Dec 17 Gwen's Take: The Sincerity Test Polls can be confusing. Americans generally hate Congress but don't mind their own congressman. And many of them say they hate President Obama but consider him a good father and a generally likable fellow. What gives? I did a deep… Continue reading
Dec 17 Foreign Aid Funding Under Scrutiny By Sarah Sullivan Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at release of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images) As control of the House shifts to Republicans, lawmakers are vowing to find ways to cut deficits -- and some are pointing to… Continue reading
Dec 17 Profile: Incoming House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Rep. Ros-Lehtinen When the Republicans take over control of Congress in January, one gavel will fall to a woman whom colleagues on both sides of the aisle describe as a "human dynamo in a small package." Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, known around Capitol Hill… Continue reading
Dec 17 Tax Cut Deal Passes in Late-Night Vote, Heads to President Obama House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer speaks to reporters Thursday at the Capitol. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images. At 11:59 p.m. EST Thursday, moments before the House's consideration of President Obama's $858 billion tax cut package was about to… Continue reading
Dec 16 Border Patrol Agent's Death in Arizona Rekindles Immigration Issue By Hari Sreenivasan With the midterm campaign season in the rear-view mirror and issue ads fading from memory, the death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in Southern Arizona this week shone a new light on the illegal immigrant traffic across… Continue reading
Dec 16 Watch Amendments, Holidays Pose Hurdles for START Treaty in Senate The Senate formally opened debate Thursday over whether to ratify the New START nuclear arms treaty with Russia. Judy Woodruff gets an update on what's at stake and the behind-the-scenes maneuvering from political editor David Chalian. Continue watching
Dec 16 Watch Larry King's Farewell From CNN Reflects Changing Cable News Climate Jeffrey Brown speaks with The New Yorker's Ken Auletta and Eric Deggans, TV critic for the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, about how cable news has changed as one of its biggest stars, Larry King, hands over his long-held time slot… Continue watching
Dec 16 Watch Senate Takes Up START Debate as Clock Ticks for Lame-Duck Session After months of haggling, the Senate is now considering one of President Obama's top foreign policy priorities for the lame-duck Congress -- the New START treaty that he signed with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to limit both countries' nuclear arsenals,… Continue watching
Dec 16 Watch News Wrap: House Vote on Tax-Cut Bill Hits Democratic Roadblock In other news Thursday, a House of Representatives vote on the tax-cut deal that President Obama cut with Republicans ran into a roadblock. Continue watching
Dec 16 President Obama: 'More Difficult Days Ahead' in Afghanistan President Obama addressed the White House's major review of the war in Afghanistan Thursday, praising progress in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban but emphasizing that the United States' involvement there "continues to be a very difficult… Continue reading