Bush resigns from remaining board memberships

Jeb Bush has resigned all of his board memberships - both nonprofit and business - in a move that helps clear a path toward a 2016 presidential campaign. The former Florida governor stepped down from his remaining board memberships on Wednesday, the last day of the year, an aide said Wednesday night.

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10 things in 2015 that could affect 2016 campaign

There's a whole year of campaigning, positioning and politicking to go before the next campaign for president kicks off with the Iowa Caucus in early 2016. Ten things to look out for next year that might tell us something about how that campaign to come may shake out.

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10 people to watch in 2015

In the year that will pass before the 2016 campaign for president formally kicks off with the votes in the Iowa Caucus, any number of candidates, donors, political operatives - and people who have nothing to do with American politics - will shape the race for the White House. Here's a look at 10 people who will be worth watching in the next year.

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Clinton questions go beyond a will-she-or-wona t-she?a

Even as Democratic insiders laud Hillary Clinton as a solid choice should she become the party's 2016 presidential nominee, many also worry that skepticism from some party activists could weaken her by the time the campaign is underway. They're concerned about relentless pressure from the party's liberal wing, which wants Clinton to be more outspoken against corporate greed and more passionate about tackling income inequality.

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GOP leaders look for Scalise flap to blow over

In this Nov. 18, 2014 file photo, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La., right, with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., left, and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, following a House GOP caucus meeting. Scalise acknowledged that he once addressed a gathering of white supremacists.

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With Terror Insurance at End, Super Bowl May Be at Risk

With the expiration at midnight on Dec. 31 of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, the federal government is no longer standing behind insurance coverage of policies against acts of terrorism, The Hill reported. The act was originally passed by Congress in 2002 in the aftermath of al-Qaida's Sept.

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Palmetto Sunrise New Year's Day Edition: Looking back at 2014 and ahead to education debate

A Happy New Year from your new friends at Palmetto Politics! After taking a few breaths of 2015 air this New Year's morning, we're thinking about education. Specifically, spending.

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Putin calls annexation of Crimea histori...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has used his New Year's speech to hail his country's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula as an achievement that will "forever remain a landmark in the national history." Putin's comment in his pre-recorded annual address on Wednesday already has been broadcast in Russia's far eastern regions, where the holiday was celebrated hours ahead of Moscow, given the time difference.

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Activist arrests revive U.S.-Cuba tensio...

A Cuban crackdown on dissident activists caused a new rift Wednesday with the United States, the first diplomatic scuffle since this month's historic announcement of a renewal in ties. Authorities arrested 51 dissidents Tuesday to stop them from attending an open mic session convened for Cubans to speak out about their future, said Elizardo Sanchez, the head of the officially banned Cuban Human Rights and National Reconciliation Committee.

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Multiple Pay Cuts Hit Doctors In 2015

I've written about health care for more than two decades, starting from my native Iowa where I covered the presidential campaign bus rides of Bill and Hillary Clinton through the Hawkeye state talking health reform and the economy. I have covered the rise, fall and rise again of health reform, chronicling national trends as well as the influence of Barack and Michelle Obama from Chicago's South Side on changes to the U.S. health system from my base in Chicago.

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More

The biggest health care news of 2015 probably won't come from Cong... By The Associated Press Millions of revelers converged on the beaches of Brazil, the streets of Seoul, South Korea, and New York's Times Square to say good riddance to a turbulent 2014 marred... By The Associated Press Millions of revelers converged on the beaches of Brazil, the streets of Seoul, South Korea, and New York's Times Square to say good riddance to a turbulent 2014 marred by... A million people crammed into New York's Times Square ushered in 2015 with cheers, hugs and kisses after the glittering New Year's Eve ball descended from high above and a ton of confetti wafted down onto... A million people crammed into New York's Times Square ushered in 2015 with cheers, hugs and kisses after the glittering New Year's Eve ball descended from high above and a ton of confetti wafted down onto revelers... By The ... (more)

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Group says new disclosure law will have 'chilling effect' on democracy

Super PACs and certain nonprofit advocacy groups should be required to disclose their top five donors on billboard advertisements and campaign materials mailed to voters, a campaign-finance task force recommended this week. The recommendation drew criticism from one advocacy group that would be affected by it.

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2014 Remembrances: Honoring Some Exceptional Lives

A native Chicagoan, Greenlee drew on his own experiences as one of the first black Foreign Service officers to write The Spook Who Sat by the Door . Published in 1969, the novel centers on a government conspiracy to eradicate black America and the well-trained Army that the country's first black CIA agent - or "spook," in agency lingo - assembles to foil the plan.

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Baker's victory tops '14

Election years guarantee no shortage of storylines for those who chronicle politics in Massachusetts, and so 2014's top story as voted by the Statehouse press corps should come as little surprise. But even as the statewide elections created strong demand for ink and bandwidth, 2014 had plenty to offer off the trail, from policy debates on gun control and welfare reform to controversial court decisions and a viral phenomenon that had everyone from House Speaker Robert DeLeo to Mitt Romney dumping ice on their heads to raise money for ALS.

