News Items

Congress Takes Up Measure to End FAA Furloughs

Congress is trying to end the air traffic controller furloughs that are blamed for widespread flight delays this week.

The Senate voted Thursday night to erase about $200 million in cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration. The House could decide on the measure Friday.

The cuts came as part of the sequester, designed to trim America's massive deficit spending. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says she would rather cancel all $85 billion of those budget cuts, but she's willing to back a bill just for the FAA if the details are...

Lawmakers Seek to be Exempt from Obamcare

Some of the same people who passed Obamacare don't want to be forced to obey the controversial law. Members of Congress are working to get exemptions for them and their staff.

Politico  reports lawmakers from both parties have been involved in confidential negotiations on the matter for months.

Obamacare requires Americans to join insurance exchanges. But now congressmen like House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., don't like that idea.

That's because lawmakers and their aides would have...

RI Senate to Vote on Gay Marriage Wednesday

The Rhode Island Senate is set to vote on gay marriage Wednesday.

Advocates say they expect the measure to pass, though traditional marriage supporters aren't giving up the fight.

"Culture may change, but God has an immutable character," state Sen. Harold Metts, D-Providence, said.

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence says a religious exemption doesn't protect those who oppose gay marriage because of their faith.

The measure has the governor's support and has already been approved by the...

Three Murder Charges Dropped Against Philadelphia Abortionist

The judge in the trial of Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell has thrown out three of the eight charges of murder he faces.

Prosecutors charged Gosnell in the death of 41-year old patient Karnamaya Mongarand seven babies reportedly born alive. They told jurors the babies were killed by Gosnell and his staff by cutting their spines.
    
But Gosnell's attorney has argued that there was no "scientific" or "objective" evidence that they were born alive.

On Tuesday, common pleas court Judge Jeffrey...

Critics: White House Playing Politics with Air Travel

Flight delays are piling up around the country because air traffic controllers are being forced to take days off due to budget cuts.

Those automatic cuts came as a result of the so-called sequester, when Congress could not reach a deal to trim deficit spending.

All Federal Aviation Administration employees are being required to take off one work day every other week as a result. In addition to the air traffic controllers, the FAA has also furloughed other critical employees, like airline and airport safety inspectors.

...
Senate Democrat Predicts 'Train Wreck' for Obamacare

A high-ranking Senate Democrat who supported President Obama's health care overhaul now says it's a disaster in the making.

Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at a Senate budget hearing Wednesday.

Baucus cited concerns that new health insurance marketplaces for small businesses and consumers won't be ready in time in every state. Those marketplaces are supposed to be up and running next year.

Baucus also said consumers don't have the information they need to make good choices....

US Searches for Answers in Deadly Boston Bombings

The full weight of the U.S. government is behind work Tuesday to find out who is responsible for Monday's Boston Marathon bombing that left at least three people dead and more than 140 injured.
    
One of the dead is Martin Richard, an 8-year-old boy who was waiting with his mother and sister to see his father cross the finish line.

"There are no words to describe how I feel. There's no words," Jane Sherman, a neighbor of the Richard family, said.

'It just hit too close to home, you just don't realize until something like this happens what a small world this is, and people won't recover from for a while," she added.

David Cairns, executive director of...

White House Official Calls Bombings 'Terrorism'

A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still unfolding, said Monday's Boston Marathon bombings are being treated as an act of terrorism.

President Obama did not use the word terrorism in his first comments on the bombings, but he vowed that those responsible will "feel the full weight of justice."

"We still don't know who did this or why," the president said in a nationally televised statement. "Make no mistake:  we will get to the bottom of this."

...
Gosnell Trial Media Blackout angers Conservatives

The murder trial of abortion doctor Kermitt Gosnell trial continued Monday, yet officials say it's not clear whether Gosnell will testify this week.

He is charged with the deaths of seven babies allegedly born alive and a 41-year-old woman patient. Authorities say the babies were killed using scissors.

Eight former employees have already pleaded guilty, some to third degree murder. Seven other former employees have already been convicted and prosecutors will call more witnesses this week.

Phillyburbs.com blogger J....

Workers Recount Abortion Doc's Clinic of Horrors

It's the most sensational murder trial you've never heard of because it's getting almost no media coverage, and the victims in this case are unborn babies.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell has been charged with killing a female patient and seven babies allegedly born alive at his abortion clinic in inner-city Philadelphia. If convicted he could face the death penalty.

Eight former employees have already pleaded guilty, some to third-degree murder. They've testified about the bizarre and often chaotic practices at the clinic, including some of the...

