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President Barack Obama warned on Wednesday that the U.S. economy would suffer a massive blow if Congress fails to extend expiring payroll tax cuts, saying "we're not fully out of the recession yet." Obama sought to turn up the heat on congressional Republicans at a campaign-style rally at a high school in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a battleground state in the 2012 presidential election in which he is seeking a second term. Obama and his fellow Democrats want to finance the payroll tax break extension by raising taxes on wealthier Americans, an approach Republicans vehemently oppose. He said the issue could come...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Commerce Department announced on Tuesday its decision not to initiate investigation on allegations that China's currency practices constitute an unfair subsidy. The currency allegations under review were made in the context of countervailing duties (CVD) investigations of two Chinese products -- aluminum extrusions and coated paper. "Two allegations before it that China's currency practices constitute an unfair subsidy under U.S. countervailing duty law failed to meet the requirements for the initiation of an investigation," the Commerce Department said in a statement. "Today's currency decision was based on a careful evaluation of the specific legal...

Exclusive: FBI and Pentagon Missed Red Flag that Hasan Was E-mailing Qaeda Cleric, Who's also Linked to Abdulmutallab CBS) Less than a month after major Nidal Hasan allegedly killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, the Pentagon's top intelligence officer sent the White House a report detailing an earlier failure to connect the dots. It reads like a dress rehearsal for the Detroit bomber case, reports CBS News chief national security correspondent David Martin. According to that still-classified report, the terrorism task force responsible for determining whether Hasan posed a threat never saw all 18 e-mails he exchanged with that...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2009 – A U.S. commander in Iraq condemned yesterday’s wave of attacks in Baghdad that killed at least 95 people, saying a security lapse allowed the deadly assault. Army Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick said the Iraqi government is investigating the attack that involved two truck bombs exploding minutes apart near ministry buildings in Baghdad, killing scores and injuring more than 500 others. “Clearly, there was a lapse of security, or this would not have happened,” Helmick, who heads the U.S. command that oversees Iraqi security forces’ training and development, told reporters at the Pentagon today. The attack...

U.S. nuclear weapon chief fired www.chinaview.cn 2007-01-06 05:37:42 WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The head of U.S. nuclear weapons agency has been fired following security breakdowns at different federal facilities, including a nuclear weapons lab in New Mexico, CNN reported on Friday. Linton Brooks, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which manages the nation's nuclear weapons labs for the U.S. Energy Department, said in a statement that he would leave the job within two to three weeks, according to the report. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman told reporters that the nuclear agency under Brooks had not adequately corrected security...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

GOP Blames Clinton for Iraq Intel Lapse 1 hour, 9 minutes ago WASHINGTON - In a sign of how Republicans may try to quell criticism of prewar intelligence in Iraq, the head of the House Intelligence Committee tried Wednesday to direct blame to the Clinton administration. Rep. Porter J. Goss, R-Fla., said he heard a 1998 speech in which then-President Clinton warned that something must be done about Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction. "Unfortunately, he did not complete that task before his term expired," Goss said at a Capitol Hill press conference. Goss said the...