Archive for July, 2011

A federal judge may be ready to set a sentencing date for impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

If the judge does so during a Monday status hearing, that’d give Blagojevich and his family a clearer idea of when he’d start serving time.

Legal…

Darlene Edwards was a teenager during World War II when she went to work in a factory — and started paying Social Security taxes. Now an 82-year-old retired nurse, she fears a U.S. debt default would cut off the retirement income she worked decades for…

State government in Iowa wouldn’t come to a halt if an agreement to avert the nation’s first-ever financial default was not reached, but it wouldn’t take long for a variety of problems to surface.

Officials said they had begun preparing for what they…

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said Sunday during an unannounced visit to Afghanistan he doesn’t know whether soldiers will continue to receive paychecks if an agreement over the U.S. debt ceiling cannot be reached.

When anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist visited the Indiana Statehouse last week, he made a public plea for U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar to sign his anti-tax pledge.

But he might not be able to persuade the veteran senator to get on board.

Lugar is the only…

An Illinois government official says there are debt showdown consequences as lawmakers continue to negotiate in Washington.

Republican Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka accused members of Congress on Sunday of playing a “game of chicken” with the finances…

A diplomat to the core, Jon Huntsman is well known here as a likable guy who prefers compromise to combativeness. Niceness is such a strong part of his persona that the Republican pledged to run a civil campaign for president.

“He genuinely wants to…

Hardly a day goes by without dismissive and arrogant invective from the White House about the House Republican Conference and its alleged fear of, or fealty to, “the tea party.” Too many Fourth Estaters have lazily bought the line and played along with President Obama’s spaghetti western construct. That’s not the right explanation for this drama.