Why Obama won't call terror fight a war on radical Islam

President Barack Obama once again refused to label the fight against terrorism as a war on radical Islam or any kind of "religious war," insisting that such labels hurt efforts to root out radical ideologies in Muslim communities. Obama also cautioned against the risk of overplaying the threat of terror groups and said the U.S. should instead align itself with the overwhelming majority of Muslims who reject the radical ideology and tactics of terrorist groups like ISIS and al Qaeda.

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McCain defends 'low-life scum' remark

Sen. John McCain says the Code Pink protesters he called "low-life scum" at a hearing last week deserved it. The Arizona Republican made the remark after protesters rushed a Senate Armed Services Committee witness table where 91-year-old Henry Kissinger, the secretary of state under President Richard Nixon, was testifying.

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Will an SEC Primary Take Away the Power of Blue State Republicans?

This morning, Nate Cohn of the New York Times Upshot tries to answer the question asked by many Tea Party leaning Republicans in southern states: Why does it seem that the GOP presidential candidate always ends up being a moderate, rather than a 'true conservative?' And, he finds some interesting data about the power of the GOP in the states won by President Obama: But the blue-state Republicans still possess the delegates, voters and resources to decide the nomination. In 2012, there were more Romney voters in California than in Texas, and in Chicago's Cook County than in West Virginia.

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The Morning Note: Who do you think should be Mitt Romney's running mate?

Will Mitt Romney's choice be Paul Ryan, Pat Toomey, Mitch Daniels, Tom Ridge, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie or someone else? Good morning . It's Thursday, May 31, 2012 .

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Obama Dithers While Terrorism Escalates

Islamists were responsible for 80 percent of 17,958 deaths from terrorism worldwide in 2013, according to the Global Terrorism Index of the Institute for Economics and Peace, an Australian think tank. Deaths from terrorism have risen 500 percent since 9/a 11/a 2001, with the major players being the so-called Islamic State in the Middle East, Boko Haram in Africa and al-Qaida.

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Vexed by School Choice

National School Choice Week, which shouldn't have been a partisan occasion, came and went last week. It was partisan, of course, as most things in American public life are these days.

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Auntie Karen Foundation educating and empowering through the arts

On Saturday, the Foundation celebrated the 11th year of its African American History Program with local vendors, performers and artists showcasing their talents held at the Columbia Museum of Art. The foundation also announced a new partnership with the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary to start an artist village.

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The NFL's other public relations crisis

The next round of NFL controversy may be about to begin, and it has nothing to do with underinflated balls .

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Only One Group in America Is Having Enough Babies to Replace Itself....

In a Thursday report on the Pew Charitable Trusts' Stateline blog, analysts laid out the increasingly Hispanic future of the U.S. by showing the percentage of each state's population that is made up of Hispanics - and the much larger percentages of births to Hispanics. In California and Texas, roughly 38 percent of the population is Hispanic, but Hispanics account for nearly half of each state's births.

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US envoy to India stresses on improving trade ties

Describing US President Barack Obama's visit as transformative, that brought US-India relations to a new level, the American envoy to India Sunday said improving the economic ties was a key area. Speaking on the occasion of a book launch here, US Ambassador Richard Rahul Verma said the US was endeavouring to become India's best partner.

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Regulators prepare rules on payday loans to shield borrowers

Troubled by consumer complaints and loopholes in state laws, federal regulators are putting together the first-ever rules on payday loans aimed at helping cash-strapped borrowers avoid falling into a cycle of high-rate debt. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says state laws governing the $46 billion payday lending industry often fall short, and that fuller disclosures of the interest and fees - often an annual percentage rate of 300 percent or more - may be needed.

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Republicans marching toward curbs on Ritz's authority

Republicans who are frustrated with Democratic state schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz are moving forward with legislation that would shift influence over education policy away from her. Ritz's supporters in the Legislature protest that Republicans are disenfranchising voters who in 2012 elected Ritz.

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Peter King running: President or bust, King running to block other GOP nominees

In an interview posted Jan. 31 on The Daily Beast , King laid out his plan, and even pinpointed fellow GOP members that, in his estimation, have no business sniffing around the Oval Office. Writes the Beast: "Most presidential candidates have reasons and rationales about why they are running.

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Memo to Obama: Intentional ignorance is not an anti-terrorism strategy

Khair Mundos was the leader of Al-Qaeda linked Islamic extremist group Abu Sayyaf. He was arrested in a Manila suburb Wednesday.

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Ann Mara, Giants matriarch, dies at 85; memorably chastised Terry Bradshaw after Super Bowl

Ann Mara, with Eli Manning and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, paraded through New York City after the Giants beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. Ann Mara, matriarch of the New York Giants, has died two weeks after a nasty fall on the ice, the team announced Sunday.

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Huckabee compares gay marriage to drinking

Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee says expecting Christians to accept same-sex marriage is "like asking someone who's Jewish to start serving bacon-wrapped shrimp in their deli." The former Arkansas governor, winner of the 2008 Iowa caucuses and likely 2016 contender's comments came during an appearance Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," as he defended an excerpt from his new book in which he says he has friends and associates who are gay.

