"If you were to hang out with me here it won't be five or 10 minutes before you see a Republican hug me. That is almost as entertaining as some of the films." -- Filmmaker Michael Moore

Gov. Mitt Romney has apologized for referring to the troubled Big Dig construction project as a "tar baby" during a fundraiser with Iowa Republicans, saying he didn't know anyone would be offended by the term some consider a racial epithet.

The US State Department used an accounting shell game to hide construction cost overruns on its projects to rebuild Iraq, a US newspaper reported, citing a US government audit.

Presidential adviser Karl Rove said Saturday that journalists often criticize political professionals because they want to draw attention away from the "corrosive role" their own coverage plays in politics and government.

Stymied in her diplomatic mission and rocked by an Israeli bombing gone awry, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice consulted Israelis in a tense atmosphere Sunday and planned to head home Monday.

"Still the One" singer-songwriter for Congress?

Iranian state radio said Saturday that the government would reject a proposed U.N. resolution that would give it until Aug. 31 to suspend uranium enrichment or face the threat of international sanctions.

Former basketball star Charles Barkley is talking about running for governor of Alabama again.

Bowing to moderates and seeking to defuse a campaign issue before leaving for vacation, House GOP leaders Friday slated a vote to increase the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour within three years.

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"The Iraqi prime minister is an anti-Semite." -- Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean

Allowing another Republican candidate to replace former Rep. Tom DeLay on the ballot would promote the interests of voters by giving them a choice, GOP attorneys argued Wednesday in a filing to a federal appeals court.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said there could be an "imminent solution" for the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants. A spokesman for the Hamas military wing quickly denied the assertion.

Popup Politicians is an AJAX-based widget that adds mini-profiles with links of Members of Congress to your page that appear when you mouseover the link.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki insisted that his country is a front line in the war on terrorism and said those behind the rampant violence there are perverting the Islamic faith.

"I enjoy cocaine because it's a fun thing to do." -- Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL)

Three major gay-rights groups are taking out full-page advertisements starting Tuesday in 50 newspapers nationwide declaring their determination to keep fighting for same-sex marriage rights despite recent court setbacks.

Confidants like grandparents or ministers who help pregnant teens should be protected from prosecution under a bill headed for Senate passage that would punish anyone who takes girls across state lines to end their pregnancies, Democrats said Tuesday.

The Middle East Buddy List -- Does Hezbollah get along with Egypt? What about Hamas and Iran?

President Bush's penchant for writing exceptions to laws he has just signed violates the Constitution, an American Bar Association task force says in a report highly critical of the practice.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said his country will not slide into civil war but acknowledged that mounting sectarian violence is now killing 100 civilians a day.

Backstage at the Crisis -- As the world's leaders gathered, the Middle East burst into flames. How President Bush handled the biggest foreign challenge of his second term.

President Bush may be pushing hard for Congress to give him line-item veto power to remove wasteful spending from the bills it passes, but the idea seems to be sinking on Capitol Hill.

The United States is open to a NATO-led force keeping the peace on Lebanon's southern border with Israel, although using U.S. forces has not been discussed, a senior Bush administration official said on Sunday.

When school was canceled to accommodate a campaign visit by President Bush, two 55-year-old teachers reckoned the time was ripe to voice their simmering discontent with the administration's policies.

Global warming is caused by hot air.

The 1965 Voting Rights Act, which opened polls to millions of black Americans, is on its way to President Bush's desk after winning a 25-year extension from Congress. The president promised to sign it even before the 98-0 Senate vote, eager to improve the GOP's standing with minorities.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will lay out U.S. plans Friday for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting.

The Bush stem cell veto puts some Republicans in the uncomfortable position of having to choose between the wishes of their conservative backers who consider embryonic stem cells to be early human life and those in greater numbers who want to use the cells for research that could one day save lives. "I think history will look very unkindly on this veto."

For five years in a row, President Bush has declined invitations to address the NAACP convention. This year, he said yes.

The House rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage on Tuesday, a setback that conservatives hope to turn to their advantage in the fall elections.

House debate on a bill to protect the Pledge of Allegiance from legal challenges because of the "under God" phrase erupted in heated rhetoric Wednesday with lawmakers from both parties using religious references to support their side.

President Bush readied the first veto of his presidency to stop legislation to ease limits on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.

Unfortunate President Bush Video of the Day

The Internal Revenue Service has been warning churches and nonprofit organizations that improper campaigning in the upcoming political season could endanger their tax-exempt status.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said that President Bush personally blocked Justice Department lawyers from pursuing an internal probe of the warrantless eavesdropping program that monitors Americans' international calls and e-mails when terrorism is suspected.

Undeterred by a decisive defeat in the Senate, House Republicans are moving ahead with a vote on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, forcing lawmakers to take a stand just months before the election.

