Politics

State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams (left) joined forced with Sen. Shirley Kitchen to poke Big Tobacco.

Philly legislators ask tobacco company CEOs for sitdown

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President Barack Obama will reportedly visit the damaged I-495 bridge in Delaware next week as part of an ongoing push to stress the importance of investing in transportation infrastructure.

President Barack Obama will visit the damaged I-495 bridge in Delaware next week as part of an ongoing push to stress the importance of investing in transportation infrastructure, according to a report from The News Journal.

Gov. Corbett gave his John Hancock to the state budget yesterday. He´s using millions to work on pension reform, an issue state voters say isn´t a crisis, poll shows.

Corbett wins... enmity of the General Assembly

Behind in the polls, the governor gambles with legislative cash to force pension reform.

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2013, file photo outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, right, arrive on Capitol Hill in Washington to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the Pentagon´s role in responding to the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. One by one, behind closed doors, military officers explained what they did, and didnâ€™t do, the night the Benghazi diplomatic post burned. Together their 30 hours of testimony to congressional investigators gives the fullest account yet of the militaryâ€™s response to the surprise attacks in Libya. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

What the military did while Benghazi post burned

WASHINGTON (AP) - One by one, behind closed doors, military officers explained what they did and didn't do the night the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, burned.

This photo taken June 30, 2014 shows North Carolina Republican Congressional candidate David Rouzer, right, talking with campaign aide Tyler Foote in Raleigh, N.C. Rouzer is favored to win the House seat that North Carolina Democrat Mike McIntyre is surrendering after 18 years. Democrats long have claimed that Republicans abused their legislative powers to elect a disproportionate number of U.S. House members. A court in Florida is lending credence to their complaint, and North Carolina Democrats are fighting a GOP-drawn map in state court. The battles are shining a new light on the fiercely partisan practice of gerrymandering, in which state officials draw congressional districts to help their party. Both parties have done it for decades, but Republicans refined the practice in 2011, a year after they won control of numerous state governments preparing to redraw congressional maps based on the 2010 census. Itâ€™s one reason Republicans hold a solid House majority even though Americans cast 1.4 million more votes for Democratic House candidates than for GOP House candidates in 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Babington)

GOP keeps House edge in Democratic-leaning states

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Democrats have long claimed that Republicans abused their legislative powers to elect a disproportionate number of U.S. House members. Now a Florida court is lending credence to their complaint.

Gov. Corbett arrives at a press conference to discuss his signing and line-item vetoes of the state budget Thursday in Harrisburg. (Bradley C. Bower/AP)

Inquirer editorial: What has Legislature really accomplished?

The Pennsylvania legislature finally got what it deserved Thursday: many millions less. Gov. Corbett's line-item veto of more than $70 million to be spent on the legislature and its pet projects drew attention to lawmakers' tendency to take care of themselves while ignoring the state's pressing problems. Most egregiously, they left town for a long summer vacation without doing anything to avert further disaster for Philadelphia's state-run schools.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett addresses the 44th Environmental Partnership Dinner in Philadelphia Wednesday, June 11, 2014. ( Matthew Hall / Staff Photographer )

Corbett vetoes $72M in spending; showdown set

HARRISBURG - Setting the stage for a showdown with the state legislature, Gov. Corbett on Thursday signed the $29.1 billion spending plan it passed last week - but only after striking more than $72 million from the legislature's own budget.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier address the media during a statement at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 11, 2014. Steinmeier says he will meet his U.S. counterpart John Kerry at the weekend to discuss allegations the U.S. spied on Germany. Steinmeier told reporters in Berlin on Friday that the meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State will take place at the weekend on the sidelines of talks in Vienna about Iranâ€™s nuclear program. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

German FM to meet Kerry to discuss spying claims

BERLIN (AP) - Germany's foreign minister said Friday he will tell U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at a meeting this weekend that Berlin wants to reinvigorate the two countries' friendship "on an honest basis" after asking Washington's top spy to leave.

