【US Politics 美國政治】 Political Hot Topics 熱點話題

CNN: House weighs overturning 'don't ask, don't tell'

A House panel weighed overturning the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy Wednesday, the first time Congress has considered the rule since it was implemented 15 years ago.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS ... donttell/index.html

Washington Post: Sorry We Asked, Sorry You Told

Don't ask, don't tell. And, whatever you do, don't ask Elaine Donnelly to tell you what she thinks about gays in the military. The House Armed Services personnel subcommittee made just such a miscalculation yesterday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp ... R2008072303642.html

NY Times: Spotlight on Gas Prices, and Parties in Stalemate

Congressional Republicans and Democrats agree that high gasoline prices are the driving domestic political issue of the moment, spurring new campaign advertisements and maneuvering almost every day. But that is about all they can agree on when it comes to the national panic at the pump.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/us/24cong.html?ref=todayspaper

CNN: Senator: Waste, fraud, neglect hurting U.S. soldiers

Tens of billions in taxpayer dollars have been lost, wasted or remain unaccounted for in Afghanistan and Iraq, and some of those funds -- and some missing weapons -- have landed in insurgents' hands, a U.S. senator alleged Wednesday.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS ... .hearing/index.html

CNN: Plouffe briefs Dems on Obama's campaign strategy

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe briefed House Democrats Wednesday on the campaign's strategy to win the White House and bolster the Congressional Democrats鈥

Washington Post: Gilmore Filed False Information On Campaign Disclosure Forms

Former Virginia governor James S. Gilmore III, the state's Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, submitted false information on two financial disclosure forms that hid his ties to a government contractor embroiled in a legal dispute over allegations that two of its executives had conspired to defraud the federal government.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2 008/07/23/AR2008072303510.html

Washington Post: Democrats Ask Labor to Forgo 'Secret Rule'

Congressional leaders demanded yesterday that the Labor Department withdraw an eleventh-hour rule proposal that would make it more difficult to set industry limits on the amount of dangerous chemicals that U.S. workers are exposed to on the job.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp ... R2008072303694.html

Washington Post: Rangel Acknowledges Seeking Gifts

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) acknowledged yesterday that he hoped his personal entreaties to foundations and corporations would bring in donations to an academic center that bears his name.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp ... R2008072303389.html

Washington Post: Lawmakers to Honor Officers Slain in Capitol in 1998

A simple moment of silence today on Capitol Hill will mark one of the most somber moments in recent congressional history -- and serve as another reminder of the fortress that Congress has become.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp ... R2008072303387.html

NY Times: Bush Ex-Official Says Corrupt Afghans and a Hesitant Military Hinder Drug Fight

Corrupt Afghan officials, a reluctant military and divisions over policy, as much as the Taliban, have contributed to a failing policy to fight narcotics in Afghanistan, a former Bush administration official writes in an article in The New York Times Magazine on Sunday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/2 ... tml?ref=todayspaper

AP: FEMA seeks immunity from suits over trailer fumes

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is requesting immunity from lawsuits filed on behalf of Gulf Coast hurricane victims who claim they were exposed to dangerous fumes while living in government-issued trailers.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALe ... 3Qx23gcpswD9235TD00

NY Times: Plan Would Use Antiterror Aid on Pakistani Jets

The Bush administration plans to shift nearly $230 million in aid to Pakistan from counterterrorism programs to upgrading that country鈥檚 aging F-16 attack planes, which Pakistan prizes more for their contribution to its military rivalry with India than for fighting insurgents along its Afghan border.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/world/asia/24pstan.html

Washington Times: Agreement for 'respectful' treatment of troops reached

Military personnel returning home from war zones can expect friendlier greetings by airport officials under a new agreement designed to prevent the reoccurrence of an incident last fall that stranded troops on a tarmac for hours at Oakland International Airport in California.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/ ... nt-of-troops-reach/

Washington Post: Court Ruling Tightens Investors' Safety Net

A recent decision by a federal appellate court goes a long way to protect investors. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed a lower court that had ruled a stockbroker could have a customer's complaint purged from his record.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp ... R2008072303145.html

NY Times: Polygamous Sect to Defend 6 Members in Court and Its Practices on Capitol Hill

Texas Rangers and prosecutors prepared Wednesday to arrest five members of a polygamous sect indicted the day before with their imprisoned leader on charges relating to under-age marriages and bigamy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/2 ... tml?ref=todayspaper

Washington Post: $500 Million Is Offered in Fight Against Tobacco

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Microsoft founder Bill Gates said yesterday that they will together provide $500 million to fight tobacco use around the world, especially in developing countries where smoking rates are rising.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp ... R2008072301991.html