News from Washington - Las Vegas Sun

Associated Press: News from Washington

2 hours, 5 minutes ago

(AP) President Barack Obama is calling the Iraqi parliament's passage of a much-delayed election law an a milestone as the Iraqi people take charge of their future.The president said in a Rose Garden statement Sunday that the new election law will facilitate national elections in January as planned and will not ...

National Elections

GOP officials say Dems put agenda ahead of country

2 hours, 36 minutes ago

(AP) Democrats just don't get the election message from voters and are pushing a liberal, big government agenda at their party's peril, Republican officials said Sunday as they predicted a political price after the majority's victory on health care.Voters are "tired of the borrowing, the spending, the bailouts, the takeovers," said ...

GOP lawmaker says Dems put agenda ahead of country

3 hours, 57 minutes ago

(AP) A top House Republican says passage of the health care bill shows that Democrats didn't get the message from voters last week and in summer town-hall meetings.The No. 3 House Republican, Indiana's Mike Pence, says Democrats are putting their liberal, big government agenda ahead of the American people.The Democrat who ...

Congress

Senator: Senate will investigate Army shootings

5 hours, 15 minutes ago

(AP) The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee says he plans to begin a congressional investigation of the shootings at Fort Hood.An Army major, Nidal Malik Hasan (nih-DAHL' mah-LEEK' hah-SAHN'), is suspected of killing 13 people and wounding 29 others at the Army post in Texas.Sen. Joe Lieberman says he ...

White House

Casey says war in Afghanistan needs more US troops

5 hours, 42 minutes ago

(AP) The Army's chief of staff says he believes more troops are needed in Afghanistan. But Gen. George Casey isn't saying exactly how many more should be sent into the war.Casey says more troops would help cut into the Taliban's successes while U.S. forces continue training Afghan security forces.President Barack Obama ...

Casey: Shootings leading to a hard look at Army

5 hours, 42 minutes ago

(AP) The Army's chief of staff says the Army is taking a hard look at itself to make certain that something like the Fort Hood rampage doesn't happen again.The shootings left 13 dead and 29 wounded. The alleged gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan (nih-DAHL' mah-LEEK' hah-SAHN'), was wounded by civilian police.Gen. ...

Army chief: Avoid speculation about Hasan's faith

6 hours, 36 minutes ago

(AP) The Army chief of staff says it's important for the country not to get caught up in speculation about the Muslim faith of the alleged Fort Hood gunman.Gen. George Casey says focusing on the Islamic roots of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan (nih-DAHL' mah-LEEK' hah-SAHN') could "heighten the backlash" against all ...

National Elections

2010 elections: Democratic fears, Republican hopes

10 hours, 43 minutes ago

(AP) Oh, how the tables have turned.Nervous Democrats are on defense and emboldened Republicans sense opportunity heading into 2010 and the midterm elections. It was just three years ago that the GOP lost the House and Senate as well as governors' races in a cross-country Democratic wave.Now, with most states under ...

Supreme Court

High court to look at life in prison for juveniles

11 hours, 6 minutes ago

(AP) Joe Sullivan was sent away for life for raping an elderly woman and judged incorrigible though he was only 13 at the time of the attack.Terrance Graham, implicated in armed robberies when he was 16 and 17, was given a life sentence by a judge who told the teenager he ...

Congress

House Roll Call: How they voted on abortion issue

14 hours, 30 minutes ago

(AP) The 240-194 roll call Saturday by which the House voted to prohibit federal funding of abortions in a Democratic-written health care bill.A "yes" vote is a vote to prohibit federal funding of abortions.Voting yes were 64 Democrats and 176 Republicans.Voting no were 194 Democrats and 0 Republicans.X denotes those not ...

House Roll Call: Health care

14 hours, 57 minutes ago

(AP) The 220-215 roll call Saturday by which the House passed a Democratic-written health care bill.A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the bill.Voting yes were 219 Democrats and 1 Republican.Voting no were 39 Democrats and 176 Republicans.X denotes those not voting.Present denotes those who voted they were "present" at ...

Key details of Democrats' health overhaul bill

15 hours, 51 minutes ago

(AP) The House health care bill passed Saturday would:_Require most Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a fine._Expand health care coverage to 36 million more people over the next decade._Require employers with payrolls above $500,000 to provide insurance to their employees or pay a fine._Prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage ...

House passes resolution honoring Fort Hood victims

15 hours, 51 minutes ago

(AP) The House has passed a resolution honoring the victims of the attack at Fort Hood, Texas.House members passed the resolution 428-0 late Saturday, just minutes after passing the Democrats' health care overhaul bill.The resolution was authored by Republican Congressman John Carter, who represents the area around Fort Hood. It expresses ...

House kills Republican health overhaul bill

16 hours, 45 minutes ago

(AP) The House has used a near-partyline vote to reject a Republican health overhaul bill.Shortly before beginning its vote on a Democratic plan, the chamber voted 258-176 against a GOP version that would have lowered costs for people with insurance but done little or nothing to expand coverage to those without ...

White House

Obama to attend memorial for Fort Hood victims

18 hours, 32 minutes ago

(AP) President Barack Obama will attend a memorial service Tuesday honoring victims of the Ford Hood shootings, an attack he described as "all the more heartbreaking and all the more despicable" because it occurred on the nation's largest Army post.He praised those who ended the shootings, which killed 13 and wounded ...

National Elections

2010 elections: Tables have turned on Democrats

19 hours, 57 minutes ago

(AP) Oh, how the tables have turned. Nervous Democrats are on defense and emboldened Republicans sense opportunity heading into 2010 and the midterm elections. It was just three years ago that the GOP lost the House and Senate as well as governors' races in a cross-country Democratic wave.Now, with most states ...

2010 elections: Tables turned on Democrats

20 hours, 24 minutes ago

White House

Obama arrival in Tokyo delayed by a day

23 hours, 56 minutes ago

(AP) President Barack Obama is attending a memorial service at Fort Hood on Tuesday and now won't get to his planned first stop in Asia next week until one day later than expected.The president was to leave Washington on Wednesday and arrive in Tokyo on Thursday. But an official familiar with ...

Iran, North Korea top Clinton's overseas agenda

1 day ago

(AP) Nuclear impasses with Iran and North Korea are the dominant issues for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on her trip to Europe and Asia, which begins with a stopover in Germany to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's fall.Developments in both stalemates are expected in the coming ...

Obama statement on health care legislation

1 day, 1 hour ago

(AP) Text of President Barack Obama's remarks Saturday at the White House on health care legislation:Good afternoon, everybody. I just want to say a few words about the landmark vote that the House of Representatives is poised to take today _ a vote that can bring us one step closer to ...

1 day, 1 hour ago

(AP) White House: Obama to attend memorial service Tuesday at Fort Hood.

Congress

Health bill clears first hurdle in House

1 day, 1 hour ago

(AP) President Barack Obama's health care initiative has cleared its first big hurdle in the House, with lawmakers voting to advance the debate.The House voted 242-192 in favor of a must-pass procedural measure setting the terms for the debate. All 177 Republicans, joined by Democrats, voted to block the debate.With Obama ...