National News

...in three states -- Hawaii (+9), Vermont (+7), and New Jersey (+6) -- Obama's job rating is at least six points higher than the total percentage of Democrats....

Recognizing that the new focus on the Asia-Pacific region is a national strategy and one not just for the Defense Department alone, U.S. Pacific Command is reaching out to its interagency and non-governmental partners to roll it out in an efficient, well-coordinated manner.

According to the Labor Department's July jobs report, the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3 percent, 12.8 million Americans are out of work, and 5.2 million have been out of work for at least a half a year....

In 16 states, his approval rating averaged below 40%, with residents of Utah, Wyoming, and Alaska least approving.

A little-known organization with U.S. Pacific Command is bringing together military and law-enforcement capabilities to combat drug-related transnational crime in the Asia-Pacific region ....

But don't worry.  Environmentalists are working day and night to stop fracking and restore CO2 output to Gorewellian levels....

Efforts to protect the environment in America have ignored the most powerful force for improving the environment: free people....

The problem was not Stalin’s Iron Curtain, scoffed Frank Marshall Davis in his usual incendiary language, but “G.M.’s iron curtain,” being raised by “General Motors’ Hitlers.”

Across the country, fewer than half of primary care clinicians were accepting new Medicaid patients as of 2008....

... they urged for a legal declaration that criticism of Islam in the U.S. be considered racial discrimination, potentially under the Title VI anti-discrimination laws ....

In a press release announcing the campaign, Owens encouraged black pastors and the black community to “withdraw their support for [Obama].”

Today signals the beginning of a season of impossible decisions for employers who, for reasons of conscience, have not been paying for abortion....

Asians -- Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Filipinos, Vietnamese and Koreans -- are the nation's wealthiest, most highly educated and most aspirational voting demographic.

Obama's Labor Department on Monday issued "guidance" to the states, telling them that a federal law requiring advance notice of mass layoffs does not apply to the layoffs that may occur in January as a result of automatic budget cuts known as "sequestration."
 

On the late Milton Friedman's 100th birthday today, his words are truer than ever: "There is no respect in which inhabitants of a low-income neighborhood are so disadvantaged as in the kind of schooling they can get for their children."

• Senate: Tax Cut Extension – Passage
• Senate: Cybersecurity – Cloture
• House: Tribal Land Leases – Suspension
• House: Levee Construction – Suspension
• House: Oil and Gas Drilling – Passage
• House: Federal Reserve Audit – Suspension
• House: Regulatory Overhaul

...forcing nearly all employers to pay for abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization services.  Beginning August 1, employers must amend their health insurance offerings to include these drugs and services. And if they don't? How about a fine of $100 per employee per day for non-compliance....

"Unfortunately for the people of Hawaii, this type of resume-padding behavior is business as usual for Hirono, who is well versed in taking credit for the achievements of others."

"In any expansion of gaming, we must make sure that the unique circumstances surrounding tribal sovereignty are maintained in any legislation." 

... BRT projects to receive at least 80 percent federal funding share each fiscal year. These provisions provide a significant opportunity for communities seeking to invest in BRT....

People seemingly voting after they've been dead for years. Drug kingpins buying votes from poor people to sway elections. Non-citizens being bussed to the polls and coached on how to vote....

Yesterday, the Senate narrowly voted (51-48) to raise taxes on 1.2 million small businesses, which will likely kill more than 700,000 jobs ....

Biofuels may actually damage military equipment....

This year’s Data Book uses an updated index of 16 indicators of child well-being, organized into four categories: Economic Well-Being, Health, Education, and Family and Community....

President Obama said in 2010 that "the true engine of economic growth will always be companies like Solyndra."

Democratic congresswoman’s Hawaii Senate campaign faces tough primary challenge, criticism for being out-of-touch...

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By refusing to think deeply about the important issues facing our country and blindly aligning with their national Party leadership, the Democrat candidates for Hawaii’s U.S. Senate seat are advocating for policies that will hurt our state ....

This stuff is not getting any easier to track down, but thanks to the work of some good people we were able to obtain detailed membership information for each National Education Association state affiliate....

• Senate: Campaign Financial Disclosures – Cloture
• Senate: Outsourcing Tax Credits – Cloture
• House: Foreign Relations Authorization - Passage
• House: Sequestration Report - Passage
• House: Defense Appropriations – Passage

The only ways to expand Medicaid are to raise taxes, cut other state programs, or slash health care providers' reimbursements in Medicaid even more....

"Just as those of us in Hawaii know, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recognizes that a healthy visitor industry plays an important role in our nation’s economic recovery. This is why my plan includes the creation of a standing sub-committee on tourism in the U.S. Senate,”

Rep. Barbara Marumoto gave a presentation on the state of renewable energy in Hawaii at the Women in Government Fourth Annual Energy Summit in Des Moines, Iowa....

"Let us all continue to join with the rest of the nation as we hold the grieving families of Aurora close in our thoughts and spirit-filled prayers."

Dodd–Frank does not end bailouts and taxpayer support for big banks....

The U.S. actually leads the world in manufacturing. Yes, you read that correctly. We produce 21 percent of global manufactured products, while China comes after at 15 percent....

"President Obama's statements in Washington today are in sync with the STEM education programs and initiatives my team and I advocated and worked for during my term as Governor of Hawaii."

...when a foreigner comes and visits Hawaii, that actually counts as a U.S. export....

The Obama Administration made yet another end run around Congress last week—this time, to gut the successful welfare reform law of 1996....

Economists predict that American households will have to contribute an average of $1,398 per year to fulfill pension promises, according to a new study....

Uncle Sam will start enforcing the emission control area on Aug. 1....
 

Medicaid creates subpar health outcomes and unnecessary cost overruns ....

LOST would expose the U.S. to international environmental lawsuits ^[6] that would harm its environmental, economic, and military interests—including suits based on alleged U.S. contributions to global climate change....

·       Senate: Small Business Tax Cut – 

·       House: Veterans Licensing – 

·       House: ATM Fee Disclosure – 

·       House: Hydropower Generation –

·       House: Health Care

·       House: Mining Project Permitting

The Cost of Government Day Report calculates the number of days the average American must work to pay for the full costs of government spending and regulation at all levels of government....

Strong opposition is rising in the U.S. Senate to the U.N.'s Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) that would subjugate American sovereignty to the whims of an international tribunal....

"Look, if you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own. You didn't get there on your own. I'm always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart." -- Barack Obama

This subsidy level for Highways is approximately 8 percent, which is far less than the level of government support that is received by mass transit systems nationwide....

Lingle called on Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to back off on their criticism of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to hold its conference on the Island of Maui ....

It started in the 1960s, when the nation began to sever the historical connection between marriage and childbearing....