(Jonathan Ernst / Reuters/Landov)
If the opening day of the American Conservative Union's annual star-studded CPAC convention is any indication, the Republican presidential hopefuls all have a lot of persuading to do.
Three of the GOP candidates will address the largest annual gathering of conservatives on Friday. Conference panelists included a white nationalist and immigration opponents.
Uber-primary watcher Josh Putnam warns of extrapolating delegate counts from states that do not explicitly tie election results to the actual allocation of delegates.
(Spencer Platt / Getty Images)
The $26 billion settlement reached by the federal government, most states and the nation's largest banks to compensate homeowners for abusive foreclosure practices is unlikely to end the housing crisis, analysts say. It could also lead to a new round of foreclosures, which would drive prices even lower.
(J. Pat Carter / AP)
On Thursday, the federal government reached a $26 billion deal with the nation's largest banks to compensate homeowners. In Florida, where a lawyer uncovered and named the rushed mortgage-approval process, some lawyers and homeowners say technical issues and trust battles remain for courts and the banks.
(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
All four of the remaining Republican presidential candidates have proposed cutting business and personal income taxes — the only difference is by how much.
(Elaine Thompson / AP)
Washington may soon become the seventh state to legalize gay marriage. But first, it's likely to face a referendum challenge in November. Same-sex marriage will be on the ballot in a handful of states this year, and supporters have yet to win a statewide vote.
(Kevin Lamarque / Reuters/Landov)
The White House and American Catholic bishops are at a stalemate over a rule requiring many religious organizations to provide insurance coverage for contraception. "If the argument is over religious liberty," says one scholar, "the bishops win. If the argument is over contraceptives, the administration wins."
(Linton Weeks / NPR)
You don't have to have big bucks to join the latest trend in philanthropy. Soup groups around the country let diners pool their money to support deserving local initiatives. In Philadelphia, one dinner raised $225 for a teacher's class project.
Six months ago, President Obama directed his secretary of education to give waivers to states seeking much-needed relief from the federal education mandates prescribed under No Child Left Behind. On Thursday, they granted them to ten. But how much flexibility is the president really willing to give and what is he asking in return?
The House of Representatives approved a bill to limit the ability of members of Congress to gain financially from information they acquire because of their positions. The Senate passed its version last week, and most members agree the bill is necessary this election year.
The annual Conservative Political Action Conference began Thursday in Washington, D.C. Several former presidential candidates were among the speakers. Host Audie Cornish talks with Ari Shapiro, who was at the conference.
It's been almost six months since the Occupy Wall Street movement started in New York City. In most cities, the encampments have been shut down and street protests have dwindled. But in Boston, the movement's organizers are trying out new tactics and strategies to keep their message alive.
(City of Chicago Clerk's Office)
The city of Chicago is scrapping a teenager's winning design for a new city vehicle sticker. Some say the art contains symbols that resemble those of a notorious street gang.
(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
Democratic Rep. Stephen Holland has introduced a bill in the state House to change the name of the gulf. It's a satirical shot aimed at his Republican colleagues, he says. Stephen Colbert had the idea before him.
On September 17, 2011, hundreds of people gathered in Lower Manhattan to protest the growing wealth gap and Wall Street's involvement in the economic crisis. Five months later, most of the Occupy encampments across the country have been disbanded and the future of the movement remains uncertain.
(Courtesy Harper's Magazine)
In preparation for a book about Abraham Lincoln's life at the end of the Civil War, historian Noah Andre Trudeau is in search of witnesses. The last week of Lincoln's life in April 1865 is a largely unexamined period. Trudeau is seeking diary entries, letters or stories of people who encountered Lincoln at the time.
Young conservatives are bringing new energy to this year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) with a panel called, "Why Am I Living in My Parent's Basement?" Host Michel Martin talks with two young people attending, about how they hope to bring under-30 voters to their side of the aisle.
The House on Thursday passed a bill that would ban congressional insider trading. With congressional approval at all-time lows, the bill was widely seen by lawmakers as a small step in restoring public confidence. But differences remain to be worked out with a Senate measure, passed last week.
