David R. Sands

GOP lawmaker: Dems shut down debate in House

A Republican lawmaker accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and congressional Democrats of "shutting down the process" in the House of Representatives to block his effort to investigate the national community organizing group ACORN.

June 22, 2009

House votes against releasing terror photos

In a rare victory for minority Republicans, the House of Representatives Thursday went on record against releasing photographs of prisoner abuse by U.S. military and security forces after the September 11 attacks.

June 11, 2009

Pelosi demands probe of nuke leak

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday called for an official investigation into the accidental posting on the Internet of sensitive details on hundreds of U.S. nuclear weapons-related facilities, laboratories, research sites and reactors, including the location of fuel for nuclear bombs.

June 3, 2009

Steele urges GOP to focus on the future

Embattled Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele plans to tell a special gathering of state party officials Tuesday that the party is through apologizing for past mistakes and will take the initiative as it tries to rebound with voters.

May 19, 2009

Crist reportedly set for Senate race

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is reportedly set to announce his plans to run for the Senate next year, giving the Republicans their best shot at holding the seat now held by retiring Republican Sen. Mel Martinez.

May 11, 2009

Absentee ballots to decide N.Y. race

The first electoral clash of the age of Obama finished in a dead heat, with uncounted absentee ballots now to decide the fate of the intensely watched race for an open House seat in upstate New York.

April 1, 2009

N.Y. House race in spotlight

Upstate New York's 20th Congressional District is home to the famed Saratoga Race Track, but it's been a long time since a local stakes race has attracted this much national attention.

March 31, 2009

Grassley: Budget freeze to stop ‘socialism’

The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee on Monday said an across-the-board freeze on federal spending is needed to reel in President Obama´s massive budget plan, signaling a more active Republican stance in fighting the president's agenda.

March 24, 2009

Grassley: Obama budget step toward ‘socialism’

President Obama's budget of tax hikes to pay for massive new spending programs is a "move toward socialism" that will stifle a creative free market, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee said in an interview Monday.

March 23, 2009

Tax code escalates as Dems’ tool

For the Obama administration and its Democratic allies in Congress, the power to tax is increasingly becoming the power to get their way on policy matters big and small.

March 23, 2009

House passes 90 percent bonus tax

Working at breakneck speed, the House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday to impose a 90 percent tax on bonuses given to top officials at companies that received tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer bailout money.

March 19, 2009

Republicans slam WH handling of AIG

Republican lawmakers Thursday launched some unusually direct attacks on President Obama for his handling of the economy and the furor involving bonuses paid to bailed-out insurance giant American International Group.

March 19, 2009

AIG chief asked for return of bonuses

UPDATED: The head of embattled insurance giant American International Group told Congress Wednesday that he had personally asked AIG employees to voluntarily give back part of about $165 million in bonuses, payouts that were made even as the company was getting more than $170 billion in taxpayer bailout aid.

March 19, 2009

AIG CEO says employees starting to return bonuses

UPDATED: The embattled head of AIG told a congressional panel Wednesday that he had asked employees to return some $165 million in bonuses but said he had concluded he had no legal option to cancel them altogether.

March 18, 2009

Democrats to tap tax code to curb AIG

UPDATED: The Obama administration and Congress looked to the tax code to claw back bonuses given to traders at insurance giant American International Group Inc. while softening the losses for victims of Bernard Madoff.

March 18, 2009

GOP gunning for vulnerable Dodd

Five-term Connecticut Sen. Christopher J. Dodd unexpectedly has emerged as one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats heading into the 2010 election cycle, with a new poll, a new challenger and new ethics problems all surfacing in recent days to give Republicans hope for taking the seat.

March 18, 2009

Democrats mull end run for Obama

"Reconciliation" is proving a divisive word on Capitol Hill, where it could trigger one of the biggest partisan brawls of the year.

March 17, 2009

GOP rips talk of 2nd stimulus

Sensing a political opening, congressional Republicans on Thursday said talk of a possible second stimulus spending program for the battered U.S. economy was proof that President Obama's first $787 billion stimulus effort had failed to do the job.

March 13, 2009

Two confirmed to Justice Dept. posts

The Senate approved the nomination of two top Justice Department officials Thursday, overcoming reservations from some conservative Republicans about the choices.

March 12, 2009

Feds might offer bounties for market miscreants

The nation's top market cop is looking for a few good snitches.

March 12, 2009