Federal and state law enforcement officials announced Friday they have launched a fraud-fighting unit, starting with 55 prosecutors and investigators, to root out wrongdoing in the market for residential mortgage-backed securities.Attorney General Eric Holder told a news conference the team will benefit from existing probes and disclosed that … (more)
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will make a short trip to Europe next week, making her sixth visit to Germany and first to Bulgaria as America’s top diplomat.
A federal appeals court in Denver has ruled that a federal law making it illegal to lie about being a war hero is constitutional and making such false statements is not protected free speech.
While the parent company of the owner of the stricken Costa Concordia is based in Miami, passengers who want to file a lawsuit in U.S. courts over the cruise ship disaster will likely face choppy seas.
President Barack Obama was on the stage for about 40 minutes at the University of Michigan for a speech Friday in front of thousands of students, touching on the need for making higher education more accessible and affordable.
“The reason I’m here today, in addition to meeting (U-M quarterback) Denard Robinson, is to talk with all of you about what most of you do here every day,” he said. “That is to think about how you can gain the skills and training you need to succeed in this 21st century economy. This is going to be one of the most important issues that not just you face but everyone in the entire country faces.”
President Barack Obama called Friday for an overhaul of the higher education financial aid system, warning that colleges and universities that fail to control spiraling tuition costs could lose federal funds.
The election year proposal was also a political appeal to young people and working families, two important voting blocs for Obama. But the initiative faces long odds in Congress, which must approve nearly all aspects of the president’s plan.
Two spans of a southwest Kentucky bridge at the western entrance of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area collapsed Thursday after being struck by a cargo ship that carried aviation parts.
The Senate voted on Thursday to allow a further increase in the federal debt limit , permitting President Obama to borrow $1.2 trillion more to operate a government that spent about 55 percent more than it collected in revenue last year.
prison sentence of 25 years
In entering the plea at federal court in Alexandria, Yonathan Melaku agreed to a prison sentence of 25 years and to pay restitution for the victims’ losses that total about $111,000. As part of his plea agreement, Melaku admitted to attacking the Pentagon, the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, a Marine Corps recruiting station in … (more)
President Barack Obama has put colleges and universities on notice to control tuition costs or face losing federal dollars.
The former Pennsylvania senator is leaving Florida just days before the Tuesday primary that even he expects to deal him a third consecutive loss.
When it comes to courting the Latino demographic, there’s a demo within that demo that might be worth listening to.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Notable moments from the GOP presidential debate Thursday night in Jacksonville, Fla., just days before the state’s Jan.
Gingrich denies doing so and said he merely promoted the use of English, “period.” That’s even more of a stretch.
A convicted killer has been executed in Texas for the abduction, rape and strangulation of a 38-year-old woman 18 years ago.
Lawmakers are calling on the Veterans Affairs Department to audit all of its cemeteries to ensure the remains of veterans and family members were correctly interred and marked.
A different kind of F-word is stirring a linguistic and political debate as controversial as what it defines.
CAMBRIDGE, Md. – House Democratic leaders said Thursday they welcome a campaign by President Barack Obama against a “do-nothing Congress” even though they’re part of it.
A Michigan factory that made luxury yachts before the recession and diversified to add wind energy products when times got tough was touted by President Barack Obama at his State of the Union Address as an example of an industry creating forward-thinking jobs – with a little help from the government.
Megaupload.com’s founder was ordered by a New Zealand judge to remain in jail, three days after the U.S. shut down the file-sharing website and police arrested him in his mansion, seizing luxury cars, guns and art.
Washington’s Legislature has enough votes to legalize gay marriage with a statement from Democratic Sen.
In this Nov. 1, 2010 photo, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., looks to a crowd of supporters during a campaign rally in Wheaton, Ill.
In this March 22, 2010 file photo, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich arrives for a pretrial hearing at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in San Diego County, Calif.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that police must get a search warrant before using GPS technology to track criminal suspects.
In this Jan. 7, 2012 file photo, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., son of Republican presidential candidate, Rep.
The Supreme Court says rules requiring sex offenders to update their registration when crossing state lines don’t automatically apply to those who committed their crimes before the law was passed.
Using simulation to treat a new generation of traumatized veterans.
In November, 2004, when he was nineteen years old, a marine I’ll call Travis Boyd found himself about to rush the roof of the tallest building in the northern end of Falluja in the midst of a firefight.
Six people, including several teens, were rushed to the hospital Saturday night after an argument at a sweet 16 party led to gunfire.
Police said the victims, who were shot at a home in the 5000 block of Wilmont Court around 10:30 p.m., suffered injuries ranging from a broken leg and a wound to the abdomen to a minor grazing wound. Some of the victims were released while others underwent surgery Saturday night.
Although pundits have focused on the former speaker’s debate performances, the truth is his organization — the largest in the state — was crucial to his win.
Mitt Romney is about to release a couple of years of tax returns. The numbers are sure to be enormous.
