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Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is reportedly talking to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and is willing to search out “common ground” for gun control. Politico noted Cornyn was not comfortable supporting the current universal background check gun control proposals Democrats have put forward but could be open to more narrow offers.

Former President George W. Bush is still urging Congress to import more cheap and compliant visa workers — and even more legal immigrants — 17 years after he pushed Congress to adopt his very unpopular “Any Willing Worker” cheap labor law.

Courtesy of BizPac: Secretary of State John Kerry allegedly responded in a most unusual way to a reporter’s question Friday whether a nuclear arms deal could be reached with Iran before the March 31 deadline. “Allah willing,” Kerry replied — in Arabic, according to Laura Rozen, a reporter covering the Iran nuclear talks in Lausanne, Switzerland, for the Washington, D.C.-based online publication, Al-Monitor. As news reached the public Friday that a deal may be forthcoming, Rozen tweeted:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said Wednesday it would take action against the Syrian government even without the backing of allies or the United Nations because diplomatic paralysis must not prevent a response to the alleged chemical weapons attack outside the Syrian capital last week. New requests for the United Nations to authorize military action in Syria may have complicated the Obama administration's plan to take retaliatory action on the purported poison gas attack east of Damascus that U.S. officials claim was carried out by President Bashar Assad's forces. But a State Department spokeswoman said possible U.N. rejection of...

Mars One co-founder tells CBC about its proposed one-way trip to the Red Planet Mars One hopes to have people living on the planet — for the rest of their lives — by 2023.(Mars One/YouTube) The man behind the private space project dubbed Mars One is looking for people to travel to Mars, but he's not offering a return ticket. "The technology to get humans to Mars and keep them alive there exists," Bas Lansdorp told Day 6 host Brent Bambury in an interview that aired this week on CBC Radio. "The technology to bring humans from Mars back to...

US President Barack Obama speaks on the fiscal cliff negotiations and business relations during the Washington Business Roundtable in Washington. President Obama's lead negotiator in the "fiscal cliff" talks said the administration is "absolutely" willing to allow the package of deep automatic spending cuts and across-the-board tax hikes to take effect Jan. 1, unless Republicans drop their opposition to higher income tax rates on the wealthy. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in an interview with CNBC that both sides are "making a little bit of progress" toward a deal to avert the "cliff" but remain stuck on Obama's desired rate...

Abbas met with his rivals in the Hamas militant group over the weekend in an attempt to end nearly four years of infighting that has complicated the quest for a Palestinian state. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is making a heavy push for reconciliation with Hamas and is willing to give up hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid if that's what it takes to forge a Palestinian unity deal, his adviser said on Monday. Azzam Ahmed's remarks could indicate that Abbas would also give up on renewing stalled peace talks with Israel and prefers to pursue unity with Gaza's...

President Obama is willing to play golf with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to help improve their relationship, a top White House adviser said Saturday. Outgoing White House senior adviser David Axelrod said that the chances are "good" that Obama and the newly-installed GOP Speaker would hit the links together. "He understands that there are - there wouldn’t be two parties if we didn’t have differences … But he’s always believed that, even if you disagree on most things, you ought to work together

Reporting from Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke to President-elect Barack Obama this week and would be willing to work for the Democratic administration once his term expires if asked, the Republican governor said in an interview broadcast this morning. "I will help in every possible way the administration to be successful," he told Fox News. "So whatever they need, I'm there." Latest news: Governor Arnold...L.A. Now: Arnold might go to Washington for Obama The only qualification, Schwarzenegger said, would be permission from his wife, Maria Shriver. "Before I make any move, the next move that I make, I'm going...

Seventy-one percent (71%) of the nation’s voters say they would be willing to vote for a woman for President. Seventeen percent (17%) say they would not and 11% are not sure. Results are similar when asked about voting for an African-American—73% are willing to cast such a vote, 14% are not, and 13% are not sure. Seven percent (7%) of Democrats say they would not vote for a woman. Nine percent (9%) would not vote for an African-American. Among political moderates, 12% say they would not vote for a woman. Fifteen percent (15%) would not vote for an African-American. All...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2008 – The United States remains “ready, willing and able” to assist Pakistan and partner with the nation as it takes on al Qaeda, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said during a Pentagon news conference today. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates (left) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Michael Mullen hold a news conference in the Pentagon, Jan. 24, 2008. Photo by R. D. Ward  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates and Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen discussed the situation in Pakistan, saying the Pakistani government now understands the threat extremist...