Councilman denied 2d primary recount

A Gloucester County judge on Friday rejected a Monroe Township councilman's request for a second, manual recount in the June 3 Democratic primary.

In this Friday, June 20, 2014 photo, Ana Ortiz poses for a portrait in Los Angeles. Ortiz is the star of the Lifetime TV series "Devious Maids," the season finale of which airs Sunday night, July 13, 2014. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Ana Ortiz is proud of her TV show, 'Devious Maids'

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ana Ortiz was skeptical.

President Barack Obama speaks at a news conference after meeting with Gov. Rick Perry in Dallas about immigration on Wednesday, July 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Obama asks firms to pay suppliers faster

WASHINGTON (AP) - Dozens of companies, including Apple, Honda and Coca-Cola, have agreed to pay their suppliers more quickly in a bid to boost small businesses, the White House announced Friday.

When Glenn Beck knows the right thing to do and Obama doesn't...that's a problem

Why is Glenn Beck taking the humanitarian lead on a refugee crisis and not President Obama?

FILE - This June 6, 2013 file photo shows a sign outside the National Security Agency campus in Fort Meade, Md. The Obama administration knew in advance that the British government would oversee destruction of a newspaperâ€™s hard drives containing leaked National Security Agency documents last year, newly declassified documents show. The White House had publicly distanced itself from doing the same against an American news organization. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

US given heads up about newspaper data destruction

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration knew in advance that the British government would oversee destruction of a newspaper's hard drives containing leaked National Security Agency documents last year, newly declassified documents show.

In this photo taken July 4, 2014, Sen. Pat Roberts waves to the crowd at a Fourth of July parade in Lenexa, Kan. Roberts in facing tea party challenger Milton Wolf in the Republican primary. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas senator's longevity gives GOP foe opening

AUGUSTA, Kan. (AP) - Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts stoked the political brushfire he was hoping to smother during a recent Kansas City-area radio morning show.

FILE - This May 20, 2014, file photo shows Georgia Republican Senate candidate, David Perdue, right, greeting supporters after speaking at a primary election night party in Atlanta. Perdue, the cousin of former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, faces Rep. Jack Kingston in a GOP runoff July 22 in a race being watched nationally as Republicans seek to take control of the Senate. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Perdue touts business record in Georgia Senate bid

ATLANTA (AP) - David Perdue proudly points to his executive experience running major corporations as evidence that he's best positioned to tackle the nation's debt.

Senate candidate records GOP address, then deploys

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A new item on Lt. Col. Joni Ernst's checklist as she packed up for two weeks of annual training with the Iowa National Guard: denounce the health care law in the weekly Republican radio address.

GOP keeps House edge in Democratic-leaning states

Michelle Nunn to return cash linked to ex-con

ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia's Democratic Senate candidate, Michelle Nunn, will return contributions linked to a political operative convicted in a 1995 bribery case who recently co-hosted a fundraiser for her, a campaign spokesman said Friday.

Biden calls on governors to lead nation

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Vice President Joe Biden on Friday condemned the political gridlock crippling Washington, calling on Republican and Democratic governors alike to lead the nation "out of this mess" while insisting that Congress approve billions of dollars to repair the country's aging infrastructure.

FILE - This June 18, 2014 file photo shows Iowa Democratic Senate candidate, Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republican Iowa Senate candidate Joni Ernst will take a break from campaigning for two weeks to take part in active-duty training for the Iowa National Guard. But before lacing up her boots, Ernst was to record the Republicansâ€™ national radio address, the Republican National Committee said Friday. During that time, Ernst will not campaign, even though the race against four-term Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley is heating up. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

GOP's Ernst of Iowa to give party's radio address

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Iowa Senate candidate Joni Ernst will take a break from campaigning for two weeks to take part in active-duty training for the Iowa National Guard. But before lacing up her boots, Ernst was to record the Republicans' national radio address, the Republican National Committee said Friday.

