National News
CQ - Despite Gas Prices, Parties Face Obstacles to Moving Energy Legislation
Soaring gas prices have seized center stage in Congress, yet all signs point to the energy stalemate continuing.
CQ - Housing Bill Written to Restore Confidence in Fannie, Freddie Nears Vote
Lawmakers are expected to unveil early this week the final draft of major housing legislation that will include emergency powers for the Treasury Department to shore up confidence in beleaguered mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
LA Times - U.S. highway trust fund veers toward crisis
Count it among the victims of rising gas prices. Billions of dollars in road projects are at risk.
The Hill - Boehner says majority of Congress wants to drill
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Congress is ready to lift the ban on offshore drilling but is being blocked by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Washington Post - In Immigration Cases, Employers Feel the Pressure
A three-year-old enforcement campaign against employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants is increasingly resulting in arrests and criminal convictions, using evidence gathered by phone taps, undercover agents and prisoners who agree to serve as government witnesses.
LA Times - A battle over 'the next war'
Many military officers are pushing back against Defense Secretary Gates' focus on preparing for more 'asymmetric' fighting rather than for a large, conventional conflict.
NY Times - Influx of Voters Likely to Test New Machines
With millions of new voters heading to the polls this November and many states introducing new voting technologies, election officials and voting monitors say they fear the combination is likely to create long lines, stressed-out poll workers and late tallies on Election Day.
International News
International Herald Tribune - Overseas investors take hard look at U.S. mortgage giants
For more than a decade, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the housing giants that make the American mortgage market run, have attracted overseas investors with a simple pitch: The securities they issue are just as good as the U.S. government's - and they usually pay better.
CQ - U.S.-Iraq Pact May Spur Democrats
Democratic efforts to weigh in on Iraq policy could be gaining steam after the White House announced it has agreed with Iraq to a “general time horizon” for further troop drawdowns.
AP - Iraq's government spokesman is hopeful that U.S. combat forces could be out of the country by 2010
Ali al-Dabbagh made the comments following a meeting in Baghdad on Monday between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, who arrived in Iraq earlier in the day.
Washington Post - U.S. Talks With Iran Exemplify Bush's New Approaches
In a Matter of Days, Administration Announces Change of Tactics Toward Onetime 'Axis of Evil'
BBC News - China and Russia sign border deal
China and Russia have signed a treaty settling a long-running territorial dispute along their border.
State News
San Diego Union Tribune - Fuel costs, economy contribute to decline in traffic volume
It's considered almost a law of nature here: As our population grows, so will traffic. But the run-up in gas prices has helped put San Diego County in reverse. In what experts say is the first documented decline of its kind, freeway traffic is down.
San Diego Union Tribune - Busted neighborhoods
Sharply falling housing prices have become an unavoidable fact of life this year, but nowhere in San Diego County has the battered real estate market had more of a striking impact than in a number of central and south county neighborhoods where subprime lending was rampant.
San Diego Union Tribune - Budget compromise remains elusive
After seven years of deficits, lawmakers are talking about finding a way to reform a state budget that has been wallowing in borrowing and red ink for nearly all of this decade.
Sacramento Bee - California bill would extend jobless benefits in drought areas
California lawmakers are considering legislation to expand unemployment benefits for workers who have lost their jobs due to the state's drought.
North County Times - San Pasqual tribe could expel about 80 members
About 80 members of the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, which owns Valley View Casino, will be expelled from the Valley Center tribe if an internal effort to "disenroll" them is successful.
Posts
