TheSunNews.com: Politics - Wire

Panetta: US on 'right track' in Afghanistan

Sun, 27 May 2012 09:05 EDT

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is defending the Obama administration's plans to wind down the more than decade-long war in Afghanistan.

Speaking Sunday on ABC's "This Week," the Pentagon chief said the U.S. still has a fight on its hands, but is on the right track.

Panetta says he supports the decision to set a firm timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops, a position criticized by Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama's probable Republican opponent in this fall's election.

Panetta: US on 'right track' in Afghanistan

Sun, 27 May 2012 09:45 EDT

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Sunday defended the Obama administration's plans to wind down the more than decade-long war in Afghanistan, saying the U.S. is on "the right track."

"We still have a fight on our hands," Panetta said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

"The American people need to know that. The world needs to know that ... but we're on the right track," he added.

Obama, Romney campaigns target young Hispanics with cellphones

Sun, 27 May 2012 03:05 EDT

Hispanic voters are a crucial constituency in the presidential election, but reaching young Hispanics will require new tactics - and some experts say mobile-phone outreach will be key.

There are more than 21 million eligible Hispanic voters - and more than 30 percent of them are 18 to 30 years old. About 50,000 Hispanics reach the voting age of 18 each month.

But Hispanic voters under 30 have the lowest turnout of any group: Only 41 percent of them voted in 2008.

Justices' summer plans point to late June finish

Sun, 27 May 2012 10:25 EDT

One never knows when the Supreme Court will hand down its last, often biggest, opinions of the term. But the justices' summer travel schedules make it a pretty safe bet that blockbuster health care and immigration cases will be decided by the end of June.

That's because Professor John Roberts, also known as Chief Justice of the United States, has a morning law school class to teach the first week of July. On Malta.

To the north, and at a much higher elevation, Professor Antonin Scalia, will put his law students through their paces in Innsbruck, Austria.

Polls on gay marriage not yet reflected in votes

Sun, 27 May 2012 08:50 EDT

Poll after poll shows public support for same-sex marriage steadily increasing, to the point where it's now a majority viewpoint. Yet in all 32 states where gay marriage has been on the ballot, voters have rejected it.

It's possible the streak could end in November, when Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington state are likely to have closely contested gay marriage measures on their ballots.

For now, however, there remains a gap between the national polling results and the way states have voted. It's a paradox with multiple explanations, from political geography to the likelihood that some conflicted voters tell pollsters one thing and then vote differently.

A state-by-state look at the road to 270

Sat, 26 May 2012 09:09 EDT

An analysis of the state-by-state race to 270 electoral votes, the total needed to win the presidency, and where Democratic President Barack Obama and probable Republican nominee Mitt Romney stand now. The numbers reflect electoral votes:

SOLIDLY DEMOCRATIC (186):

California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

White House condemns Syrian attack

Sat, 26 May 2012 16:29 EDT

The White House says it is horrified by the brutal attack in Syria that killed more than 90 people, including at least 32 children.

National Security Council spokeswoman Erin Pelton said Saturday that the attack serves as a "vile testament to an illegitimate regime" of President Bashar Assad. The head of the U.N. observer team said the assault on Houla, a group of villages northwest of the besieged city of Homs, killed more than 60 adults and at least 32 children under the age of 10.

The White House said the Syrian regime responds to peaceful political protest with "unspeakable and inhuman brutality."

Obama honors veterans during Memorial Day weekend

Sat, 26 May 2012 09:39 EDT

President Barack Obama is paying tribute to veterans during Memorial Day weekend, honoring those willing to sacrifice their lives for their country.

Obama says in his weekly radio and Internet address he will mark Monday's holiday with veterans and their families at Arlington National Cemetery and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The president says the nation needs to honor veterans, including those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, by ensuring they have access to health care, higher education and jobs.

Biden says end to wars gives US new flexibility

Sat, 26 May 2012 14:49 EDT

Vice President Joe Biden said Saturday that the United States can now focus on new global challenges after a long decade of war in an election-year commencement address to jubilant graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

"Winding down these longs wars has enabled us to replace and rebalance our foreign policy," Biden told the Army cadets and their families at the storied academy's football stadium.

Biden's speech echoed some of the themes of military success struck by President Barack Obama in his commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy last Wednesday. Biden, like Obama, said U.S. combat troops have returned home from Iraq, the conflict in Afghanistan is winding down and American commandos killed al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden in May 2011.

FACT CHECK: Obama off on thrifty spending claim

Sat, 26 May 2012 08:44 EDT

The White House is aggressively pushing the idea that, contrary to widespread belief, President Barack Obama is tightfisted with taxpayer dollars. To back it up, the administration cites a media report that claims federal spending is rising at the slowest pace since the Eisenhower years.

"Federal spending since I took office has risen at the slowest pace of any president in almost 60 years," Obama said at a campaign rally Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa.

The problem with that rosy claim is that the Wall Street bailout is part of the calculation. The bailout ballooned the 2009 budget just before Obama took office, making Obama's 2010 results look smaller in comparison. And as almost $150 billion of the bailout was paid back during Obama's watch, the analysis counted them as government spending cuts.

CIA remembers those lost in covert war on terror

Sat, 26 May 2012 22:25 EDT

The CIA is remembering those lost in the hidden, often dangerous world of espionage, adding a new star to the intelligence agency's memorial wall and more than a dozen names to its hallowed Book of Honor.

