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WASHINGTON — By defiantly pushing for full-fledged ethics trials, Representatives Charles B. Rangel and Maxine Waters are raising the prospect of a spectacle focusing on Congressional corruption this fall, just as Democrats are fighting to hold on to their majority in an election already defined by distrust of Washington. Neither lawmaker, both Democrats, faces electoral jeopardy. Mr. Rangel, who was charged on Thursday by the House ethics committee with 13 violations, including failing to pay taxes on rental income from his Dominican villa, represents a safe district in Harlem. Ms. Waters, who is accused of using her office to help...

550 California residents, representing labor unions and civil rights groups, are marching in unity for Mexican-Americans. Protesters can be seen in this video wearing the trademark purple shirts of the SEIU, green shirts of AFSCME and blue shirts of the Teamsters..

(AP) With a new face and a 60th vote for breaking a Republican filibuster, Senate Democrats are preparing to restore jobless checks for 2.5 million people whose benefits ran out during a congressional standoff over deficit spending. President Obama says, "It's time to do what's right." But first, Obama and his Democratic allies are pressing for maximum political advantage, blaming Republicans for an impasse that halted unemployment checks averaging $309 a week for those whose eligibility had expired.

See Video Did Press Secretary Robert Gibbs know he was about to set off a firestorm this Sunday when he “stated the obvious” to David Gregory that there “are enough seats in play” for the GOP to take the House this November? Chances are, yes. This administration if far too media savvy to think a quote like that would do anything but set off a firestorm. Their motivation for doing so, however, remains unclear. I’ve noted in earlier posts I thought this was the administration’s subtle attempt to have its cake and eat it too. Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher thinks this...

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, the "tea party" movement must be honored. In an effort to replicate the tea party's success, 170 liberal and civil rights groups are forming a coalition that they hope will match the movement's political energy and influence. They promise to "counter the tea party narrative" and help the progressive movement find its voice again after 18 months of foundering. The large-scale attempt at liberal unity, dubbed "One Nation," will try to revive themes that energized the progressive grass roots two years ago. In a repurposing of Barack Obama's former campaign slogan, organizers...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) -- City animal control officers have started removing hundreds of large, feral rats from inside a Las Cruces rental home. Animal shelter director Beth Vesco-Mock said the rats - some sickly and displaying evidence of fighting - are about the size of a four- to five-month-old kitten.

Harlem Democrat Charles Rangel now says he will step down as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, NBC News has learned. He may make the move as early as tonight and Michigan Democratic Rep Sander Levin will temporarily take over the committee. Some details still need to be ironed out, but sources said Rangel has been pushed to step down before the House voted on a bill to forcefully strip him of the coveted chairmanship. Rangel has been under fire ever since an ethics committee released a report Thursday that found that he violated House rules by...

Democrats would not be playing the blame game with one another for the loss or for the healthcare debacle if they had only pointed fingers at those (or in this case, the one) who put Americans (and most of the world) in the predicament we’re in: George W. Bush.

President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid remain optimistic the Senate can wrap up the healthcare overhaul in time for Christmas, but few signs suggest that package will be ready in 2009. “I think it's going to pass out of the Senate before Christmas,” Obama said during an interview aired Sunday on CBS News’s “60 Minutes.” The Senate will pick up the debate this week after taking a break to pass a spending bill to keep the government running. But Reid (D-Nev.) will have to find a way to get 60 votes with Republicans united against the bill...

I want you to go to Constitutionally Speaking (CS) ... but not quite yet. As I have written numerous times, most members of Congress (past and present), knew that Obama was constitutionally ineligible for the office of President and remained silent. The names include Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, Shelia Jackson Lee, Joe Scarborough, Ted Kennedy, Orrin Hatch .... the list is endless. This is the dirty little secret known to most everyone in Washington, in the MSM, and in the legal community. It was purposely kept from the general public. The CS series provides exhaustive details of Congress' extensive knowledge...

The president rolled out the new strategy of scapegoating insurance companies during his town hall meeting in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday,

When it comes to donating to politicians and filling their coffers, bonus-and-bail-out embattled American International Group Inc.'s Financial Products unit in Wilton has a stimulus record of its own, providing Sen. Christopher Dodd's presidential campaign with more than $103,000 during the 2008 election cycle. AIG's contributions to Dodd outpace the financial firm's $101,000 contribution to President Barack Obama's election bid. Altogether, AIG executives raised $630,000 during the past election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, as the company was coming under fire. At least $120,000 of those contributions were made after September when Congress awarded AIG the first...

WASHINGTON – A Democratic official rebuked conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh on Friday for suggesting a health care proposal will be named in memory of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer. On his radio show, Limbaugh said President Barack Obama's proposed health care revisions will be championed by "the liberal lion Teddy Kennedy."

As polls just before the election showed Barack Obama winning, Dave Keene, president of the American Conservative Union, paid a visit to columnist Robert Novak at his home. His longtime friend was chuckling, and Keene asked him why. “Well, my Democratic friends think they’ve died and gone to heaven,” Novak said. “If they’d been around as long as I have, they’d realize that it isn’t heaven, and they don’t have a permanent invitation to stay anyway.” In fact, Keene tells Newsmax, Obama did not win for the reasons he thinks he did, and he can be counted on to overreach,...

All of the historic work that's been done in Virginia over the last six months now comes down to just five days, and Barack Obama, Mark Warner and our Congressional candidates are relying on YOU. Talk of the infamous GOP "72-hour program" has already begun. In 2000 and 2004 this program put George W. Bush over the top in Florida and Ohio, respectively. This year, the same operation is expected to land in Virginia. However, the Republicans have failed to recognize the infrastructure we've built over the last three years. Our operation elected Governor Kaine in 2005, unseated George Allen...

Republican presidential nominee John McCain on Monday used some of his harshest language to rip Democratic rival Barack Obama but stopped short of the personal attacks his running mate has launched. The Arizona senator, speaking in the battleground state of New Mexico, described Sen. Obama (Ill.) as a candidate who will promise one thing and do another. In addition, McCain said the American people have not received enough answers from the Democrat. “For a guy who’s already authored two memoirs, he’s not exactly an open book,” McCain stated. “Whatever the question, whatever the issue, there's always a back story with...

A political scientist at a Christian college in New York City warns that if Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama loses the election on November 4, race riots could break out in large U.S. cities. A recent Associated Press-Yahoo News poll suggested Senator Obama's race could cost him up to six percentage points on election night. David Corbin, a politics professor at The King's College, contends there is potential for public riots the night of or after the election, if Obama's lead in the polls does not translate into victory. "I don't think that's something that we've looked at very closely,...

Please tell me if you can, who BELIEVES the crap that's being posted over there at Daily Kos? WHO????

Bernanke declares markets must be stabilized, Bush reported eyeing speech to nation WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke declared Wednesday that economic growth depends on stabilizing stressed financial institutions as the White House said President Bush was weighing a speech to the nation on turmoil in the markets.