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TRENTON — The month-long controversy over Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to replace Supreme Court Justice John Wallace took a new turn today. Christie, who has faced a series of rebukes from critics who say the move jeopardizes the independence of the Judiciary, lost the services of a state advisory panel today after its members resigned in protest. Previous coverage: • Justice Wallace grateful for colleague support as term ends • Ousted N.J. Supreme Court Justice John Wallace thanks colleagues for support • N.J. lawyers group honors ousted state Supreme Court Justice John Wallace Jr. • N.J. attorneys voice concern over...

President Barack Obama will name a special commission to investigate the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, an administration official said Monday. The move follows criticism of the government agency responsible for regulating offshore drilling safety, which Mr. Obama joined last Friday when he denounced the "cozy relationship" between oil companies and federal regulators.

A dire government report on cancer risks from chemicals and other hazards in the environment has drawn criticism from the American Cancer Society, which says government experts are overstating their case. Related The government’s 240-page report, published online Thursday by the President’s Cancer Panel, says the proportion of cancer cases caused by environmental exposures has been “grossly underestimated.” It warns of “grievous harm” from chemicals and other hazards, and cites “a growing body of evidence linking environmental exposures to cancer.”

Down on debt: White House panel looks at deficit reductionApril 27, 2010 Today President Obama convenes a bipartisan commission to address the growing federal deficit. Leading the 18-member panel are Alan K. Simpson, a former Republican Senator from Wyoming, and Erskine Bowles, a Democrat and former White House chief of staff. The president has said that everything will be on the negotiating table when considering changes to federal spending and taxes. What are the possible ways to balance the budget?

The House Budget Committee Monday initiated the process that will allow the Senate to consider health care reform under special rules which ban Senate filibusters and require a simple majority to approve the measure. The House Budget Committee Monday initiated the process that will allow the Senate to consider health care reform under special rules which ban Senate filibusters and require a simple majority to approve the measure. The budget panel approved the reconciliation resolution 21 to 16. Two Democrats, Reps. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., and Chet Edwards, D-Texas, voted against the resolution. Both voted against the health care bill in...

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP) – The United Nations said Friday it would conduct an independent review of its Nobel prize-winning climate panel, whose credibility has been hit by errors in a key report on global warming. The UN's plan was announced as environmental experts at an international meeting hailed the opportunity to make progress on climate change after last year's Copenhagen talks ended in chaos and urged India and China to come on board. Demands have mounted for a major overhaul at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose chairman Rajendra Pachauri has also come under fire for his...

PHOENIX (AP) — Nearly half of the Arizona Legislature wants to force President Barack Obama to show his birth certificate to state officials if he runs for re-election. A state House committee on Tuesday approved the measure sponsored by 40 of the state's 90 legislators. It would require presidential candidates who want to appear on the ballot in Arizona to submit documents proving they meet the requirements to be president.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama signed an order Thursday unilaterally creating a bipartisan commission to rein in unruly deficits after Congress rejected a similar body with considerably more enforcement power. In making the announcement, Obama said that unless lawmakers put aside partisan differences, the continuing red-ink trend could "hobble our economy."

WASHINGTON (AP) - Determined to have a deficit commission with or without Congress' backing, President Barack Obama plans to announce on Thursday that he is establishing a panel similar to—although weaker than_ the one lawmakers rejected. Former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Senate Whip Alan Simpson would lead the panel, a senior administration official said Tuesday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the president's executive order creating the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform had not been announced.

http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/

Besides giving advice on avoiding taxes and fraudulently getting home loans for brothels featuring 13-year-old Salvadoran girls illegally smuggled into this country, ACORN officials could soon be helping regulate your local bank, thanks to an amendment adopted by Rep. Barney Frank's House Financial Services Committee. The amendment was sponsored by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA, and provided that five slots on the oversight board for the proposed new Consumer Financial Protection Agency be reserved for representatives of "consumer protection, fair lending and civil rights, representatives of depository institutions that primarily serve underserved communities, or representatives of communities that have been significantly...

Republicans and Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee agreed Friday night on language for a wide-reaching subpoena of Countrywide Financial’s VIP lending program as part of an investigation into allegations of influence peddling by the company at all levels of government, committee aides said. The subpoena, which was sent out Friday night, will ask the lender to fork over documents relating to its “Friends of Angelo” program – named for CEO Angelo Mozilo, who allegedly offered favorable mortgage rates to persons of influence.

In Senate testimony, constitutional experts say the president has the right to appoint independent advisors as long as the distinction between practical and legal authority is rigorously maintained. Reporting from Washington - Five constitutional experts testified at a Senate hearing Tuesday that President Obama's extensive use of policy "czars" is legal -- as long as the officials do not overstep their authority.

Democrats on a key Senate panel backed off a plan to impose billions of dollars in new taxes on senior citizens with catastrophic medical expenses Wednesday and defeated Republican amendments on abortion, immigration and other divisive issues, aiming to bring a comprehensive health-care overhaul before the full Senate within two weeks. On the sixth day of a marathon debate in the Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) declared that his panel has the votes to approve a package of reforms that would extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans who lack insurance. He and Sen. Charles E. Grassley...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday easily rejected the inclusion of a government-run "public" insurance option, backed by President Barack Obama, in its sweeping healthcare reform bill. The panel voted 16-8 against a government-run insurance plan in the first of several battles expected in Congress over the issue, one of the most contentious in the raging U.S. debate over healthcare reform.

WASHINGTON – The chairman of a new congressionally appointed panel has promised a no-holds barred investigation into last year's devastating economic collapse. The inquiry will look into whether any of the nation's biggest financial firms and the regulators in charge of monitoring them were guilty of criminal misconduct. Phil Angelides, appointed this year by Democrats to lead the 10-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, said the group will examine the conduct of top officials at such firms as Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, AIG and Bear Stearns, as well as mortgage buyers Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

The state's judges are paying tribute to the three-judge panel that decided the winner of Minnesota's disputed U.S. Senate election between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman. The Minnesota District Judges Foundation has presented its Community Service Award to Judges Elizabeth Hayden of Stearns County, Kurt Marben of Pennington County and Denise Reilly of Hennepin County. It says they displayed "the highest levels of professionalism, public service, and judicial independence and integrity." The three judges declared Franken the winner by 312 votes in April. The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed the panel's decision in June. Coleman decided not to appeal...

NASA will likely have to continue flying its aging space shuttle fleet beyond its planned 2010 retirement date in order to complete construction of the International Space Station, a presidential panel said Tuesday. Former astronaut Sally Ride, a member of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, said that it was unlikely NASA could meet the current deadline of retiring the space shuttle by next year, as is currently planned. The first operational flights of the agency's replacement for the shuttle, the Orion spacecraft, may also be delayed a year or so beyond its 2015 target, she added....

The government could lose out on more than $2.7 billion if federal officials continue to undervalue part of the financial bailout package, a government watchdog panel will say on Friday. The Congressional Oversight Panel, working with a team of Harvard Business School professors, estimated that taxpayers had lost one-third of the value of the very small number of warrants that had already been sold by the Treasury Department

House defense authorizers are pressing Defense Secretary Robert Gates to consider buying existing fighter jets instead of the next-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to curtail a severe fighter jet shortfall in the Air Force National Guard. During a House Armed Services Committee markup of the 2010 defense authorization bill on Tuesday, lawmakers raised alarm that aircraft shortfalls could present significant challenges to the Air Force’s ability to protect domestic airspace. At press time, lawmakers had included an amendment sponsored by Reps. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) and Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) that would force Gates to consider buying F-15, F-16 and F-18 aircraft...