Politics @ Washington Post

“This was household income when President Obama took office. This was the national debt. Under Obama, families have lost over $4,000 a year in income, and the national debt is now $16 trillion and growing. Barack Obama: More spending, more debt — failing American families.”

Nearly all of the independent advertising being aired for the 2012 general-election campaign has come from interest groups that do not disclose their donors, suggesting that much of the political spending over the next six months will come from sources invisible to the public.

In a debate that reprised many of the same policy and political themes Rep. Ed Markey (D) and former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez (R) have tangled over for weeks, the two Senate candidates found time to tussle over a senator who already has a spot in the upper chamber.

Nearly four years after the Fort Hood shooting rampage, the Army psychiatrist charged in the case will go on trial after a judge on Tuesday refused his request for a three-month delay.

Jury selection in Maj. Nidal Hasan’s trial is set for July 9. The judge, Col. Tara Osborn, said testimony will start Aug. 6 at the earliest.

The House approved legislation Tuesday that would ban abortions starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy, the most sweeping abortion restriction to pass any chamber of Congress in a decade. The vote was 228 to 196.

A bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, with 228 members voting for it and 196 members voting against it.

The bill will now go to the Senate, where it is not expected to pass.

A bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, with 228 members voting for it and 196 members voting against it.

The bill will now go to the Senate, where it is not expected to pass.

After getting off to a sluggish start this year, the Senate is now approving judges at a rapid clip.

The chamber approved two federal judges Monday night, Luis Felipe Restrepo in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Gonzales in the District of New Mexico. This latest move puts it on a lively pace of giving the nod to two judicial nominees a week since Easter.

FIRST ON THE FIX:

Gessler poll shows trouble for Hickenlooper: A Magellan Strategies poll conducted for Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler (R) shows him running about even with Gov. John Hickenlooper (D), with the incumbent at 44 percent and the Republican at 43 percent. Eleven percent said they were undecided. The poll of 500 likely Colorado voters conducted June 4-5, and comes on the heels of a Quinnipiac University survey that also showed Hickenlooper is vulnerable. Gessler has filed papers for a possible run against the Democrat, while former congressman Tom Tancredo (R) says he is running.

FIRST ON THE FIX:

Gessler poll shows trouble for Hickenlooper: A Magellan Strategies poll conducted for Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler (R) shows him running about even with Gov. John Hickenlooper (D), with the incumbent at 44 percent and the Republican at 43 percent. Eleven percent said they were undecided. The poll of 500 likely Colorado voters conducted June 4-5, and comes on the heels of a Quinnipiac University survey that also showed Hickenlooper is vulnerable. Gessler has filed papers for a possible run against the Democrat, while former congressman Tom Tancredo (R) says he is running.

The Congressional Budget Office is out with its estimate on the cost of the Senate immigration bill, and advocates for the bill quickly hailed the results.

From Lori Montgomery's story:

The bipartisan immigration bill under consideration in the Senate would reduce federal deficits by nearly $200 billion over the next decade, and continue generating savings in the years beyond, even after millions of new citizens became eligible for health and welfare benefits, congressional budget analysts said Tuesday.

The long-awaited report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office marked a major victory for the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" senators who have spent months negotiating the details of the measure. While some conservatives contend that the bill would cost the nation billions of the dollars, CBO analysts concluded the opposite, undercutting a potentially powerful argument against the legislation.

The Congressional Budget Office is out with its estimate on the cost of the Senate immigration bill, and advocates for the bill quickly hailed the results.

From Lori Montgomery's story:

The bipartisan immigration bill under consideration in the Senate would reduce federal deficits by nearly $200 billion over the next decade, and continue generating savings in the years beyond, even after millions of new citizens became eligible for health and welfare benefits, congressional budget analysts said Tuesday.

The long-awaited report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office marked a major victory for the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" senators who have spent months negotiating the details of the measure. While some conservatives contend that the bill would cost the nation billions of the dollars, CBO analysts concluded the opposite, undercutting a potentially powerful argument against the legislation.

The fate of the sprawling immigration reform proposal winding its way through Congress may now be in the hands of some of the most conservative members of the Republican Party.

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said Tuesday that he will not advance any bill that did not have the support of a majority of the House GOP, which will mean engaging some of the proposal’s biggest detractors and harshest critics.

The fate of the sprawling immigration reform proposal winding its way through Congress may now be in the hands of some of the most conservatives members of the Republican Party.

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said Tuesday that he will not advance any bill that did not have the support of a majority of the House GOP, which will mean engaging some of the proposals’s biggest detractors and harshest critics.

The G-8 summit in northern Ireland is over. And, while there was plenty of policy discussed -- and you should read all about it -- our lasting memory of the gathering will be the awkward body language between President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin during a joint press conference on Monday.

The G-8 summit in northern Ireland is over. And, while there was plenty of policy discussed -- and you should read all about it -- our lasting memory of the gathering will be the awkward body language between President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin during a joint press conference on Monday.

The G-8 summit in northern Ireland is over. And, while there was plenty of policy discussed -- and you should read all about it -- our lasting memory of the gathering will be the awkward body language between President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin during a joint press conference on Monday.

The immigration bill under consideration in the Senate would reduce federal deficits by nearly $200 billion over the next decade, and continue generating savings in the years beyond, even after millions of new citizens became eligible for health-care and welfare benefits, congressional budget analysts said Tuesday.

The immigration bill under consideration in the Senate would reduce federal deficits by nearly $200 billion over the next decade, and continue generating savings in the years beyond, even after millions of new citizens became eligible for health-care and welfare benefits, congressional budget analysts said Tuesday.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lied to Congress during a March hearing.

"What I'm saying is that the Director of National Intelligence, in March, did directly lie to Congress, which is against the law," Paul said on CNN, according to a transcript. "He said that they were not collecting any data on American citizens."