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Posted by About.com US Politics on June 4th, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
The Justice Department is relying on a unique interpretation of federal campaign finance law in pursuing criminal charges against former Democratic Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards.
It all boils down to this - is a gift a campaign contribution?
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Posted by About.com US Politics on June 3rd, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
If John Edwards had simply had an affair, conceived a child out of wedlock and kept his mistress out of sight, he would be considered by many to be pretty slimy. But he wouldn't have been indicted on June 3. You don't get indicted for being slimy.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on June 2nd, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
Politics can be a dirty sport and politics in Chicago has the reputation for being downright grimy.
Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich confirmed that notion this week of June 1, 2011. If you remember, the former Democratic governor is on trial on charges that he tried to "sell" the Senate seat of Barack Obama when Obama vacated the seat to move into the White House.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 28th, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
On May 25, 2011, the Senate defeated the controversial House budget plan that includes Medicare changes that polls show many Americans oppose.
Democrats control the Senate, which means that Majority Leader Harry Reid (a Nevada Democrat) decides what legislation is brought to the floor. Reid and other Democrats vehemently oppose the House budget plan, which would, among other things, drastically change the Medicare program, which provides health insurance benefits to senior citizens. The federal government currently directly provides health insurance to seniors under Medicare. The Republican plan would transform the program by giving seniors vouchers to purchase health insurance on the private market.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 26th, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
The victory of Democrat Nancy Hochul in the May 24, 2011 special election to fill an open House of Representatives seat from New York had spinmeisters from both parties twirling out of control.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 22nd, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
Watchers of the federal budget got their latest view of Republican spending priorities for the next fiscal year (fiscal year 2012) on May 11 when the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee announced allocations to subcommittee chairmen.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 21st, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
Public opinion polls in 2011 show that many voters don't want Congress and President Obama to increase the federal debt limit. Those voters believe the federal government already is spending too much money.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 20th, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
If John Ensign of Nevada had not resigned from the Senate in early May, the Senate Ethics Committee would have asked the United States Senate to kick him out.
On May 9, the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Ethics Committee - Democrat Barbara Boxer of California and Republican Johnny Isakson of Georgia - went to the floor and bluntly accused Ensign, a Republican, of a variety of misdeeds. They said they want the Justice Department and the Federal Election Commission to investigate the possibility of criminal charges against the former Republican senator.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 15th, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
On May 9, the Senate continued a filibuster on the nomination of James Cole to be the Deputy Attorney General. If you were watching C-SPAN, you wouldn't have noticed the filibuster.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 14th, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
American voters are growing even more politically polarized and are less inclined to identify themselves as Democrats or Republicans. That's the conclusion of a fascinating new study by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
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