Jun 8, 2011 – Tim Pawlenty’s economic policy speech on Tuesday took direct aim at President Obama. But the intended target may have been someone else entirely. By offering a dramatic tax-cut proposal, the former Republican governor of Minnesota was sending a message to the party’s front-runner, Mitt Romney, that he does not intend...

Jun 8, 2011 – Long-shot GOP presidential candidate Gary Johnson on Tuesday lashed out at CNN as "elitist" for not allowing him to participate in the network's primary debate. Johnson, the libertarian-leaning former New Mexico governor, participated in the Fox News-sponsored first primary debate in South Carolina last month. But he was excluded...

Jun 8, 2011 – Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) said Tuesday that if he were president, he would not nominate Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to a third term. The GOP presidential candidate has been critical of the Fed's efforts to pump money into the economy and said that Bernanke has...

Jun 8, 2011 – Former Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman is making a "mistake" to skip the Iowa caucuses, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said Tuesday. Grassley, the dean of Iowa's congressional delegation, called into question Huntsman's assumption that because he opposes subsidies for ethanol, he couldn't compete in the caucuses, the first nominating...

Jun 8, 2011 – Ron Paul said Tuesday he is the only Republican presidential candidate in the field with "credibility" on economic issues. Even though Republicans have moved in his direction on issues such as skepticism of the Federal Reserve and drastically reducing the size of government, other candidates are still "part of the...

Jun 8, 2011 – West Des Moines, Iowa (CNN)- Former Pennsylvania senator and –since Monday– Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is standing by comments he made regarding "enhanced interrogation" and Sen. John McCain's position on the technique. Santorum caught flack just over two weeks ago when he said McCain, a former prisoner of war,...

Jun 8, 2011 – Home prices around the country have fallen into a double dip. After declining around 30 percent from their peak, they started to rise a bit last summer with the help of a federal tax credit. But with that stimulus gone, prices are now sliding again to new lows. And while...

Jun 8, 2011 – Last week, rumors swirled that Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina could be a potential presidential candidate, and while that may no longer be the case, the conservative undoubtedly will play a leading role in the 2012 election cycle. But ask the senator what his playbook will be for getting...

Jun 8, 2011 – (Newser) – A unit of soldiers on their way home had to shell out nearly $3000 of their own money in excess baggage fees to Delta Airlines. The troops, whose orders stated that they could check in up to four bags free of charge, had to pay $200 for every...

Jun 8, 2011 – In January, the United States and much of the international community celebrated as the people of south Sudan voted in a long-awaited referendum on whether to secede from Sudan and form a new country. Ninety-eight percent voted yes. The balloting was considered free and fair; U.S. President Barack Obama congratulated...

Jun 8, 2011 – As stimuli wane and the economy flags, disappointment or danger could loom. "All in." That's when poker players have all their chips in the pot, betting all they have left on this one hand, which they hope won't be their last. "All in" pretty well describes the state of U.S....

Jun 8, 2011 – Rep. Michele Bachmann’s prospective 2012 campaign appears increasingly set on a collision course with former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. The coming confrontation is being driven by a belief in Bachmann’s camp that the same grassroots, conservative primary voters and caucus-goers may have to choose between the two women—and that they...

Jun 8, 2011 – President Obama on Wednesday will outline the expansion of a worker-training program intended to boost the manufacturing sector. The Skills for America’s Future program is an industry-led initiative intended to improve partnerships with community colleges and create easier-to-understand, uniform job-training requirement standards for prospective manufacturing employees. Obama will speak...

Jun 8, 2011 – Globalization is the process by which markets integrate worldwide. Over the past 60 years, it has accelerated steadily as new technologies and management expertise have reduced transportation and transaction costs and as tariffs and other man-made barriers to international trade have been lowered. The impact has been stunning. More and...

Jun 8, 2011 – Harnessing Reaganomics to the Internet revolution, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty laid out his economic vision for the nation—and his potential presidency—on Tuesday at the University of Chicago, a bastion of conservative economic academia. Pawlenty outlined an approach to fiscal issues that closely tracks the fiscal austerity program of House Budget...

Jun 8, 2011 – What a difference a week makes. I returned home from Memorial Day vacation to read about dozens of reporters chasing former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s caravan around the East Coast—a low-stakes scavenger hunt for a candidate who has shown few signs of seriously planning a presidential campaign....

Jun 8, 2011 – ABC News' Arlette Saenz reports: Five Republican contenders -- Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Gary Johnson, and Rick Santorum -- have signed on to participate in a Tea Party bus tour through Iowa, according to organizers of the tour. The Iowa Tea Party, in conjunction with American Principles in...

Jun 8, 2011 – The Senate's second-ranking Democrat questioned GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty's new economic plan, suggesting his tax cuts were little more than warmed-over Bush administration policies. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) took a shot at Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor who on Tuesday outlined a set of economic reform...

Jun 8, 2011 – (Newser) – Ben Bernanke isn’t worried about a double-dip recession, despite an economy he acknowledged as unexpectedly troubled this year, reports MarketWatch. “I expect hiring to pick up from last month’s pace as growth strengthens in the second half of the year,” the Fed chairman told a meeting of international...

Jun 8, 2011 – A new Quinnipiac poll finds Mitt Romney leads in the race for the Republican nomination with 25%, followed by Sarah Palin at 15%, Herman Cain at 9%, Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul at 8%, Rep. Michele Bachmann at 6% and Tim Pawlenty at 5%. Said pollster Peter Brown: "Whether...

Jun 8, 2011 – It’s called “Night Watch.” That‘s the nickname given to the military’s E-4B 747 airplane. But none of those names stack up to its more ominous descriptor: “doomsday plane.” After learning just a few facts about the aircraft, you realize quickly the name is appropriate. For example, it has an electromagnetic pulse...

Jun 8, 2011 – (CNN) -New GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum continued to tout his conservative credentials Tuesday on CNN’s “John King, USA.” “I’ve been a great, consistent leader of the conservative cause,” said Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator. “I’ve been someone who’s had ideas, fought for those ideas and have been able to...

Jun 8, 2011 – "The federal government’s financial condition deteriorated rapidly last year, far beyond the $1.5 trillion in new debt taken on to finance the budget deficit, a USA TODAY analysis shows. The government added $5.3 trillion in new financial obligations in 2010, largely for retirement programs such as Medicare and Social Security....

Jun 8, 2011 – Clear Lake, Iowa (CNN) -- Eight months from now, Iowa will once again lead the nation as the first state to officially vote for a Republican presidential nominee. But as the election nears, some voters say it is too early to be standing firmly behind one candidate at this stage...

Jun 8, 2011 – SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers are "playing with fire" by contemplating even a brief debt default as a means to force deeper government spending cuts, an adviser to China's central bank said on Wednesday. The idea of a technical default -- essentially delaying interest payments for a few days --...