Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
Listen to the radio and you might run across a segment that sounds something like a news report. A newsy music introduction plays as a woman’s officious-sounding voice begins narrating a story. In a stilted delivery that appears to mimic that of a news anchor, the woman states, “In a move demonstrating the FBI’s valuable…
Holly Fisher, a mom of three from West Virginia, never thought she would be a gun owner. But when her husband joined the military in 2006, that all changed. Now, almost 10 years later, Fisher calls herself an avid supporter of the Second Amendment. She has attracted some fierce critics for posting photos of herself…
Washington state’s Supreme Court will determine whether charter schools will be allowed in the state. A hearing is scheduled in October. The charter school law, approved by Washington state voters in 2012, allows for about 40 charter schools to open during the next five years. This fall, the private school First Place will be the…
DES MOINES, Iowa — Bureaucrats at Iowa Workforce Development admit they don’t know how many people were paid extra unemployment benefits in March, nor can they say whether any of the overpayments were handed back to the state. Exactly 85 people contacted the agency to report receiving extra unemployment benefits, so IWD officials claim the…
The Cold War ended long ago, and according to one survey, it's time for politicians to leave Cold War-era terms such as "big government," "socialism" and "capitalism" behind. The reason: Such words mean little to the millennial generation, who came of age during the Great Recession. The 18- to 29-year-old demographic played a crucial role in…
During an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., reminded viewers al-Qaeda didn’t need an “excuse” to attack the United States on Sept. 11, 2001 and said the Islamic State wouldn’t need one either. “They will attack us whenever they can,” he said. King criticized President Obama for waiting to act against…
One of the concerns other countries have regarding the Islamic State is citizens who have trained with the terrorist group using their passports to return home and carry out an attack. On “Fox News Sunday”, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., told host Chris Wallace there are “hundreds” of Americans connected to the Islamic State. “The problem…
Taxpayers in Alaska who enjoy keeping their money will be happy to see a new report that claims the country’s 49th state is best able to fund its obligations. Residents of Connecticut may not feel as good. The Truth in Accounting report ranks the states by “taxpayer burden,” a measure that represents the amount each…
Transgender Americans who previously wrestled with the high cost of gender reassignment surgery may find relief now under the Affordable Care Act. Before implementation of the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, transgender Americans struggled to find jobs that offered health insurance, according to Kaiser Health News. Plans available on the private market were…
Taxpayer-funded broadcaster PBS is airing a documentary this Labor Day weekend highlighting the lives of the four remaining late-term abortion doctors in America. The Public Broadcasting Service describes the film, “After Tiller,” as a “deeply humanizing and probing portrait” of late-term abortionists who remain “absolutely dedicated to their work” in the wake of the 2009 slaying…
The flap over a new book on Ronald Reagan centers on accusations of plagiarism but actually highlights the danger of devaluing what it means to be a historian, a Heritage Foundation scholar says. Rick Perlstein’s book “The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan,” has come under fire not only for…
BISMARCK, N.D. — A map developed by the EPA and released to a U.S. House committee investigating controversial proposed water regulations should have citizens concerned, says U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer. “It is certainly alarming the EPA would develop these maps in secret and only release them after being confronted by members of Congress,” Cramer, a…
A new poll found that the majority of Americans believe the Department of Justice is motivated primarily by politics. According to a Rasmussen poll released Thursday, more than half of likely voters believe the Department of Justice is more concerned with politics than ensuring justice is served when deciding whether to investigate a local crime…
SPRINGFIELD — The Internal Revenue Service is slowing the pace with which it releases data on the migration of people — and thus their income — between states. In the past, it has taken one to two years for the IRS to prepare and release migration information, according to J. Scott Moody. He heads State…
After escaping a terrorist-besieged Iraqi town with his family, 2-year-old Hasan was wounded when a suicide bomb went off near a mosque. The blast in the Kurdistan-controlled Kirkuk province, set off by the terrorist group Islamic State, or ISIS, was thought to have killed the boy’s entire immediate family. Today, three weeks later, the toddler remains in the…
States are ill equipped to detect and report food stamp fraud in the digital age, including attempts to sell benefits for cash, alcohol and other services, a new report says. Much of the fraud occurs through social media and e-commerce websites such as Craigslist, the investigation by the Government Accountability Office found. The GAO reviewed…
In an effort to revive a struggling entertainment industry, California Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislative leaders announced a five-year expansion to the state’s film and television tax credit program. According to the Los Angeles Times, the governor approved a bipartisan plan to raise the annual allocated tax credits to $330 million, over three times the…
In March, Chris Sourovelis’ son was caught selling $40 of heroin to an undercover police officer. Officers from the Philadelphia Police Department responded by raiding the Sourovelis’ north Philadelphia home, with guns drawn — one of them pointed at the head of the family dog — and found small amounts of the drug in the…
Just 10 miles north of Boston is Lynn, Mass., an industrial city once was known for its shoe-making. In fact, a colonial boot graces the official city seal. Lynn’s blue collar base made it a logical place for affordable housing, which has attracted a large immigrant population. “Lynn has always been an immigrant community and…
NASHVILLE — Internal Revenue Service officials must enforce a new Obamacare tax designed to collect money from medical device manufacturers, but they’re losing money because they don’t know which companies even qualify for the tax, a new audit shows. On top of that, the IRS wrongly penalized more than 200 of these companies for not…