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Over 100 nations agreed on a treaty Wednesday to ban current designs of cluster bombs and to destroy stockpiles of cluster bombs within eight years, and Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) are blasting the Bush administration for declining to sign.

 

"This is really unacceptable," Feinstein said in a press release today. "The United States should recognize the devastation that comes with the use of these munitions. I strongly urge the governments that did not participate in this convention to join this principled effort, and the United States should lead the way. And if this Administration won Read more...

John Edwards will be honored alongside rock singer/songwriter/guitarist Elvis Costello in New York City June 9 by the group World Hunger Year (WHY) for his work fighting poverty.

Edwards and Costello will both receive the group's 2008 WHY-Chapin award "for their exemplary work and dedication on issues of hunger and poverty on a local, national and worldwide level," the group said today in a release. Poverty was the central issue of Edwards's 2008 presidential run.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who has served on WHY's board of directors for 25 years, will be an honorary chairman of the awards dinner at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers.

Here's what the group had to say about Edwards and Costello in its release: Read more...

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) is recruiting support for an online protest of high gas prices.

Armey sent an email to members of FreedomWorks, the interest group where he serves as chairman, blaming congressional Democrats for high gas prices -- a current rhetorical theme for Republicans.

"Bad policy from Congress is a major reason gasoline is going through the roof. Led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congress continues to block development most of America

Most Americans want oil released from U.S. reserves and for oil companies to drill in protected areas, according to a poll released by Gallup.

The poll found that 58 percent of Americans want oil released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, while 57 percent want Congress to allow oil companies to drill in U.S. coastal and wilderness areas now off limits.

Republicans in Congress are now pushing a plan, unveiled last week, to lower gas prices, which includes both releasing oil from the strategic reserve and expanding drilling rights for oil companies.

The poll surveyed over 1,000 Americans aged 18 or older. See the results below. Read more...

As Congress fights over who is to blame for high gas prices, and passes bills seeking to address the issue, a new poll has found that few Americans have faith that the price will drop or even stay the same.

According to a new Rasmussen poll, 71 percent of American adults think gasoline will reach $5 per gallon by the end of the summer, while 21 percent said it is unlikely that gas will reach the $5 mark. Rasmussen surveyed 1,000 adults by phone on May 21 and 22.
The House moved May 20 to create a Department of Justice task force to investigate foreign and domestic oil companies for potential price gouging and conspiracy to alter market prices. The House also passed a bill, with the goal of lowering the price of oil, calling on President Bush to stop purchasing oil to deposit in the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve. Republicans have blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for high gas prices, dubbing recent increases the "Pelosi Premium."

National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley laid out four priorities today for stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: better information sharing, upping individual capabilities of all nations, monitoring financial systems more closely for suspect transactions, and explaining new security challenges to citizens .

Hadley spoke at the Hilton hotel in Washington, DC, at a meeting marking the fifth anniversary of the international Proliferation Security Initiative's launch in Poland. Hadley's speech focused on how dynamics of global security have changed since the Cold War, with nations such as Iran, North Korea, and Libya developing nuclear programs and with global terrorist groups seeking weapons.

See below his priorities for stopping the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons: Read more...

On a recent trip to Iraq, Reps. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), and Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) found themselves traveling in an unconventional fashion for members of Congress: on the ground, in an armored convoy.

Members usually travel by air because it is deemed safer, according to Reyes' office, but when sandstorms grounded their helicopter, the three were forced to travel through Baghdad by alternative means.

According to Reyes' office, an improvised explosive device (IED) was discovered near the route of the group's convoy hours before the congressmen traveled through Baghdad on Sunday.

"We've been at this for five years, and I'm concerned that we still don't control the streets, putting our troops in harm's way," Reyes said today in a release.

The three congressmen were traveling as members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which Reyes chairs. The group departed last Thursday and returned today.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has closed a deal on a house in Southern California, the Associated Press reports.

The house is in La Jolla, just north of San Diego. Romney also owns homes in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Utah. His spokesman denied there was any political positioning involved.

"Gov. Romney has been looking at property on the West Coast because he has family in California, and because his wife, Ann, spends a good deal of time there riding horses," said Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom.

Ten state treasurers and comptrollers plus asset managers for investment firms--a group controlling $2.3 trillion--are calling on Senate leaders to pass legislation that addresses climate change.

The group includes the global head of asset management for Deutsche Bank, the global head of corporate responsibility for the Man Group (the world's largest publicly traded hedge fund operator),

In threatening to have Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) thrown out of a hearing yesterday, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has abused his power, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said today in a statement.

At a committee hearing yesterday, Waxman and Issa began arguing over which party should be allowed to speak, and, as the two interrupted each other, Waxman banged his gavel and said to Issa, "I will have you physically removed from this meeting if you don't stop."

See a video of the exchange, as circulated by Boehner's office, here. The two reportedly started arguing after Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Stephen Johnson, who was testifying at the hearing, refused to say whether he had spoken with President Bush before ruling on various policies. Read more...