Yahoo! News: Politics News

• Obama hails auto bailout as good news in Michigan (AP)
  

  AP - A year after the government's big auto-industry bailouts, President Barack Obama on Friday trumpeted increased car sales and progress on battery-powered vehicles as a beacon of success in his administration's battle to revive a hurting U.S. economy. But his upbeat assessment can't mask daunting challenges for U.S. automakers and painfully high unemployment.

  
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• Obama: Rangel case troubling; some Dems say resign (AP)
  

  AP - Rep. Charlie Rangel is getting sympathy from some fellow Democrats but scant support from others as he faces trial on several ethics charges.

  
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• Agency weighs skirting Congress on immigration (AP)
  

  AP - The Obama administration, unable to push an immigration overhaul through Congress, is considering ways it could go around lawmakers to let undocumented immigrants stay in the United States, according to an agency memo.

  
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• Obama Mocks Polls But Spends More On Them ($4.4M) Than Bush Did (Huffington Post)
  Huffington Post - With Reporting By Julian HattemMore >>>
  
  
• Immigration Debate: Border Cities See Less Violent Crime (Time.com)
  Time.com - The crime rates in large U.S. cities near the border, contrary to the fears that lie behind Arizona's tough new immigration law, are among the lowest in the countryMore >>>
  
  
• Conservatives doubt Sherrod’s case against Breitbart (The Upshot)
  The Upshot - Shirley Sherrod caused liberals to rejoice Thursday by telling a San Diego audience that she'll "definitely" sue conservative publisher Andrew Breitbart. But are things so bad for Breitbart, a media provocateur who appears to thrive off controversy? Despite posting the misleading clip of Sherrod that led to her resignation,  Breitbart hasn't apologized and continues using [...]More >>>
  
  
• Rod Blagojevich's Trial: A Look at the Court's 12 Jurors (Time.com)
  Time.com - A brief look at the six men and six women who are tasked with deciding whether the guilt or innocence of the ex-governor of Illinois and his brotherMore >>>
  
  
• Anthony Weiner Goes Ballistic At GOP For Killing 9/11 Responders Health Care Bill (VIDEO) (Huffington Post)
  Huffington Post - House Republicans late Thursday were able to corral enough votes to defeat a bill that would have provided up to $7.4 billion in aid to those sickened by toxins resulting from the 9/11 attacks.More >>>
  
  
• The new tea party bible (Politico)
  Politico - Tea partiers rally around "The Starfish and the Spider," as they struggle to maintain their impact.More >>>
  
  
• Waters chooses ethics trial (Politico)
  Politico - She has chosen an ethics trial rather than accepting charges made by an ethics subcommittee.More >>>
  
  
• AP EXCLUSIVE: Salazar tours rigs, keeps drill ban (AP)
  AP - The helicopter passes over the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico — with surprisingly little oil visible on its surface — when out of the sea rises a skyscraper-like structure nearly 350 feet above the waves. The $600 million rig, nearly 100 miles off Louisiana's coast, has a hull larger than a football field and can drill more than 5 miles beneath the ocean floor.More >>>
  
  
• Army: Rising suicide rate reflects risk-taking (AP)
  AP - An Army report on the record number of soldier suicides says the trend reflects a rise in risky behavior including drunken driving and drug abuse in a military stretched to the breaking point by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.More >>>
  
  
• Anti-Islam lawmaker not part of Dutch government (AP)
  AP - Anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders' hopes of becoming a Dutch Cabinet minister evaporated Friday after exploratory talks to include him in a right-wing coalition ended without agreement.More >>>
  
  
• Obama blames GOP on small business lending bill (AP)
  

  AP - President Barack Obama is going after Senate Republicans who have stymied his proposal to create a $30 billion fund to help unfreeze lending for credit-starved small businesses.

  
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• Democratic Surge? Part II (Huffington Post)
  Huffington Post - Last week, I argued that a reported “jump” for Democrats in Gallup’s weekly tracking of the national generic U.S.More >>>
  
  
• House to Vote on Easing Drilling Moratorium (CQPolitics.com)
  CQPolitics.com - The House will vote Friday on a measure that would ease the Obama administration's temporary ban on new deepwater drilling.More >>>
  
  
• When will spill be cleaned up? Maybe never (McClatchy Newspapers)
  McClatchy Newspapers - After more than three months, BP appears finally to have gotten a firm grasp on its runaway Deepwater Horizon well. Now the big question in the Gulf of Mexico is how, and if, an environmental mess of unprecedented scope can be cleaned up.More >>>
  
  
• Increase in FHA Mortgage Insurance Premiums Passes in House (CQPolitics.com)
  CQPolitics.com - The House passed legislation Friday to give the Federal Housing Administration flexibility to raise mortgage insurance premiums on the loans it guarantees.More >>>
  
  
• Obama slips behind wheel of a Volt in Motor City (McClatchy Newspapers)
  McClatchy Newspapers - DETROIT — Out to convince voters that the bailout of the U.S. auto industry has been a success — and to build buzz for its controversial poster child, Chevy's Volt electric car — President Barack Obama on Friday drove a car publicly for the first time in more than three years and implored consumers, "Don't bet against the American people."More >>>