The new star carved into the wall is for Jeffrey Patneau, a young officer killed in a car crash in Yemen in September 2008.

"Jeff proved that he had boundless talent, courage and innovativeness to offer to our country in its fight against terrorism," said CIA Director David Petraeus at a private ceremony at CIA headquarters this past week.

Warning signs for Obama on path to electoral votes

Sat, 26 May 2012 13:44 EDT

President Barack Obama faces new warning signs in a once-promising Southern state and typically Democratic-voting Midwestern states roughly five months before the election even as he benefits nationally from encouraging economic news.

Obama's new worries about North Carolina and Wisconsin offer opportunities for Republican Mitt Romney, who must peel off states Obama won in 2008 if he's to cobble together the 270 electoral votes needed to oust the incumbent in November.

Iowa, which kicked off the campaign in January, is now expected to be tight to the finish, while New Mexico, thought early to be pivotal, seems to be drifting into Democratic territory.

Obama on the defensive on spending, debt

Sat, 26 May 2012 16:09 EDT

Government spending and debt are emerging as a campaign tug-of-war, with Mitt Romney blaming President Barack Obama for a "prairie fire of debt" and Obama calling the charge a "cowpie of distortion." House Speaker John Boehner is talking about a debt ceiling that is still more than eight months away.

What gives? In a word, polling.

The American public is growing increasingly distressed about government spending and high budgets. The issue now ranks as high on the worry scale as lack of jobs. And it worked well for Republicans in 2010, who galvanized voters with ads and flyers that drew attention to government red ink and took back control of the U.S. House after four years of Democratic rule.

Obama, Romney try to play it safe in 2012 gamble

Sat, 26 May 2012 08:49 EDT

In the risky business of running for president, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are largely playing it safe.

For all the small daily dramas of the 2012 campaign, there's a risk-averse dynamic playing out: Neither candidate has been making bold new policy proposals or displaying a free-wheeling personal style. So far, at least.

Part of that is just who they are: Obama always has been known for his cool demeanor, and Romney has discipline built into his corporate pedigree.

Congress approves visas for Israeli investors

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:38 EDT

Congress has passed legislation adding Israel to the list of more than 75 countries eligible for temporary visas given to foreign nationals who invest in U.S.-based businesses.

The Senate approved the measure by voice vote on Thursday, sending it to President Barack Obama for his signature.

E-2 investor visas are given to foreign nationals who come to the United States in order to develop businesses in which they have invested.

Attention North Carolina is getting isn't quite what it wants

Fri, 25 May 2012 19:42 EDT

When civic leaders boasted that having the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte was a chance to showcase the great things about living and working in North Carolina, they probably didn’t have recent events in mind.

A planned Ku Klux Klan “cross lighting,” a misinformed teacher who suggested that her student could be arrested for criticizing President Barack Obama and a pastor who wants to round up gay people and leave them to die have played into stereotypes that the Tar Heel State has long sought to leave behind.

“Recent national coverage has not been particularly flattering at a time when the state is supposed to be reveling in national attention,” said Andy Taylor, a political science professor at North Carolina State University. “What it isn’t good for is it seems to reinforce some stereotypes that perhaps the rest of the country has about North Carolina.”

House experience a minus for some Senate hopefuls

Fri, 25 May 2012 20:01 EDT

U.S. House members who are trying to make the step up to the Senate this year are finding themselves on the defensive about Washington experience that traditionally has been a big asset.

Even those not under direct attack for being part of Congress are finessing the way they talk about their work in the nation's capital - evidence that the strong anti-incumbent sentiment among voters in 2010 is still there two years later.

"Washington experience or experience in elected office in Washington is not necessarily the ticket to the U.S. Senate it has been in the past," said Chris LaCivita, a Republican strategist. "Clearly people are looking for something different."

Obama to host Philippine president at White House

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:01 EDT

President Barack Obama will meet with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III on June 8 at the White House.

The White House says Obama looks forward to discussing the strategic, economic and "people to people" ties between the U.S. and the Philippines and their cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Obama has said the U.S. needs to deepen its engagement in the fast-growing Asia Pacific region, calling it critical to the nation's security and economic prosperity. The Philippines is a longtime ally of the United States.

THE RACE: Presidential race is most costly ever

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:05 EDT

The battle between President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney will be the most expensive presidential contest ever - by a long shot.

There are two main reasons. It's the first time both major-party candidates are declining post-Watergate federal campaign financing - and the spending limits attached. And the proliferation of super PACS is pumping untold millions into the fray on both sides, mostly for advertising.

So fasten your seat belts and prepare for a howling tempest of broadcast ads, especially if you live in a battleground state.

Justice: No misconduct in declining to prosecute Ted Stevens witness on sex charges

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:41 EDT

The Justice Department said Friday that its investigators had found no misconduct in the decision by federal prosecutors to abandon the teen sex-crime case against disgraced former Veco Corp. Chairman Bill Allen, the government's star witness in the failed prosecution of then-Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility launched an inquiry into the Allen case at the request of Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who says the government should not have let Allen off the hook.

Assistant Attorney General Ronald Welch said in a letter to Murkowski that the department's inquiry "found no evidence that the Criminal Division's decision to decline prosecution of Mr. Allen was predicated on corrupt, improper or impermissible considerations."