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The recession has been over for four years, but the birth rate in the U.S. continues to fall as many people struggle with a sluggish economy and financial uncertainty. According to a recent analysis by the Pew Institute, since 2007 when there were a record 4,316,233 births, the number of births has been steadily declining, with 4,007,000 births in 2012 - the lowest number since 1998. Analysts say that the birthrate is dictated by the economy.

...Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin said they would sign an agreement on securing and destroying nuclear material to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, replacing a 1992 deal that expired on Monday.

Mullins: Low Turnout Just Shows Dems Had No Good Choices for Lt. Gov., Attorney General Statement of RPV Chairman Pat Mullins: "Amid very low turnout from their own party, Virginia Democrats have fielded a ticket that is weak - from top to bottom - and incapable of winning in November. The lack of enthusiasm from Virginia Democrats is understandable given that this is a ticket that is not focused on nor is credible on the primary concern of Virginians: creating jobs. In Terry McAuliffe, Democrats have nominated a failed crony capitalist who has used his insider connections to profit from...

"The problem of U.S. President Barack Obama can be summed up in a single word: hesitation. The man is short-sighted, confused and diffident. It seems that the gist of his policy is disagreeing with every position of his predecessor, George W. Bush, and that is quarrelsomeness, not policy. "This assessment of Obama's policy is not voiced only by his Republican rivals in the U.S., or by those who hate some [aspects] of his global [foreign] policy, but also by some proponents of his own school of thought, like the well-known American author David Ignatius, who recently wrote a critique of...

True story, see more about it here.

All Phoenix-area locations of the Irvine, Calif.-based restaurant chain will be closed starting tomorrow, according to the Phoenix New Times.

Addressing pilgrims on November 5, 2011, just over two weeks after President Obama announced U.S. troops would withdrawal from Iraq, Iran's Supreme Leader cited American "failures" in Iraq and Afghanistan as proof that, "Today, the West, the United States and Zionism are weaker than ever before." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went further, declaring the American retreat was not enough. "So long as the American empire based in the White House has not been overthrown, we have work to do," he thundered. In the weeks since, the Islamic Republic has ratcheted up both its rhetoric and its defiance. Whereas Iranian authorities...

VIENNA - Iran has effectively shut down a probe of a site suspected of being used for work on nuclear weapons development while doubling the number of machines it could use to make the core of nuclear warheads at an underground bunker safe from airborne attack, the U.N. nuclear agency said in a report Thursday.

Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best metaphor, but he fumbled an important opportunity. The problem with the president’s amnesty decree is not that it “makes it more difficult to reach that long-term solution because an executive order is, of course, just a short-term matter — it can be reversed by subsequent presidents.” The problem is that it’s u-n-c-o-n-s-t-i-t-u-t-i-o-n-a-l. You would expect Allen West and Steve King to be forceful in denouncing this usurpation, but even Amnesty John McCain and Rick “you don’t have a heart” Perry were strong. Heck, Lindsey Graham — Lindsey Graham — denounced the move as “possibly...

The UK Telegraph recently did a story titled "Strong men more likely to vote Conservative". Is anyone surprised by that connection?

Economists have worried all along that job growth couldn't sustain the strong December-to-February pace. They also worry that a 66-cent run-up in gasoline prices (to a national average $3.94 a gallon) so far this year will discourage consumer spending -- though American households are more resilient financially after cutting their debts. Most economists expect annual growth this year of just 2.5 percent. Normally, it takes annual growth of 4 percent to lower the unemployment rate 1 percentage point over a year. The job market is improving largely because the pace of layoffs has fallen sharply. The staffing firm Challenger, Gray...

Last October, I reported on a young Christian pastor in Iran, 35 years old with a wife and two young sons, who had been sentenced to hang for renouncing his Islamic faith at the age of 19. At the time, his appeal was being considered by Iran's Supreme Court. That court eventually upheld the lower court's ruling, but remanded it to the original court for review of several "procedural" errors. The Supreme Court gave the original judge the option of retrying the case, dismissing it, or executing the sentence. It also included a provision for annulment of the sentence if...

Cutting-to-the-chase, Rick Santorum is a very weak and uncharismatic candidate, one who was almost completely ignored until all more savory choices where destroyed in Romney/PAC/MSM/negative attacks. Basically, he’s still here because nobody bothered to even look at him, let alone slander. Much like Obama, he's become a 'blank slate' that allows people to see what they want to see... but why delude yourself out of some false sense of necessity? With his hollow record of accomplishment, zero leadership experience, whining demeanor, and loser’s aura in the wake of getting trounced by 19 pts last time out (as an incumbent!),...

As President Barack Obama tries to jump-start his SuperPAC, a close look at the numbers shows he needs more than a few rich men and women. He needs to create a nationwide base of rich supporters. A Register analysis of donations to the pro-Obama SuperPAC, Priorities USA Action, shows that 56 percent of its money, $2.3 million out of $4.17 million, came from California. An additional 25 percent came from Washington, DC, and 12 percent came from the president’s home base of Illinois. That’s 94 percent of the SuperPAC’s money from just two states and DC.

An indignant George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday demanded that Rick Santorum explain his harsh attacks on Barack Obama. After reading off a quote from the Republican presidential candidate and then listing the President's foreign policy accomplishments, Stephanopoulos defended, "How can you say he sided with our enemies on almost every foreign conflict?" Santorum responded by insisting that, in the example of killing bin Laden, Obama simply followed a course set by George W. Bush. Stephanopoulos sputtered, "How can you say he sided with our enemies on almost every foreign conflict?" Repeating what will surely be Obama 2012 talking points, the former...

Tension between the United States and China spilled over into meetings of Asia-Pacific leaders on Friday as the two countries jostled over how to handle competing claims to the South China Sea. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said "outside forces" had no excuse to get involved in the complex maritime dispute, a veiled warning to the United States and other countries to keep out of the sensitive issue. "It ought to be resolved through friendly consultations and discussions by countries directly involved. Outside forces should not, under any pretext, get involved," Wen told a meeting with Southeast Asian leaders, several of...

Here’s my pedantic translation of the Greek of 2 Corinthians 12,7b-9a: In order that I might not raise myself beyond myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, that he may pummel me, lest I raise myself beyond myself. For this one, I called to the Lord for help three times, in order that he [the messenger of Satan] might stand apart from me. And He definitively stated to me: “My grace suffices for you, for power is perfected within a lack of power.” There is always a temptation for us, in our...

Leadership: If the president meant to calm the markets on Monday, he failed utterly — and no wonder. All he did was make it clear he's completely out of ideas on how to get the economy moving again. After his televised remarks, the Dow industrial average continued to fall, finishing 5.5% lower. The Nasdaq plummeted 6.9%. Why should it have been any different? In his brief statement, the only thing President Obama demonstrated was a cluelessness about the country's current mess — of which the debt downgrade is just the latest example — and an even weaker grasp on how...

ources tell me that budget negotiators on Capitol Hill have tentatively agreed on a deal that would involve at least $33 billion in spending cuts from this year’s budget. That’s $23 billion dollars more than Democrats have previously agreed to in short-term continuingresolutions, and $28 billion less than Republicans previously passed in the House. Members of the House Appropriations Committee will begin discussing how to hit that number with their Senate counterparts as soon as tonight, and Vice President Biden is heading to Capitol Hill for a 6pm meeting with the Senate Democratic leadership.