
By Dean Clancy
Budget voters are first chapter in victory over eternal budget deficits
Independent voices from the TWT Communities

From rare audio interviews of former slaves to recordings by Donna Summer and the Grateful Dead, 25 sounds that shaped the American cultural landscape are being inducted into the National Recording Registry.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the nation's top military leaders pleaded on Wednesday for Senate approval of a long-spurned high-seas treaty, arguing that the pact will boost U.S. national security and create much-needed American jobs.

Top U.S. military officials urged Congress Wednesday to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty, noting a more assertive China, a race for maritime energy resources, and a need to keep sea navigation free.
From rare audio interviews of former slaves to recordings by Donna Summer and the Grateful Dead, 25 sounds that shaped the American cultural landscape are being inducted into the National Recording Registry.

With Congress unwilling to contemplate an increase in the federal gas tax, motorists are likely to be paying ever more tolls as the government searches for ways to repair and expand the nation's congested highways.

The Obama administration is taking its signature "Race to the Top" education grant competition to the micro level.
A Senate panel has approved a foreign aid budget for next year that cuts U.S. assistance to Pakistan and Egypt.

The automatic spending cuts and tax increases slated to take effect at the end of this year would cut the federal deficit dramatically, but would send the country back into a short recession, according to the latest analysis from Congress's official scorekeepers.

Most Americans are deeply skeptical of expanding immigration, especially in the middle of an economic slump — but a bipartisan group of senators said Tuesday that high-skilled immigrants could provide just the kind of spark the economy needs to help pull it out of a prolonged rut.

President Obama's administration is inclined to sell armed drones to Turkey but has to convince Congress first, Turkey's president told reporters after a meeting with the U.S. leader.

For Congress, the outlines of the pending fiscal crisis are clear: Don't do a thing, and watch the economy slip into a double-dip recession early next year. Or cancel the looming tax increases and spending cuts, watch the deficit rise, and push the government ever closer to a European-style debt crisis.

The active duty soldier who had his guns confiscated by the District of Columbia two years ago will have his property returned by Memorial Day. It took the help of a high-powered lawyer, two U.S. Senators, a member of Congress and national publicity to force the obstinate District to show some respect for the Constitution. It should never happen again.

Except for the cocktails, beer and wine, many of the scenes from the now infamous 2010 General Services Administration conference gave the appearance of a fun summer camp.

Catholic Church leaders escalated their fight Monday against President Obama's health care plan, as dozens of the U.S. church's biggest archdioceses, universities and other institutions filed a torrent of lawsuits demanding the law's contraception mandate be struck down as violating constitutional protections of religious liberty.

The embattled chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday he'll resign as soon as a successor can be found, succumbing to pressure from fellow commissioners who accused him of tyrannical behavior, and setting up what's expected to be a bruising battle over a replacement.