Except for one: his marginal tax rate, an outrageous 15%, or thereabouts. James Surowiecki has a terrific column in the New Yorker that explains why the taxes Romney paid have always been low. It’s all about the so-called “carried interest” loophole, which enables private equity-mongers to have their salaries taxed at the capital gains rate of 15%, rather than as earned income.
At this point, the people who run America’s private-equity funds must be ruing the day Mitt Romney decided to run for President.
His fellow Republican candidates, of all people, have painted a vivid picture of private-equity firms-including Bain Capital, where he worked for fifteen years-as job-destroying vultures, who scavenge the meat from American companies and leave their carcasses by the side of the road.
The chief investigative correspondent at ABC News on Sunday defended the timing of an interview with Newt Gingrich’s ex-wife and denied the presidential candidate’s allegation that the network was biased against conservatives.
President Obama led the outpouring of praise for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords after she announced Sunday that she will resign from her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives this week.
TransCanada Corp.’s $7 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline still will move ahead with an alternate route after President Barack Obama’s decision to deny a permit, investors, public officials and analysts say.
The Democratic-affiliated Americans United for Change is up with a new web video mimicking Corona’s “Find your beach” commercials to hit Mitt Romney on offshore bank accounts he has in the Cayman Islands.
“His personal finances are a poster child of what’s wrong with the American tax system,”
Although it is not apparent on his financial disclosure form, Mitt Romney has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a notorious Caribbean tax haven. A spokesperson for the Romney campaign says Romney follows all tax laws and he would pay the same in taxes regardless of where the funds are based.
William Shatner has fronted Priceline’s commercials for 14 years, but after this last ad, the Negotiator has been axed.
Ed. note: Ordinarilly, I wouldn’t post a story like this; but It is Captain Kirk, and it is, fittingly, a bizarre ending for a commercial spokesperson. Speculation: TREKKIES; didn’t Mr Spock come back? Will “Jim?” What will be the number on the bus?
The United States Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory measured a magnitude 5.0 about 4 miles south of the active Pu’u O’o crater on the Kilauea volcano’s east rift zone, within the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Here’s a reality check for President Barack Obama’s health overhaul: Three out of four uninsured Americans live in states that have yet to figure out how to deliver on its promise of affordable medical care.
As President Barack Obama prepares to deliver his annual address to Congress, many goals he outlined in previous State of the Union speeches remain unfulfilled.
Flanked by British and French ships, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier moved through the Strait of Hormuz without incident Sunday despite recent threats from Iran.
President Barack Obama plans to “hang out” in a video chat room to answer questions about his upcoming annual State of the Union address, part of a White House effort to test new social networking tools and the latest evidence of the growing intersection of social media and politics.
Four years after the GOP’s rallying cry became “drill, baby, drill,” environmental issues have barely registered a blip in this Republican presidential primary.That’s likely to change as the race turns to Florida.The candidates’ positions on environmental regulation, global warming as well as clean air and water are all but certain to get attention … (more)
Rep. Michele Bachmann made her first appearance in Minnesota since dropping out of the Republican presidential race, speaking at an annual anti-abortion protest at the state Capitol.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks during a anti-abortion rally at Lafayette Park in Washington, Sunday, Jan.
U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is following up the recent kickoff of his re-election drive with a statewide radio advertising campaign.
In this Jan. 2, 2012, file photo Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, left, accompanied by her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, reacts after leading the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of a memorial vigil remembering the victims and survivors one year after the Arizona congresswoman was wounded in a shooting that killed six othersin Tucson, Ariz.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Sunday that he will release his 2010 tax returns and 2011 estimates on Tuesday, acknowledging it was a mistake for his campaign not to have done so earlier.
Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on Friday accused Newt Gingrich of using racial “code words” in calling President Barack Obama the “food stamp president” and saying schools ought to hire children to do janitorial work.
President Barack Obama’s appointments to two key agencies during the Senate’s year-end break ensures that GOP senators will return to work Monday in an angry and fighting mood.Less clear is what those furious Republicans will do to retaliate against Obama’s “bring it on” end run around the Senate’s role in confirming nominees to major jobs.While … (more)
Authorities have charged a Miami International Airport TSA worker with grand theft after he allegedly stole items from passengers’ luggage.
Gingrich’s projected victory marks a stunning turnaround for a campaign that observers had left for dead — again — just weeks ago.
It looks like Mitt is only leading in 4 or 5 counties, and only two of those are of any size: Richland and Charleston .
U.S. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, left, and Stephen Breyer, right, talk to moderator Charles Bierbauer, center, at a debate before the South Carolina Bar on Saturday, Jan.
Offering no explanation, the Iowa Republican Party has declared Rick Santorum as winner of the Iowa caucuses, days after saying incomplete vote results precluded it from doing just that.
A federal appeals court has upheld multi-million dollar judgments that found the government liable for the deaths of three people allegedly murdered by James “Whitey” Bulger.
Outspent but hardly outgunned, online and high-tech companies triggered an avalanche of Internet clicks to force Congress to shelve legislation that would curb online piracy.
