· House Budget Committee Votes Against Including Stupak Amendment in Health-Care Reconciliation Bill

· Leading Conservative Senator: Congress Has a Right, and Duty, to Earmark
Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, named the most conservative senator of 2009 by the National Journal, told CNSNews.com he intends to lead a new effort to defend earmarking.

· No Democrat-Controlled Congress Has Balanced Federal Budget in 40 Years; No Republican President Has Balanced Federal Budget in 50 Years
No Congress in which the Democrats controlled both the House and Senate has balanced the federal budget since fiscal 1969--more than 40 years ago.

· Human Rights Report on Mexico Does Not Include Homicide Victims Who Are U.S. Citizens
The State Department's latest report on human rights practices details human rights concerns in Mexico, including the 8,000 people who died in that country from drug-related violence. But none of the 30 U.S. citizens who were killed in Mexico between Jan. 1, 2009 and June 27, 2009 are included in the report.

· Mexico’s Drug Violence Claims an American Couple Tied to U.S. Consulate
The slayings came amid a surge in bloodshed along Mexico's border with Texas and drew condemnation from the White House.

· Homosexual Group Attacks Statement Signed by Generals, Admirals Opposed to Homosexuals Serving in Military
A conservative pro-military group is defending a statement it issued,  and which was signed by more than 1,000 retired generals and admirals, in support of a 1993 federal law that says it is illegal for homosexuals or bisexuals to serve in the U.S. military. The signed statement is being criticized by a homosexual activist group that is relying on a PBS news report about the issue.

· Obama Administration Looks for Israeli Concessions After Jerusalem Housing Flap
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told NBC and CNN in separate interviews that the Israeli decision was 'insulting,' and on Sunday, President Obama's advisor David Axelrod, on ABC's This Week, called it an 'affront' and 'destructive.'

· Obama Heads to Ohio Monday, Still Hawking Health Care
President Obama on Monday planned to visit Strongsville, Ohio, the home of a cancer patient who wrote to the president, telling him she gave up her health insurance after it rose to $8,500 a year.

· Tom Hanks: America is Overcoming Racism, ‘It’s Just Taking an Awfully Long Time’
Academy-Award winning actor Tom Hanks told CNSNews.com on Thursday that ignorance and racism are going away in America, but 'it's just taking an awfully long time' for racism to be replaced by acceptance

· Clinton State Department Working With 'Advocacy Groups' to Prepare 'Human Rights' Report on U.S. to Give to U.N.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that the Department of State is soliciting comments from citizens, advocacy groups and other non-governmental organizations on the human rights record of the United States.

· Census Bureau Flip-Flops on Defense of Marriage Act and Will Count Self-Identified Same-Sex Couples as ‘Married’
The U.S. Census Bureau has changed its interpretation of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to allow it to tabulate same-sex couples who self-identify their union as a marriage, even though DOMA prohibits legal recognition of same-sex unions as marriages.

· Obama Urged to Establish an Office of Maternal Health -- Because Health Care Bill ‘Won’t Fix Crisis’
The government must do something beyond the pending health care bill to reduce the 'appalling' U.S. death rate for women having babies, Amnesty International says.

· Partial Iraqi Election Results Show Maliki Leading and Pro-Iran Parties Faltering
Leading the vote count in seven of Iraq's 18 provinces, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki looks well-placed to head negotiations to form a governing coalition, although final results are not expected before the end of the month.

· Social Security to Start Cashing Uncle Sam's IOUs
For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits. Not anymore.

· As U.S. Census Forms Arrive in the Mail, Officials Eye Young Adults
Fast-growing states in the South and the West could stand to lose the most because of lower-than-average mail participation rates in 2000 and higher shares of Hispanics and young adults, who are among the least likely to mail in their forms.

· Government Cannot Explain Runaway Prius; Suspicions Mount
The federal government said Monday it cannot explain a reported incident of sudden, high-speed acceleration in a Toyota Prius on a San Diego freeway last week.

· Pentagon Probing Alleged Spy Operation
A Defense Department official is under investigation for allegedly hiring private contractors to gather intelligence on suspected insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a U.S. official said Monday.

· US Military Hands over Prison to Iraqi Government
The U.S. military handed over control of a prison holding some 2,900 detainees to Iraqi authorities on Monday as the Americans move ahead with preparations for a full withdrawal by the end of 2011.

· Referendum Would Challenge LA Pot Dispensary Law
Medical marijuana advocates are gathering signatures for a voter referendum to block a recently passed Los Angeles law that will shutter hundreds of pot shops.