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Cold-War-Style Propaganda Posing as News

Patrick L. Smith on the decline and fall of American journalism; Peter Lee on China and its Uyghur problem; Dave Macaray on brain trauma, profits and the NFL; Lee Ballinger on the bloody history of cotton. PLUS: "The Vindication of Love" by JoAnn Wypijewski; "The Age of SurrealPolitick" by Jeffrey St. Clair; "The Radiation Zone" by Kristin Kolb; "Washington's Enemies List" by Mike Whitney; "The School of Moral Statecraft" by Chris Floyd and "The Surveillance Films of Laura Poitras" by Kim Nicolini.

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It Was A Rough Road For U.S. Foreign Policy In 2014

U.S. President Barack Obama Obama faced withering criticism in 2014 for what political opponents describe as a lack of strategy and vision for his foreign policy. The Ukraine crisis in 2014 brought Vladimir Putin's Russia to loggerheads with the West.

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5 things to know: Obama health law again in play

The biggest health care news of 2015 probably won't come from Cong... By The Associated Press Millions of revelers converged on the beaches of Brazil, the streets of Seoul, South Korea, and New York's Times Square to say good riddance to a turbulent 2014 marred... By The Associated Press Millions of revelers converged on the beaches of Brazil, the streets of Seoul, South Korea, and New York's Times Square to say good riddance to a turbulent 2014 marred by... A million people crammed into New York's Times Square ushered in 2015 with cheers, hugs and kisses after the glittering New Year's Eve ball descended from high above and a ton of confetti wafted down onto... A million people crammed into New York's Times Square ushered in 2015 with cheers, hugs and kisses after the glittering New Year's Eve ball descended from high above and a ton of confetti wafted down onto revelers... By The ... (more)

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2015: 13 big news events to watch for in the year ahead

A woman walks on Parliament Hill as a rainbow arches over the East Block in October. An October federal election is one of the news events to mark on your calendar for 2015.

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Last day of 2014 finds Obama on green again

The national press corps that accompanies the president has religiously shared updates on his comings and goings in shared media reports since his arrival on Oahu on Dec. 19. Most, however, chronicle a pretty familiar routine the gym, the beach, the golf course. ~~ It's been golf nearly every day for President Barack Obama this holiday vacation - save for at least one, when rain forced an indoor outing at the bowling alley.

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The Starting Gun for 2016 Has Already Been Fired

With roughly $100 million to raise, staff to hire, and speeches to practice, there's no time to waste in 2015. Happy New Year to the more than a dozen people thinking about running for president.

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His Royal Glibness

Now that Barack Obama is ruling by decree, he seems more like a king than a president. Maybe it is time we change the way we address him.

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Hawaii hopes to be home to Obama library

The hunt to become the home of Barack Obama's lasting White House legacy has become a game of presidential library survivor. For now, the President's native Hawaii can only hope, to borrow a phrase, that it is not voted off the island.

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Obama rings in New Year with friends, family

President Barack Obama -- still on vacation in Hawaii -- spent New Year's eve with loved ones at home, the White House said. "The president plans to stay at home tonight and ring in the New Year with family and friends," the White House said in a brief statement released late Wednesday.

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The Seven Senate Races To Watch In 2016

Is Harry Reid in trouble? Will John McCain take heat from the base? And what's Marco Rubio's plan? Is Harry Reid the most vulnerable senator in 2016, or is it a blue-state Republican such as Ron Johnson of Wisconsin or Mark Kirk of Illinois? Democrats will be benefiting from a favorable landscape, with Republicans defending 24 seats while Democrats will be defending only 10. To leverage that advantage into control of the Senate, however, Democrats need to net at least four seats . That requires sweeping out blue-state freshman Republicans in states such as Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin while also defeating a couple of brand-name senators, such as Rob Portman or Marco Rubio, in perennial swing states.

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10 things in 2015 that could affect 2016 campaign

President Barack Obama announced executive... . FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2011 file photo, Republicans enter Hilton Coliseum before casting their ballots in the Iowa Republican Party's Straw Poll, in Ames, Iowa.

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10 who might have an impact on 2016 campaign

In this Dec. 10, 2014 file photo, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington.

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Five ways to know you're speaking to white supremacists

There was a simpler time in America, a time when racists wore white hoods and carried torches, when Nazis wore swastikas and a skinhead could shave his scalp without being mistaken for a metrosexual. But those days are long behind us.

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View from the back bench

In the best of times, it's frustrating being a freshman member of the U.S. House of Representatives – especially if your party is in the minority. Back-benchers, as they are called, are mostly observers in the House, where party leaders call the shots.

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GOP legislators thwart bids to expand Medicaid

Governors across the political spectrum are hitting a roadblock in their bids to expand Medicaid with federal funds: Republican legislators who adamantly oppose "Obamacare." While some of these governors themselves have criticized the president's health care law in general, they've come to see one component - Medicaid expansion - as too generous to reject.

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Maybe the Poll is Broken?

According to the Gallup Poll, Americans have picked President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State and presidential wannabe Hilary Clinton as the Most Admired Man and Woman in the world. Yes. In the world.

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