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A short-term funding measure that would ensure the government continues operating beyond this month cleared the Senate Wednesday, awaiting only final House passage on Thursday to avert any possibility of a shut-down. The process of approving the proposal has been unfolding remarkably smoothly for a divided Congress that has gone to the brink repeatedly over spending issues.

After so much success dubbing the last pretty standard snowfall "Nemo," thus making the lines at the supermarket extra long, the Weather Channel is trying to recapture the magic with the latest storm sweeping across the country. Winter storm Saturn will drop most of its snow across the Midwest in the next 48 hours before combining with a coastal storm late on Wednesday. But don't worry about a Frankenstorm or snowpocalypse or any other ominously named portmanteau (Saturn it is), because by the time it hits New York City, forecasts so far warn mostly of wetness. There is the possibility...

Democratic Party staffer Graeme Zielinski was removed as the party spokesman following his Twitter outburst  in which he compared Republican Gov. Scott Walker to serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer, sources said Monday. Party leaders also docked Zielinski a week's pay  - which works out to a little more than $1,000 - for his tweets after Milwaukee prosecutors announced that they were shutting down a secret criminal investigation of Walker's aides. Late Friday, Zielinski removed the offensive tweets and apologized both to the families of Dahmer's victims and to the first-term Republican governor.One source close to the party said Zielinski, a former newspaper...

<p>A very close friend of mine recently discovered that he could not buy a gun, the feds delayed the purchase so long that the gun dealer sold it to him anyway.</p> <p>He later found out that he cannot own any guns because of the Lautenberg Amendment dated 1996.</p>

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Why did the Tea Party–backed governor of Ohio just say yes to a key part of President Obama's health care law? Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) is the latest governor to accept the hefty Medicaid expansion authorized by President Obama's health care overhaul. He's not the first Republican to do so — Brian Sandoval (Nev.), Susana Martinez (N.M.), Jack Dalrymple (N.D.), and Jan Brewer (Ariz.) have, too — but Kasich's opt-in is a bigger deal. As House Budget Committee chairman during the Newt Gingrich years, the "fiercely conservative" Kasich "built his political identity arguing for smaller government," says David Nather...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will postpone filibuster reform until later this month, giving him time to negotiate a deal with Republicans, say Democratic lawmakers and aides. A group of liberal Democrats had been pushing Reid to trigger the so-called "nuclear option" on Thursday, the first day of the 113th Congress, to make it more difficult for the minority to stall legislation and nominees. A senior Democratic aide said Reid will instead recess the chamber at the end of Thursday’s proceedings to extend the legislative day until later this month. This would preserve his ability to amend the Senate’s...

From its early beginnings, feminism was a young women’s movement. Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, Charlotte Lozier and so many others began their suffragist work in their 20s. These women — the original feminists — understood that the rights of women cannot be built on the broken backs of unborn children. Anthony called abortion “child murder.” Paul, author of the original 1923 Equal Rights Amendment, said that “abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women.” So the pro-life movement hasn’t changed the meaning of feminism, as has been suggested. It was the neo-feminists of the 1960s and ’70s...

We're seeing more and more of these petition threads. Do you feel comfortable signing a petition at White House website? I don't. They claim that Obama will consider the petitions when X number of signatures are logged. I think they're collecting names.

I wish you could listen to my voice mail and read the emails I receive about stories I've written over the past 30 years on people with severe mental illness. If you could, I'm sure you would agree: We do an awful job of identifying people who are dangerous and getting help for them. The massacre last Friday of 27 people in Connecticut, including 20 first-graders, exposes that in the most heartbreaking way. It's one of our nation's greatest shames. You can hear the panic in the voices of the people who call me to say they are trying to...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will not be able to testify next week before House and Senate panels on the Benghazi issue because she sustained a concussion, a top State Department official said Saturday.

Palermo Villa Inc. said Wednesday’s National Labor Relations Board decision on its labor dispute “vindicates” the company. Palermo properly followed immigration law in firing 75 workers earlier this year for not having proper documentation, the NLRB said Wednesday. The investigation into allegations of unfair labor practices against the Milwaukee pizza manufacturer found no evidence Palermo fired the workers in retaliation for union-organizing efforts, Irv Gottschalk, NLRB regional director in Milwaukee, told The Business Journal Wednesday.“It looks like they properly followed immigration procedures, but I’m no immigration expert,” Gottschalk said. “Under the (National Labor Relations Act) that I enforce, there’s no...

Hostess Brands Inc. lived to die another day. The maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs said late Tuesday that it failed to reach an agreement with its second biggest union. As a result, Hostess plans to continue with a hearing on Wednesday in which a bankruptcy court judge will decide if the company can shutter its operations. The renewed talks between Hostess and The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union came after the company declared last week that it would move to wind down its business and start selling off its assets in bankruptcy court. The company...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks briefly trimmed losses on Wednesday as President Barack Obama pushed for his proposal to have the wealthy pay more in taxes as a way to tame the federal deficit. Taking a hard line in his opening bid before he begins fiscal talks with U.S. lawmakers later in the week, the president also said he was encouraged that some Republicans have agreed to raising new revenues.

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Full List of Obamacare Tax Hikes: Listed by Size of Tax Hike Complied by Americans for Tax ReformWASHINGTON, DC -- Obamacare contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses. Arranged by their respective sizes according to CBO scores, below is the total list of all $500 billion-plus in tax hikes (over the next ten years) in Obamacare, their effective dates, and where to find them in the bill.$123 Billion: Surtax on Investment Income (Takes effect Jan. 2013): A new, 3.8 percent surtax on investment income earned in households making at least $250,000 ($200,000 single). This would result in...

Lima, Ohio (CNN) – David Axelrod described the message coming from President Barack Obama days before Election Day as "coming from his loins."

Updated: Milwaukee election officials on Monday -- the first day of early voting -- did not check those registering to vote against a list of felons ineligible to vote, according to city and state election officials. None of the 204 people registering to vote Monday at the Milwaukee Election Commission were checked against the felon list when they registered, according to the commission's director, Neil Albrecht. The commission checked the 204 voters on Tuesday and found that none of them were ineligible felons.Monday was the first day of early voting and 2,369 people voted that day in Milwaukee. Thousands of others voted...

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Pollster John Zogby grades the president’s week and how its events affect his re-election chances.Grade: C“President Obama enters his second debate with Republican Mitt Romney on the defensive. Polls are showing a very close race and I have brand new polling numbers from this weekend showing Mr. Obama leading 47 percent to 44 percent; the race was tied at 45 percent apiece in the Washington Times/Zogby Poll just last week.