Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.—As far as Rob Pluta is concerned, New Jersey lawmakers who say they want to help restaurant workers by raising the state’s minimum wage for tipped employees have it all wrong. “This will cripple the restaurant industry," Rob Pluta says of New Jersey's minimum wage hike. If Trenton wants to help these workers, says…
AUGUSTA, Maine—Outspoken and under fire, Republican Gov. Paul LePage is in danger of losing his re-election bid. One of the most conservative governors in the country, LePage triangulated his way to victory in 2010 with 38 percent of the vote. Independent candidate Eliot Cutler, who siphoned enough Democratic support to give LePage the victory, is…
Kentucky’s U.S. Senate candidates have stopped the mudslinging–for now–and are tugging on the Bluegrass State’s heartstrings with ads aimed to show Kentuckians they care. Incumbent Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, released an ad yesterday telling the story of Noelle Hunter, a Morehead, Ky., woman whose daughter, Muna, was abducted and taken to Mali in…
Meg Kissinger, a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, covered first lady Michelle Obama’s Milwaukee campaign stop Monday for Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke. But, Kissinger says, she was barred from speaking to members of the crowd. Kissinger, a veteran of covering political events, said of the request that she’s “never seen anything like it in…
Doug Stafford says he and his boss, Sen. Rand Paul, got into politics the same way: through their church, which inspired them to develop pro-life principles. Stafford, the executive director of RAND PAC and a close adviser to Paul, sat on a panel this past weekend at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., a…
In Hong Kong, the streets have been filled with huge numbers of demonstrators.
More than 150 state lawmakers are firing back at Google after the technology company left the American Legislative Exchange Council and its chairman, billionaire Eric Schmidt, said those who oppose vigorous policy action to fight global warming are “just literally lying” about the climate. “Everyone understands climate change is occurring and the people who oppose it…
Yezidis have lived in Iraq’s Sinjar region and Nineveh plains for centuries. But after recent attacks by the Islamic State, most are so scared of returning to their homes that they never want to go back. “They love this place [Sinjar],” said Christine van den Toorn, who has lived and worked in Sulaimaniya in the…
A bakery owner in Oregon broke down in tears while discussing the fallout of her and her husband’s decision not to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple on the basis of their Christian beliefs. Earlier this year, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries found “substantial evidence” that Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners…
A Georgia woman has been released after she was arrested for possession – of SpaghettiOs. According to the Gainesville Times, police arrested Ashley Huff, 23, when they found a “suspicious residue” they believed to be meth on a spoon inside the car she was riding in. Huff was subsequently charged with possession of methamphetamine. Huff…
Despite rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8 from the U.S. Supreme Court last year, traditional marriage supporters are looking ahead to 2015 as a crucial moment in the marriage debate. Supreme Court justices met for the first time today to consider if they will hear any same-sex marriage cases during the…
Four pet chickens are causing Rep. Bruce Braley, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Iowa, a major headache. In his first official faceoff with Republican Joni Ernst last night, Braley found himself in an uncomfortable situation when asked about reports that he threatened to sue his neighbor over chickens that had wandered onto his…
House Speaker John Boehner said today the United States should send ground forces to fight the militant Islamic State if no other country does. .@SpeakerBoehner on ISIS: “Somebody’s boots have to be on the ground.” “At the end of the day, I think it’s gonna take more than airstrikes to drive them outta there,” the…
Officials at Western New Mexico University say a controversial questionnaire that sparked complains elsewhere in the country because it asked students about their sex lives and drinking habits will be administered only after it’s been vetted by WNMU’s administration. “We are going to review the questions more carefully going forward,” WNMU public information officer Abe Villareal said Tuesday after…
With Congress officially in recess until November, campaign season is in full swing and this fall brings no shortage of competition for control of the U.S. Senate. Since Republicans need to net just six seats to regain the majority in the upper chamber, Senate races from Alaska to Colorado to New Hampshire command the attention…
President Obama ordered the launch of 47 Tomahawk cruise missiles last Monday night from the USS Philippine Sea and USS Arleigh Burke, all aimed at targets in Syria as part of what he calls a military campaign to “degrade and destroy” the terrorist group ISIS. However, the future of the Tomahawk program is threatened because…
Hard-charging radio commentator Mark Levin is sick of waiting for the Republican Party to nominate a conservative for president, and today he outlined his plan to accomplish just that. Speaking at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, the talk radio giant and bestselling author issued a call to action to the crowd of social conservatives,…
Washington may be, in his words, “phony and dangerous,” but Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal made it clear last evening that he’s aiming straight for the White House. Jindal, serving up anti-Obama rhetoric, personal stories and jokes at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, was the picture of a 2016 presidential hopeful who is primed to…
North Dakota leads the nation in personal income growth. No other state even comes close. From 2008 to 2012, North Dakotans’ per-capita income jumped 31 percent to $57,367, the highest of any state and just behind Washington, D.C., according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. South Dakota came in a distant second at 10…
SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico’s nickname is the Land of Enchantment, but it also appears to be the land of dependence. A study by the financial website wallethub.com looked at which states were most reliant on federal dollars, and New Mexico tied for first with Mississippi. WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District…