James' return to Cleveland could complicate GOP

WASHINGTON (AP) - Celebrations aside, LeBron James' decision to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA could complicate the Republican Party's plan to nominate its presidential contender on Lake Erie's shores in 2016.

Kansas senator's longevity gives GOP foe opening

AUGUSTA, Kan. (AP) - Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts stoked the political brushfire he was hoping to smother during a recent Kansas City-area radio morning show.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, left, and Utah Gov. Gary Richard Herbert, center, listen as Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the National Governors Association convention Friday, July 11, 2014, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Biden calls on governors to lead nation

FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, file photo, Chet Kanojia, founder and CEO of television-over-the-Internet service Aereo, Inc., shows a tablet displaying his company´s technology, in New York. After the Supreme Court´s ruling against the company, Aereo is now using the high court´s own language to force broadcasters to treat it just like other cable TV companies. In Aereoâ€™s view, that means broadcasters must license its signals to Aereo under a 1976 copyright law. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

Aereo presses case despite Supreme Court setback

NEW YORK (AP) - Aereo, the television-over-the-Internet service that suspended operations after the Supreme Court ruled against it, is refusing to disband for good.

Mitch Tyner, an attorney representing U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel, tells reporters gathered outside the Hinds County Courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi, on Monday, July 7, 2014, that the McDaniel camp has heard numerous allegations and reports of voter fraud and they are confident they can overturn the result of the June 24 Republican run-off election defeat to incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran. (AP Photo/The Clarion-Ledger, Joe Ellis)

No easy path to overturn Cochran victory in Miss.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A tight timeline and potential cash crunch could make it impossible for tea party-backed Chris McDaniel to overturn his Republican primary loss to six-term Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran.

Thomas Coleman, right, with Robert Doriah, speaks at news conference Thursday July 10, 2014 in Los Angeles to propose full voting rights and access for the disabled. A Voting Rights Act complaint submitted Thursday to the U.S. Justice Department in Los Angeles goes to a politically delicate subject that states have grappled with over the years: Where is the line to disqualify someone from the voting booth because of a cognitive or developmental impairment? (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

Disabled people denied voting rights, group says

LOS ANGELES (AP) - At a time when election officials are struggling to convince more Americans to vote, advocates for the disabled say thousands of people with autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy and other intellectual or developmental disabilities have been systematically denied that basic right in the nation's largest county.

FILE - This June 23, 2014, file photo shows Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton as she speaks at the Colorado Museum of Nature and Science, in Denver. Like her parents, Chelsea Clinton has become a sought-after speaker who can generate large fees for her appearances. The 34-year-old Clinton, the daughter of the former president and ex-secretary of state, can command as much as $75,000 per speech. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)

Chelsea Clinton speaking fees can reach $75,000

WASHINGTON (AP) - Like her high-profile parents, Chelsea Clinton is becoming a draw on the speaking circuit, with some organizations shelling out as much as $75,000 per speech.

FILE- In this April 29, 2014 file photo, Florida Gov. Rick Scott speaks to members of the media after a ceremony during which he presented "Governor´s Veterans Service Award," medals to veterans in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Gov. Scottâ€™s campaign for re-election is hitting Democratic rival Charlie Crist with a barrage of attacks but his campaign team has also committed a series of blunders this year. (AP Photo, File)

Some in GOP worried over Fla. governor's missteps

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Republican Gov. Rick Scott is a multimillionaire and flies in a private jet, yet his campaign decided to criticize Democratic challenger Charlie Crist as an elitist for wearing a Rolex watch.

Corbett veto exposes GOP divisions in Harrisburg

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The relationship between Gov. Tom Corbett and his fellow Republicans in the Legislature took a turn toward the dysfunctional this week as they traded insults about leadership following his decision to veto millions from the General Assembly's budget.