What’s happened to the some Republicans who wear family values on their sleeves? Last night, John King of CNN asked Newt Gingrich about statements made The liberal media was up to its usual tricks this week.
South Carolina Republicans established their presidential primary more than three decades ago as way to raise the state’s national political profile.
Vilified on the campaign trail by Republicans, President Barack Obama will stand before the nation Tuesday night with a State of the Union address designed to reframe the election-year debate on his terms, suggesting a stark contrast with his opponents on the economy and promising fairness and help for hurting families.Obama is expected to offer … (more)
Rick Santorum said Friday he has felt a “palpable change” in his campaign in the past 48 hours and now feels that he’s surging into South Carolina’s primary on Saturday.
Two men who pleaded guilty to breaking into U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell’s southern Iowa farmhouse armed with a BB gun last summer were sentenced Friday to prison.
A South Carolina prosecutor says officials will launch an investigation into fake emails purporting to be from Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign.
On the eve of a Southern showdown, Mitt Romney conceded Friday he’s in a tight race with Newt Gingrich for Saturday’s South Carolina primary in a Republican campaign suddenly turned turbulent.
New York City says a judge overseeing a discrimination case against the fire department abandoned his neutral role and was preoccupied with press coverage of the proceedings.
A judge has ordered President Barack Obama to appear in court in Atlanta for a hearing on a complaint that says Obama isn’t a natural-born citizen and can’t be president.
Chuck Norris is backing Newt Gingrich for president. The actor, best known for his role as “Walker, Texas Ranger,” has written a column explaining why he and his wife are endorsing the former House speaker.
A Coast Guard cutter is preparing for the departure of a Russian fuel tanker from an iced-in Alaska town.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney owns investments worth between $7 million and $32 million in offshore-based holdings, which are often used legitimately by private equity firms to attract foreign investors.
Kelley Dailey, a College of Charleston student, holds a sign as fans line up to attend comedian Stephen Colbert’s “Rock Me Like a Herman Cain South Cain-olina Primary Rally” at the college in Charleston, S.C., on Friday, Jan.
When President Barack Obama stands in front of House Speaker John Boehner to give his State of the Union address on Jan.
The Army also reported a sharp increase, nearly 30 percent, in violent sex crimes last year by active-duty troops.
Bitter ex-spouses are a dime a dozen – nearly half of all American couples call it quits – but the unpresidential tales the second ex of thrice-divorced Newt Gingrich is spilling may shock even a jaded 21st century electorate.
My husband and I feel desire for more than just each other – and act on it. But polyamory is about informed consent
President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech next week will contain “new ideas” while continuing the theme that investments are needed to strengthen the middle-class, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday.
Saying federal judges in Texas exceeded their authority in rejecting election districts drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature, the Supreme Court instructed the judges to find remedies closer to the state’s maps.
In early October, U.S. officials accused Iranian operatives of planning to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States on American soil. Iran denied the charges, but the episode has already managed to increase tensions between Washington and Tehran. Although the Obama administration has not publicly threatened to retaliate with military force, the allegations have underscored the real and growing risk that the two sides could go to war sometime soon — particularly over Iran’s advancing nuclear program.
But the lesson of Iraq, the last preventive war launched by the United States, is that Washington should not choose war when there are still other options, and it should not base its decision to attack on best-case analyses of how it hopes the conflict will turn out. A realistic assessment of Iran’s nuclear progress and how a conflict would likely unfold leads one to a conclusion that is the opposite of Kroenig’s: now is not the time to attack Iran.
Los Angeles Police detectives inspect a vehicle parked the wrong direction as they search the neighborhood below the Hollywood Sign after a plastic bag containing a human head was discovered Tuesday on a nearby trail in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan.
Comedian and pseudo-candidate Stephen Colbert, tapping the South Carolina primary as his playground, appears to have a bead on the classic Ron Paul voter.
The number of Americans filing for new jobless benefits dropped to a near four-year low last week, pointing to some building up of momentum in the labor market and the economy.
But the upbeat economic outlook was dampened by other data on Thursday showing a drop in new residential construction in December after hefty gains the prior month. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits plunged 50,000 to a seasonally adjusted 352,000, the lowest level since April 2008, the Labor Department said.
According to rumors passed along by Dan Flynn at Food Safety News via the Hagstrom Report (an agricultural subscription news service costing $999 a year), the Office of Management and Budget wants to merge federal agencies, among them the food safety components of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). .
Eastman Kodak, the 131-year-old film pioneer that has been struggling for years to adapt to an increasingly digital world, filed for bankruptcy protection early on Thursday.
In Buffalo, New York, the heart of the American rust-belt, the public school system pays for its teachers to get plastic surgery. Hair removal. Miscrodermabrasian. Liposuction. If you can name the procedure, it’s probably covered. .
The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell again this week to a record low.
The eighth record low in a year is attracting few takers because most who can afford to buy or refinance have already done so. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage dipped to 3.88 percent this week, down from the old record of 3.89 percent one week ago.