The House on Thursday passed a bill that would ban congressional insider trading. With congressional approval at all-time lows, the bill was widely seen by lawmakers as a small step in restoring public confidence. But differences remain to be worked out with a Senate measure, passed last week.
Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, sent a letter to Rep. Denny Rehberg, the Republican who seeks to unseat him, requesting a truce on outside money funding negative ads for their campaigns, meaning superPACs.
Roy Fleming, 100, was 20 when he exchanged vows with his bride Dorothy, who was 15. The secret to their long marriage? Dorothy jokes that she's the boss.
One day after winning caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota, as well as a "beauty contest" primary in Missouri, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum traveled to Texas for a series of campaign appearances. He met with evangelical pastors in the morning and members of the Tea Party in the afternoon.
Assuming all goes as planned, at least 49 states will have signed on to a broad settlement between the banks and state attorneys general over robo-signing. Troubled homeowners may see some benefit, the banks will get some immunity provisions and the Obama administration is hoping to get some credit for negotiating the deal.
One day after losing three contests to former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney traveled to Atlanta for a campaign event. Georgia holds its primary on March 6, which is Super Tuesday. And the state would seem to have built-in advantages for another of Romney's rivals. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is from Georgia.
Lawmakers in the House are scheduled to vote Thursday on a bill cracking down on members of Congress who trade on insider information. In an election year, when Congress is having trouble reaching an agreement on much, the measure has enjoyed wide bi-partisan consensus. But that doesn't mean passage is assured.
Groupon was expected to show a profit in its first earnings report since going public last fall. Instead, the company booked a net loss of about eight cents a share last quarter. But Groupon's revenues nearly tripled compared to a year earlier. Wall Street was still disappointed that growth-- especially of new customers-- wasn't stronger.
(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
A federal watchdog confirmed it is looking into Freddie Mac investments that act as bets against homeowners being able to refinance. In addition, U.S. senators are expected to probe Freddie Mac's investment practice at a hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
(Mohammed Asad / AP)
Egypt might put nongovernmental workers on trial because it says they are operating illegally. But the U.S. insists Egypt needs to allow the pro-democracy groups to continue their work. American groups say they are helping political parties develop platforms around citizens' needs.
Four bills quickly moving through the state Legislature could make last year's Wisconsin labor laws look modest by comparison. Three restrict the way unions collect dues and the way workers get paid for union activities; the fourth bans collective bargaining between governments and government workers.
(Elaine Thompson / AP)
The move would make the state the seventh in the nation to allow same-sex couples to wed. Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire is expected to sign the measure into law next week. The vote comes a day after a federal appeals court ruled that California's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional.
(Craig Lassig / EPA/Landov)
The NPR Delegate Tracker credits a candidate with delegates only when party rule or state law unambiguously awards those delegates to that candidate.
(Lisa Hamilton / Real Rural)
Most moms probably don't want their babies around pot growers, but San Francisco-based writer-photographer Lisa Hamilton is totally cool with it.
(Rex C. Curry / Associated Press)
Fresh off victories in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum campaigned in Texas on Wednesday. He told a small group of pastors, some of them former supporters of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, that he is the true conservative left to challenge Mitt Romney.
(DigtialGlobe / AP)
A top State Department official wants to unleash the power of Twitter, Facebook and other services to crowdsource the fight to control the world's nuclear weapons.
(Larry Abramson / NPR)
Dismal attendance rates have put Detroit Public Schools at risk of losing vital state funding, so the city has launched an assault on truancy. Attendance agent George Eason says, "If we see that the parent is willfully ... not sending the child to school, then we will take every means necessary to enforce the law."
(Julia Cumes / AP)
Dolphins have been stranding themselves along the shores of Cape Cod Bay since the Pilgrims' times, and this winter is no different. What is different is how long the latest round of strandings has lasted — almost a month. No one knows why the animals come ashore, but when they do teams of rescuers mobilize to try to save them.
(Marc Piscotty / Getty Images)
Rick Santorum won the Colorado caucuses Tuesday on the strength of social conservative and Tea Party voters. Yet he fared differently in one battleground county that will be key in the swing state in November.
