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In Richard Lugar defeat, a tea party road map for revamping Washington?

Six-term Sen. Richard Lugar (R) of Indiana lost by a landslide to a tea party-backed challenger in Tuesday's GOP primary. The outcome buoys the tea party movement nationally, but some say Lugar's problems were unique to him.
Student loans: GOP filibuster blocks Senate move to freeze low rates

Student loans will cost more come July 1 unless Congress acts. While both parties say they support extending low rates on federally subsidized loans, election-year politics have intervened.
Obama: Taxpayers shouldn't subsidize oil industry's record profits (+video)

Moments after Obama made his election-year appeal in the White House Rose Garden, the Senate failed to reach the threshold of votes needed to proceed to a measure that would have ended the subsidies.
Violence Against Women Act: A political opening for Democrats?

Senate Democrats aim to extend the Violence Against Women Act, adding services for illegal immigrants and same-sex couples, a move Republicans say is out to score political points.
Chellie Pingree, Maine Rep., decides against Senate bid

Pingree said it was a difficult decision and that she's grateful for the support she's received from across Maine and the country.
Will Blunt amendment backfire on Republicans?

Republicans cast the Blunt amendment as a fight for religious freedoms, but it put at least one of their own, Sen. Scott Brown, in a tough spot – and he could be crucial to GOP efforts to retake the Senate.
A Congress with no room for Olympia Snowe and other centrists?

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R) of Maine is the latest centrist to depart Congress. For several years now, the partisans have been staying and the moderates have been either losing or leaving.
Olympia Snowe delivers stunning rebuke in decision to leave Senate

Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican senator from Maine, won't seek another term in the US Senate because intense partisanship has made her question how 'productive' it would be.
Robert Reich
The GOP slides right, and the rest of us should worry

Even if they don't win on Election Day, the fringe right-wingers who have taken over the Repuplican party, will have a deep, negative impact on our government.
Rule and Ruin

When and why did the Republican Party tip so far to the right?
Newt Gingrich's rise – and fall – tied to his reign as House speaker

After leading in some polls, New Gingrich has fallen out of favor with most Republican voters – especially in the key state of Iowa. He's taken a drubbing in negative ads, and much of the response from lawmakers who served with him in the House has been more criticism or silence.
Why House Republicans are balking at payroll tax cut

Republicans in the House of Representatives don't like a two-month payroll tax cut extension. But American voters aren't thrilled by the resulting payroll tax hike.
Why John Boehner can still win the tax-cut showdown

House Speaker John Boehner stunned Senate Democrats and Republicans when he said the House would vote down their two-month deal on the payroll tax cut and other measures.
Why Republicans want to save parts of the Obama jobs bill

The Senate rejected the Obama jobs bill last week, but both Senate Democrats and House Republicans are trying to resurrect parts of it. Problem is, they can't agree on which parts.
GOP candidates in the Tea Party crosshairs

The Tea Party movement is taking aim at Republican incumbents, including Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, Sen. Olympia Snow of Maine, and Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts. Will it succeed in unseating them?
Senate Democrats shoot down GOP's House budget plan. Now what?

Wary of the impact on Medicare, five Republicans joined Senate Democrats in defeating the Republican budget plan written by Rep. Paul Ryan. But the Democrats have no plan of their own, and this could hurt them.
American anger at gas prices fueled by rising household energy costs

Americans are spending 12 percent of their disposable income on energy costs – up from 7.7 percent in 2002, a new study says. Gas prices are the biggest part of the equation.
Bill to chop Big Oil's tax breaks falls short – but makes its point

Senate Republicans halt a bill that would take away multibillion-dollar tax breaks for oil companies. Wednesday, Democrats are expected stop a bill that would force Obama's hand on Gulf drilling permits. 'It’s summertime symbolic politics' in Washington.
Oil CEOs warn senators of downside to axing industry tax breaks

Five oil CEOs testified Thursday that a Senate bill to shrink their companies' tax breaks would mean less domestic oil production and higher gasoline prices. Democrats cite firms' big profits.
Tea Party Express chairman to Congress: 'Make the hard decisions'

Tea Party Express's Amy Kremer, at a Monitor breakfast on April 5, discussed the wisdom of endorsing candidates and whether to target House Speaker John Boehner for defeat in 2012.
Robert Reich
The real reason Republicans don't want the new START treaty

What's behind GOP opposition to START?
In historic vote, Senate moves to end 'don't ask, don't tell'

Eight Republicans joined Democrats to vote for an end to the 1993 'don't ask, don't tell' law banning gay troops from serving openly. Proponents compare it to ending racial segregation in the military.
'Don't ask, don't tell' repeal goes to Senate again. Has anything changed?

Last week, Senate Republicans blocked a repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell.' Now the House has passed the repeal in a different form. But the result in the Senate could be the same.
Colin Powell gives Obama backing on START nuclear deal

Colin Powell and Obama warned of grave consequences if the Senate fails to ratify the New START pact, which would reduce how many strategic warheads the United States and Russia could hold and set up a system so each could inspect and verify the other's arsenal.
If Republican Lisa Murkowski wins in Alaska, will her politics change?

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) of Alaska is likely to hew to her more centrist roots, analyst say, if she becomes the official winner of the race. State officials start counting write-in ballots Wednesday.