Topic: Politics

Top galleries, list articles, quizzes

Barack Obama: How well do you know America's 44th president?

Test your knowledge of the man currently in the Oval Office with this quiz on notable events – both large and small – from the Obama presidency.
Election 101: What's the Republican primary calendar for 2012?

Here are the ins and outs of the road to winning the Republican Party presidential nomination.
Bestselling books the week of 10/20/11, according to IndieBound*

What's selling best in independent bookstores across America.
In Pictures: Gilad Shalit released
Gilad Shalit deal: Which Palestinian prisoners will walk free?

Nearly 500 Palestinians are scheduled to be released by Israel Tuesday in an exchange for soldier Gilad Shalit. Here’s the status of seven well-known prisoners (See the whole list here):

All Content

What's new in the GOP jobs plan?

Republicans are countering President Obama's jobs plan with a GOP jobs plan. But how much of the GOP jobs plan is really new?
Green Economics
The geography of DOE loans

California got a huge share of Department of Energy loan guarantees, while Republican states are underrepresented.
Julianne Hough stars in 'Footloose' remake: movie review

Julianne Hough is put out front in 'Footloose' remake as the partying preacher's daughter in a town that has outlawed teen dancing.
Alabama immigration law blocked by federal appeals court

Alabama immigration law: The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals also blocked a part of the law that allows authorities to charge immigrants who do not carry documents proving their legal status.
Deficit 'super committee' flooded with ideas. Will any of them work?

Friday is the deadline for congressional committees to submit ideas to the deficit 'super committee.' But there's little indication that any of the ideas signal an openness to compromise.
Robert Reich
When dogma overtakes discussion

The American public doesn’t want or need to hear “representatives” from the so-called right or left. It wants insight into what’s best for America. Yet over and over again — on the radio, on TV, in print, in the blogosphere, and all over Washington — political ideology is substituting for thought.
Political hair apparents. It's a head game!

Sen. John Edwards' $400 haircuts became campaign fodder in 2007. What do you think, did these US politicians get their money's worth – and can you identify them?
Go easy on free trade as top security concern

Obama and Romney see trade as the main issue in foreign policy, which helps explain why three free-trade pacts just passed Congress. But trade isn't always a matter of security. Its main purpose is creating wealth and expanding the economic pie.
The Vote
'Drill, baby, drill': Rick Perry's answer to '9-9-9' tax plan?

Rick Perry is touting domestic energy production as a way to kick-start the US economy. His hope may be to match Herman Cain's '9-9-9' tax plan for voter appeal – and revive his presidential campaign.
Gallery: Repeat contender: Mitt Romney
Sirleaf leads Liberian presidential vote, but a second round looms

Nobel Peace Prizewinner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has 44.5 percent of the Liberian presidential vote so far: not enough to avoid a second round, where former warlord Prince Johnson may be 'kingmaker.'
Solyndra: Did Energy Department break the law?

Solyndra loan restructuring might violate federal law, Treasury worried, according to released e-mails. House panel aims to determine Energy Department's culpability in aiding Solyndra investors ahead of taxpayers.
Saudi Arabia refrains from fingering Iran in alleged assassination plot

The US continues to ratchet up pressure on Iran over an alleged assassination plot against the Saudi ambassador to the US. But Saudi Arabia Wednesday said it was working to determine who was responsible.
In Pictures: Before Occupy Wall Street: American protests
Iranian oil sales, foreign exchange taking a hit from US, UN sanctions

Despite Tehran's insistence that increasingly strict sanctions are not harming Iran, Iranian oil sales are down and its foreign exchange access is being hampered by the US and UN sanctions.
Obama campaign raises $70m as Republicans spar

Obama campaign: Obama has been faced with declining poll numbers and a weakened economy during the summer, prompting the president to recently call himself the 'underdog' in the presidential race.
Iran assassination plot: Four attacks that have been blamed on Iran

For years, US officials have described Iran as the “most active” state sponsor of terror in the world. Here’s a list of major terror attacks blamed on Iran in the past four decades.
Tax VOX
Why a corporate tax holiday is still a bad idea

Congress may be about to grant a huge tax break to multinational companies that have stashed earnings in their foreign subsidiaries.Here's why that's a bad idea.
Oman's elections bring hopes, doubts of institutional change

Sultan Qaboos bin Said promised to bestow new powers on the nation's assembly to tamp down Arab Spring protests, but ahead of Oman's elections tomorrow, those powers remain undefined.
Silvio Berlusconi barely survives confidence vote in Italian parliament

The Italian parliament continues to support the government of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, but only by the narrowest of margins.
Relief in California over federal crackdown on medical marijuana

Community leaders from the San Diego area applaud last week's announcement of a widespread federal crackdown on sham medical marijuana dispensaries: 'We’ve heard youths often ask why marijuana is such a big deal when, after all, it is 'medicine'. '
Terrorism & Security
UN warns of civil war as Syrian Army deaths climb

Concerns are mounting that Syria's uprising could descend into civil war as clashes between Syrian Army soldiers and protesters intensify.
Latin America Monitor
Cuba wrap-up: US fugitives, prisoner swaps, and a spike in illegal immigration

The US Coast Guard reports that illegal migration from Cuba is up; meanwhile, hope is dim that the release of the first 'Cuban Five' from jail would pave the way for Cuba to free American Alan Gross.
Can 'Occupy Wall Street' really get money out of politics?

While 'Occupy Wall Street' has avoided specifying demands, money in politics is a clear target. Supporters of campaign-finance reform hope the movement gives their cause momentum.
Latin America Monitor
What deters illegal immigrant border crossings into the US? Violence in Mexico.

The number of illegal immigrants apprehended while crossing Mexico en route to the US has dropped by almost 70 percent in the past five years, according to Mexican official data.