FALLUJAH, Iraq, Aug. 5, 2007 – Weary of the violence to which their community has been victim, residents of the Andaloos district here have organized a Neighborhood Watch to keep watch against insurgent activity. Iraqi men of the Andaloos district of Fallujah wait in the hot sun July 30, 2007, to be selected as recruits for the new Neighborhood Watch program set up in their community through the efforts of Marines, Iraqi Army, Iraqi police and local community leaders. The program is part of ongoing Operation Alljah to transform the communities within Fallujah to provide security, civil assistance and...

WASHINGTON — The Iraqi government is ready to send whatever number of troops is needed to help secure Baghdad, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Sunday. “The commander and chief of the Iraqi Army can move the units of Iraqi Army from different parts of Iraq to Baghdad,” Talabani told CNN’s John King. “Of course our capital is Baghdad, and we are much interested to secure (it).” Such a move would help address concern by the commander of Multi-National Division – Baghdad, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. James Thurman, that an additional six battalions of Iraqi Soldiers - about 3,000 troops -...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2006 – The Iraqi government is ready to send whatever number of troops is needed to help secure Baghdad, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said today. “The commander and chief of the Iraqi army can move the units of Iraqi army from different parts of Iraq to Baghdad,” Talabani told CNN’s John King, who was sitting in for Wolf Blitzer on “Late Edition.” “Of course our capital is Baghdad, and we are much interested to secure (it).” This would help satisfy U.S. Army Maj. Gen. James Thurman’s recent statement that an additional six battalions of Iraqi soldiers, or...

MOSCOW, April 19 (Itar-Tass) - Russia will maintain neutrality in a possible armed conflict between Iran and the United States, Russian army chief of staff Yuri Baluyevsky stated on Wednesday, as he was answering Itar-Tass questions. "Unequivocally, and I'm saying it as chief of the General Staff, Russia will not be offering the use of its armed forces on this or that side," Gen Baluyevsky said. He called for resolving the Iranian nuclear problems through negotiations. "A diplomatic solution of the Iranian nuclear problem is the only right path; one should walk on it, the nuclear problem should be resolved...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's leading Shiite religious bloc said Friday it is ready to discuss Sunni Arab participation in a coalition government, while thousands of Sunnis and some secular Shiites demonstrated in the streets claiming election fraud. Reacting to growing protests over the Dec. 15 ballot for a new parliament, Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari urged Iraqis to have faith in the electoral process. He made the call after meeting with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who announced the first of a possible series of U.S. combat troop reductions next year. Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein's chief Iraqi lawyer, Khalil Dulaimia, claimed...

Few Democrats willing to stand up for statewide races By Jason Embry By W. Gardner Selby AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Sunday, December 04, 2005 On the eve of an election year when the governorship, a U.S. Senate seat and other statewide posts are on the ballot, the Texas Democratic Party last week was urging visitors to its Web site to get behind four hopefuls — including the mother of NFL quarterback Drew Brees — running for the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals. Activists insist that their focus on races such as the 24-county judicial contest is not a sign that the party...

ULAN BATOR, Mongolia (AP) - A chat with a Buddhist monk. An encounter with a gift horse named Montana. A peek inside a yurt, the traditional felt tent home. A word with Mongolian veterans of the war in Iraq. No outpost is too distant, no audience too small for U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, globe-trotting to bolster support for Iraq, Afghanistan and the wider fight against terrorism. The roaming Rumsfeld dropped in Saturday for an official visit with senior leaders of this once communist nation of about 2.7 million, home of the legendary horseman-warrior, Genghis Khan. Rumsfeld wound up...

I think President Bush's use of "coalitions of the willing" as a replacement for rigid treaties and lines of demarcation between allies and enemies makes an interesting application to our Christian cooperation with each other. This is particularly true in the sense that modern believers in Christ have factionalized themselves with their own rigid and outdated creedal "treaties," whether written or unwritten.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said yesterday he was open to loosening the voter-approved term limits on state lawmakers, saying the mandatory short tenure is depriving the Legislature of experience and knowledge. "We never really create someone that is an expert in anything in Sacramento," he said, "because before you become an expert you are out." Some political analysts have suggested that lawmakers might look more favorably on Schwarzenegger's proposal to strip the Legislature's authority to redraw congressional and legislative district boundaries if he would seek a change in the 1990 initiative that limits lawmakers to six years in the Assembly and...