his focus to Washington?  He did half-heartedly announce his campaign for governor in DC...

Republicans continue to push for an in-depth investigation into former Rep. Eric Massa's alleged sexual harassment scandal -- questioning when Democratic leaders knew, and whether they failed to act.

It's a frigid, dark night in the mountainous border region of southeast Arizona. A group of 31 suspected illegal immigrants are walking up and down rocky ridges toward Tucson, Arizona. They're wearing small backpacks and stop to rest every few minutes.

"It's a fact -- if people are asking questions based on factually wrong premises -- or are doing so to delegitimize the president of the United States -- it's incumbent on a politician to indeed diminish those who ask the question."

Marc Ambinder, politics editor of The Atlantic, expressing his disgust with Roy Blunt and other GOP candidates for the U.S. Senate who "wink at the Birthers"