Washington State Suing Christian Florist After She Refuses to Provide Flowers for Gay Wedding

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against a business that refused to provide services for a same-sex wedding. Arlene’s Flowers & Gifts, located in Richland, is the focus of the legal drama, after its owner cited Christian views and apologized for an apparent inability to offer up flowers for the nuptials.

SeattlePI.com reports that the choice to file a lawsuit came after Ferguson attempted to get owner Barronelle Stutzman...

Rep. Wolf Urges Obama to Defend Egypt's Christians

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va. is calling on President Obama to speak up for Egypt's persecuted Christians.

Wolf says the president should forcefully denounce attacks on Coptic believers that took place at their main cathedral in Cairo last weekend.

An angry mob threw firebombs and rocks at Christians outside the cathedral Sunday, leaving two dead.

Wolf says attacks on Christians will continue unless Obama speaks out.

Meanwhile, Egypt's Coptic pope has accused his country's president of negligence....

GAO: Gov't Wastes Billions on Overlapping Programs

The federal government is wasting billions of taxpayer dollars because of overlapping programs, according to a new report by the General Accounting Office.
   
USA Today reports the study found 31 areas of duplicated spending, including the following:

  • At least 23 federal agencies run hundreds of programs to support renewable energy.    
  • Agencies spend billions on data for maps without checking to see if any other government agency already has maps they could use.
  • Each branch of the armed services has its own...
Obama to nominate five candidates for National Labor Relations Board

President Obama is nominating five candidates for full terms on the National Labor Relations Board, which has been in limbo since a federal appeals court invalidated his recess appointments to the agency.

Obama is urging the Senate to move swiftly in confirming the slate of three Democrats and two Republicans.

The move comes as House Republicans prepare to vote this week on a measure that would effectively shut down the board until it has permanent members confirmed by the Senate.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in January that Obama violated the Constitution when he...

Thatcher Remembered as Political Titan, Cultural Icon

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died from a stroke at the age of 87.

It was said that Thatcher returned the "great" to Great Britain. She burst onto the political scene at the age of 34, the youngest woman ever elected to parliament.

From 1979 to 1990, she served as leader of the Conservative Party, becoming the country's first female prime minister in 1979 when her party won the elections.

Her political and economic philosophy was steadfast anti-communism, self-reliance, and free markets - all unfashionable...

White House Gets Heat from Both Sides on Budget

The White House is making the case for President Obama's budget which is scheduled to be formally released Wednesday morning.

The plan calls for more new taxes, but Republicans say they won't go along with another tax hike after the one at the beginning of the year.The plan also includes new spending for education and public works projects.

Some Democrats don't like the measures about cutting back on some spending in Social Security and other benefit programs.

Meanwhile, White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer told...

Speaker Boehner blasts reported Obama budget as 'wrong direction'

(CNN) – House Speaker John Boehner said Friday the budget President Barack Obama will soon unveil takes no steps towards finding common ground with Republicans, despite the president's offer to cut federal entitlement spending.

"If the president believes these modest entitlement savings are needed to help shore up these programs, there's no reason they should be held hostage for more tax hikes. That's no way to lead and move the country forward," Boehner said in a press release.

The president's proposal as described to CNN and other news outlets by senior Obama administration officials includes changes to...

ACLU Challenges Faith Groups' Access to Ky. Schools

The American Civil Liberties Union challenged religious groups' access to Kentucky elementary schools on Thursday. It targeted all 174 public school superintendents.

The ACLU requested they provide information about how groups are granted access to schools to distribute literature to students during school hours.

The Open Records Act request specifically mentioned Gideons International, a group dedicated to Bible distribution.

ACLU of Kentucky Executive Director Michael Aldridge commented on the investigation.

"Directing the religious upbringing of one's own children is one of the most fundamental rights a parent can have," he said. "When...

North Korea Ranked No. 1 for Christian Persecution

North Korea is the most hostile place for Christians around the globe,  according to the annual "World Watch" list from the Open Doors Organization.

The list ranks the 50 countries where Christian persecution is most severe. North Korea tops the 2013 list, thus holding its ranking for the eleventh year running.

"Christians are classified as hostile and face arrest, detention, torture, even public execution," the Open Doors report said.

In the country of 20 million, there are about 400,000 Christians. About 25...

Judges Says WTC Cross Can Be Part of 9/11 Museum

A federal judge in New York has ruled that the World Trade Center cross can be included in the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

The cross's intersecting steel beams survived the World Trade Center collapse in the form of a cross. But in July the group American Atheist sued the National September 11 Memorial & Museum's operators on constitutional grounds that the cross constitutes an endorsement of Christianity, and they requested.
to have the symbol removed from the site.

According to CNN, U.S. District Judge Deborah...