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Thomas Jefferson: 16 quotes on his birthday

Here are 16 quotes to mark the birthday of American founding father Thomas Jefferson.
Briefing
Roe v. Wade at 40: Six questions about abortion rights

On Tuesday, the United States marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the historic US Supreme Court decision that granted women the right to an abortion. Here is a look at the state of abortion rights in America today.
Gender pay gap: Top 5 best and worst states

The pay gap between men and women has steadily narrowed during the past few decades. Women earned 77 cents for every dollar men earned in 2011, compared with 59 cents in 1963. Here is a look at states with biggest and smallest gender pay gaps today.
Top 5 bullying myths

We all know that bullying is wrong but you may know even less about bullying than you originally thought. Monitor correspondent Stephanie Hanes debunks 5 popular misconceptions.
Penn State football: A dozen questions as the post-Paterno era begins

This year will be the most closely watched football season in the history of Penn State. The post-Paterno era comes with many questions. Here are 12.

All Content

IRS scandal becomes Republican battering ram against Obamacare (+video)

Republican lawmakers say the scandal over Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of conservative groups raises new doubts about President Obama’s health-insurance reform law.
Gay marriage hat trick: Will Minnesota make three?

As the US awaits the Supreme Court's ruling on marriage laws for same-sex couples, the states are approaching a gay marriage hat trick: Rhode Island last week, Delaware today, and possibly Minnesota by Saturday.
Delaware passes gay marriage: Is Minnesota next?

Less than a week after Rhode Island, Delaware has passed gay marriage. The law will take effect July 1. Minnesota lawmakers could pass marriage equality within the week.
Senate approves online sales tax. Is it fair, or a tax increase?

The Senate voted late Monday to require e-commerce businesses to collect sales taxes from buyers. The Marketplace Fairness Act may bring as much as $23 billion, by one estimate, in online sales tax revenue to states and cities. It faces an uncertain future in the House.
USA Update Obama's 'try anything' bid to woo GOP moves from dinner to golf course

President Obama hit the golf course Monday with two Republican senators in an effort to build support for his second-term agenda. He has also had several dinners with GOP lawmakers.
Global News Blog Leopards found extinct in Taiwan as public begins to growl

A team of zoologists have been looking for the Formosan clouded leopard, indigenous to Taiwan, for 13 years. Last week they announced it was extinct.
Decoder Wire Sarah Palin's chaw: Why did she wave chewing tobacco during NRA speech? (+video)

Sarah Palin used a tin of chewing tobacco as a visual aid at last weekend's NRA convention in Houston. This follows her sipping from a Big Gulp during her CPAC speech in March.
Tsarnaev body: Protests over US burial for bombing suspect (+video)

Tsarnaev body: Funeral director Peter Stefan says no cemetery in Massachusetts is willing to take Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body. Protestors outside the funeral home held signs, "Do not bury him on U.S. soil."
Boston bombings: 3 more suspects taken into custody, police tweet (+video)

Using their Twitter account, the Boston Police Department announced Wednesday three more suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings have been arrested.
Female DNA on bomb? FBI checking suspects (+video)

Female DNA on bomb? The FBI took DNA samples from the wife of suspected Boston bomber Tamerian Tsarnaev Monday.
Boston marathon bombing: Could it have been prevented?

The federal government is now examining the intelligence it had of Tamerlan Tsarnaev prior to the Boston marathon bombing in order to determine whether it could have acted to prevent the attack. Different spellings of the suspected bomber's name appear to have helped him avoid detection during recent travels to Russia.
Opinion: Death penalty: A pragmatic case for repeal

Momentum in the states is shifting toward the repeal of the death penalty. There are practical reasons for this: The death penalty is expensive, it does not work, and it is administered with a clear racial bias. Repealing it is a matter of justice, public safety, and effective governance.
FBI Most Wanted caught in Nicaragua: What draws US pedophiles to the region?

Stigmatized in the US, some registered sex offenders like Eric Toth decide to move abroad to start fresh in a foreign country – and Central America is becoming a popular spot.
Was Boston Marathon bombing a US 'intelligence failure'? (+video)

House and Senate intelligence committees will ask that question of FBI officials during closed hearings Tuesday about the Boston Marathon bombing. They will want to know if any red flags popped up when Tamerlan Tsarnaev traveled to Russia in 2011-12.
Did a foreign hand guide Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev?

US investigators are interested in a trip that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother suspected in the Boston bombing, took to the North Caucasus region of Russia in 2012. They want to know whether he had contact with foreign extremist groups.
USA Update States drop GED: At $120 a pop, some say test is just too expensive

States drop GED, which will be available in the future only on computer. It's a historic shift away from the test that set the standard for high school equivalency certification for more than 70 years.
Paul Ryan and Chris Van Hollen: the fiscal bellwethers

The two House members – longtime ideological foes – will play a central role in bringing their respective party members along if Congress is ever to cut a grand fiscal deal.
Thomas Jefferson: 16 quotes on his birthday

Here are 16 quotes to mark the birthday of American founding father Thomas Jefferson.
New cybersecurity bill: Privacy threat or crucial band-aid?

The cybersecurity bill was a flash point for privacy advocates a year ago. Now, changes have been made to the bill, which was the focus of a closed hearing Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee.
USA Update Bradley Manning trial may include Navy SEAL from Osama bin Laden raid

Prosecutors charge Pfc. Bradley Manning with 'aiding the enemy' in leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks. They want to call as a witness a Navy SEAL involved in the Osama bin Laden raid.
Cover Story How dealmaking gets done on Capitol Hill

In the new politics of Congress, deals are no longer fashioned by moderates, who vanished long ago, but by a few lawmakers on the left and right who have the respect, clout, and just enough pragmatism to surmount the culture of division.
Robert Reich The invisible sequester

Americans are starting to feel the pain from the sequester's $85 billion in federal spending cuts between March and September 30, Reich writes. They just don’t know it yet.
Connecticut responds to Newtown with groundbreaking gun control laws

Connecticut's gun-control package includes a dangerous-weapon offender registry and a requirement to obtain 'eligibility' certificates to buy bullets, rifles, and shotguns.
Elwin Wilson, a KKK supporter who reformed, dies

Elwin Wilson was a reformed racist who publicly apologized for his violent acts. Wilson beat John Lewis of Georgia in 1961. Lewis later became a US congressman, and Wilson personally apologized to him.
USA Update Marijuana tax touted as budgetary benefit to US and states. Really?

Marijuana tax could be a new source of revenue for strapped states, and the federal government, too, say two congressmen who have proposed such legislation. But the scale of any tax benefit is hotly disputed.