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Clinton maintains big lead in new Iowa Poll

Clinton maintains big lead in new Iowa Poll The poll underscores Clinton's dominance a year ahead of the Iowa caucuses Check out this story on WCNC.com: http://usat.ly/1CMDCxP DES MOINES, Iowa - Hillary Rodham Clinton continues to lead the potential field of Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa, capturing a wide majority of support and enjoying sky-high approval ratings among likely caucusgoers. The results of the latest Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Iowa Poll underscore Clinton's dominance a year ahead of Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses and the inability so far of any other potential candidate to crack her aura of inevitability.

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Israel reveals specialized medical marijuana strains

As medical marijuana gains acceptance around the world, Israel is drawing interest from investors for its "botanical high-tech" medical cannabis. A Canadian producer has already entered into a partnership with an Israeli producer, Tikun Olam, for a cannabis variety that helps reduce the seizures of epileptic children, but has been especially grown to remove the "high."

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Union County Congressman Lauds Anti-Human Trafficking Legislation

Westfield's Congressman, Leonard Lance, of District NJ-07, has announced his support for the U.S. House's decision last week to pass numerous anti-human trafficking measures designed to eradicate the practice. The measures expand both nation and international efforts to combat human trafficking and provide law enforcement and human services personnel the tools, resources and training they need to prevent trafficking and to better support its victims.

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U.S. top nuke envoy declined invitation, Pyongyang says

North Korea on Sunday lambasted the U.S. for shifting blame for the current lack of dialogue and frosty relations, saying that Washington's top nuclear negotiator has turned down a recent invitation to Pyongyang. The offer came after Sung Kim, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, had displayed his willingness to meet with North Korean officials during his Asia tour last week.

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Obama ties foreign profits tax to public works

In this Wednesday, May 16, 2012 file photo, newly constructed roadways are being built in Fairfax County, Va. President Barack Obama's budget will propose an ambitious six-year, $478 billion public works program of highway, bridge and transit upgrades, half of it financed with a one-time mandatory tax on profits that U.S. companies have amassed overseas, White House officials said.

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News analysis: On top in Iowa, Walker says he'll borrow rather than raise taxes to build highways

Gov. Scott Walker wants to borrow money that won't have to be repaid long into the future rather than increase gasoline taxes to fund questionable transportation projects over the next two years. The governor's decision comes as a new Bloomberg/Des Moines Register poll finds the self-described tea party founder leading among Republicans in Iowa, which holds the first-in-the-nation nominating caucuses early next year.

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How The GOP Prescribes To Obama's Precision Medicine Plan

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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Chris Christie heads for London in trip to boost 2016 credentials

New Jersey governor Chris Christie on Sunday began a three-day trade mission to the UK. The trip is meant to bolster his state's economic and cultural ties with the UK, though it has the added benefit of burnishing his foreign policy credentials ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

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Jeb Bush has become the GOP front-runner for 2016 - so now what?

Walker Surging in Iowa Poll as Bush Struggles - Hillary Clinton is running away from the potential Democratic field. - Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is surging, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is an also-ran and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is dominating in a new poll Scott Walker leads tight GOP pack in new Iowa Poll - In a new Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll of likely Republican caucusgoers, Rand Paul is just a point behind.

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APNewsBreak: Obama ties foreign profits tax to public works

President Barack Obama's budget will propose an ambitious six-year, $478 billion public works program of highway, bridge and transit upgrades, half of it financed with a one-time mandatory tax on profits that U.S. companies have amassed overseas, White House officials said. FILE - In this Wednesday, May 16, 2012 file photo, newly constructed roadways are being built in Fairfax County, Va.

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"The Sunday Political Brunch" - February 1, 2015 by ABC6 Chief Political Reporter Mark Curtis

Sometimes it's about former athletes running for office, or politicians thinking they are top notch athletes. This year we'll look at the nine Presidents in office during 49 years of Super Bowls - plus one hopeful - with an eye on what they did on the playing field: "That's Quite a Class" - New England Patriot's head coach Bill Belichick will be coaching his sixth Super Bowl team this year.

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Obama proposes 14 percent tax on U.S. companies' untaxed foreign earnings

President Barack Obama's fiscal 2016 budget would impose a one-time 14 percent tax on some $2 trillion of accumulated U.S. corporate profits earned abroad and set up a 19 percent tax on future foreign earnings, a White House official said on Sunday. Revenues from the one-time tax be used to fund infrastructure projects and fill a projected shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund.

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Feinstein ad looms large in California campaign lore

The Times said of this ad: "No matter how the volatile race for governor turns out, that ad is already headed for a permanent place in campaign lore." Video via YouTube.

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Democrats renew press for curbs on e-cigarettes

Daryl Cura demonstrates an e-cigarette at Vape store in Chicago, Wednesday, April 23, 2014. The federal government wants to ban sales of electronic cigarettes to minors and require approval for new products and health warning labels under regulations being proposed by the Food and Drug Administration.

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