LOCAL/NEWS

Washington/Politics

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02/18/2010

House panel to investigate impact of hydraulic fracturing on groundwater
Leaders of a powerful House committee announced Thursday that they would investigate whether gas producers in areas such as North Texas have injected diesel fuel or other toxic fluids underground that could pose a threat to drinking water sources.

02/17/2010

Texas challenges EPA ruling on greenhouse gas threat
The state accused the federal government in a lawsuit Tuesday of using "tainted data" to declare that heat-trapping gases are a threat to the public, warning that Texas' economy could suffer as a result.

Cement industry, environmentalists debate emission regulations
The cement industry is launching a late push to water down new regulations that would limit the amount of mercury and other hazardous pollutants emitted by their plants.

02/16/2010

Capture of key Taliban leader expected to pay off for coalition
KABUL – The arrest of the second-ranking leader of the Afghan Taliban is likely to disrupt the insurgents' military campaign and could signal that Pakistani security forces are ready to deny Afghan militant leaders a safe haven, security experts said Tuesday.

02/11/2010

Most lawmakers haven't returned donations from disgraced Texas banker Allen Stanford
Dallas attorney Ralph Janvey is sending new letters this week demanding the funds from about 70 members of Congress, as well as the fundraising committees for Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate.

02/12/2010

Democrats propose smaller jobs bill
Stung by criticism that a bipartisan jobs bill emerging in the Senate wouldn't create many jobs, Senate Democrats on Thursday proposed a new stripped-down version they hope will still get support from Republicans and Democrats.

02/10/2010

Trail Blazers blog: Rep. Pete Sessions predicts GOP majority after midterm elections
The Dallas Republican predicts that this year's crop of GOP candidates will be looked on "the same way that our candidates were in the class of 94: majority makers."

02/11/2010

Blizzard helps Baltimore, D.C., Philadelphia smash snow records
WASHINGTON – Worst winter ever? The second blizzard in less than a week buried the most populous stretch of the East Coast under nearly a foot of snow Wednesday, breaking records for the snowiest winter and demoralizing millions of people still trying to dig out from the previous storm.

Charlie Wilson, playboy East Texas congressman who covertly aided Afghans, dies at 76
Charlie Wilson, a 12-term East Texas congressman who was best known for his playboy ways until he masterminded a covert effort to funnel billions of dollars in arms to Afghan rebels fighting the Soviets in the 1980s, died Wednesday in Lufkin. He was 76.

Relocated Texans learn a cold reality in Washington
WASHINGTON – It took more than five years of living in the nation's capital for Gavin Daniels, a transplanted Houstonian, to learn the God's honest truth about cowboy boots: They weren't made for snow or ice.

Black leaders urge Obama to target blacks with aid
WASHINGTON – Prominent black leaders pressed President Barack Obama on Wednesday to pursue an economic agenda that includes targeted help for blacks, whose unemployment rate is much higher than the national average and nearly twice that of whites.

02/10/2010

Panel warns Congress of untenable fiscal path
Lawmakers were warned Tuesday that government debt in the United States could drag down the economy and push the country into a debt crisis like the one now gripping Western Europe.

02/09/2010

House Republicans have high hopes but little campaign cash
Republicans are riding high after a huge Senate win in Massachusetts, and many now talk openly of taking back the House in November. But there's one big problem: money.

02/10/2010

For GOP and Obama, partisan actions follow bipartisan talk
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama and GOP leaders agreed Tuesday that they had pinpointed a handful of areas – most of them related to job creation – where the two sides might be able to work together.

02/07/2010

Texas Watch: Social Security faces rocky political road
Beyond the thick curtain of finger-wagging last week over huge deficits and an unsustainable debt, a familiar battle resurfaced over the future of Social Security.

02/09/2010

GOP health care script takes modest approach
WASHINGTON – When Republicans and President Barack Obama meet to hash out differences over health care this month, the GOP will look to emphasize tax incentives and state innovations, with no new federal mandates and only a modest expansion of the federal safety net.

Experts doubt televised talks will end health care logjam
WASHINGTON – Don't count on President Barack Obama's health care summit to thaw the bitter political climate that has stalled legislation for months, analysts said Monday, not least because Republicans remain wary of the plan.

02/07/2010

Even GOP conservative Ron Paul draws Tea Party opposition
WASHINGTON – Even anti-government icon Ron Paul can't escape the conservative "Tea Party" fervor stretching across the county.