"See, the irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hizbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over." -- President George W. Bush

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the fighting in Lebanon would end when the two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah guerrillas were freed, rocket attacks on Israel were stopped, and the Lebanese army was deployed along the border.

How Iran is wielding its influence to wage a stealthy war against Israel and America.

Congress embarks this week on the weightiest of debates on morality and the march of science, deciding whether to use public money for embryonic stem cell research and, in turn, setting up President Bush's first veto.

U.S. security teams arrived by helicopter Sunday at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut to start planning the evacuation of Americans from Lebanon.

In a chilly summit prelude, President Bush blocked Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization and President Vladimir Putin mockingly said Moscow doesn't want the kind of violence-plagued democracy the United States has fostered in Iraq.

Unfortunate President Bush Photo of the Day

A new poll found that Americans by an almost 3-to-1 margin hold the GOP-controlled Congress in low regard and profess a desire to see Democrats wrest control after a dozen years of Republican rule.

President Bush rejected Lebanon's calls for a cease-fire in escalating Mideast violence, saying only that Israel should try to limit civilian casualties as it steps up attacks on its neighbor. "The president is not going to make military decisions for Israel."

Valerie Plame to sue ''Scooter'' Libby, Vice-President Cheney and Karl Rove.

Israel intensified its attacks against Lebanon on Thursday, blasting Beirut's airport and two Lebanese army air bases near the Syrian border, and imposing a naval blockade. More than 50 people have died in violence following the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants.

In his latest syndicated column released Wednesday, columnist Robert Novak revealed his side of the story in the Plame affair, saying Karl Rove was a confirming source for Novak's story outing the CIA officer, underscoring Rove's role in a leak President Bush once promised to punish.

The U.S. nuclear envoy accused North Korea of refusing to cooperate in efforts to end the uproar over its missile and nuclear programs -- a sign that Pyongyang had rebuffed lobbying by ally China.

The White House is hosting the National Design Awards to honor the best in American design. Five Communication Design honorees decided to decline the invitation. They wrote a letter to Laura Bush explaining why.

President Bush will probably issue his first veto if the Senate approves a bill to expand federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research.

The House plans to vote on a bill that would ban credit cards for paying online bets and could padlock gambling Web sites. The legislation would clarify existing law to spell out that it is illegal to gamble online.

The Bush administration was running several intelligence programs, including one major activity, that it kept secret from Congress until whistle-blowers told the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.

No "Grandma" on the Texas governor ballet, but "Kinky" is fine.

Advocates who say black Americans should be compensated for slavery and its Jim Crow aftermath are quietly chalking up victories and gaining momentum.

The End of Cowboy Diplomacy

The United States believes it has the votes in the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions against North Korea's nuclear missile program, a top U.S. official said on Sunday.

President Bush on Saturday urged the Senate to back increased government spending on basic scientific research.

A U.S. envoy expressed support for China's proposal to hold informal six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear threat and offered to meet bilaterally with the North on the sidelines of those discussions.

Forget about North Korea or the war in Iraq, the important issue for politicans is that gay people still can't get married in New York and Georgia.

"I'm not George Bush." -- Senator Joe Lieberman

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The White House said that any attempt by North Korea to gain concessions following its missile tests will be rebuffed by the U.S. and four other nations pressuring North Korea to give up nuclear weapons.

On Independence Day, Lady Liberty was born again.

Congressional Republicans considering an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws are leaving Washington to examine labor needs and the vulnerabilities of the nation's borders.

The U.N. Security Council was considering how to respond on after North Korea test-fired a barrage of missiles including a long-range weapon said to be capable of reaching the United States.

Nearly five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Osama Bin Laden is still a free man. U.S. officials are not sure where he is, although it has long been assumed that he is hiding in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. Although the U.S. government says the hunt is still on, the CIA recently closed its Bin Laden unit.

Facing a stronger-than-expected Democratic primary challenge and sagging poll numbers because of his support of the Iraq war, U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman said Monday he'll collect signatures for an independent campaign if he loses next month's primary.

Of all the steps the Supreme Court could have taken to undercut President Bush's legal position in the war on terror, applying international law to al-Qaida probably would have been the worst.

Western powers have set July 12 as a deadline for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and agree to talks on its nuclear program or face the threat of U.N. Security Council sanctions.

Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) explains how an internet works: "I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially."

As the race for 2008 builds, Democratic Sen. John Kerry has left little doubt about his intentions to try again after his narrow loss to President Bush in 2004. He isn't the only also-ran considering another marathon.

New Jersey is closed.

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and other lawmakers are demanding explanations after hearing complaints that the movie "Facing the Giants" was rated PG instead of G due to religious content.