Politics

In June, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made a fateful decision. They called on California Mormons to donate their time and money to the campaign for Proposition 8, which would overturn a state Supreme Court ruling that permitted gay marriage. That push helped the initiative win narrow passage on election … Read more

Insisting that the Lincoln Bedroom and Camp David are not for sale, the White House on Friday released the names of 361 overnight guests in an attempt to deflect Republican charges that contributors to First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senate campaign had gotten perquisites in return for money. An estimated 99 people on the list … Read more

The night before the Louisiana gubernatorial election, Edwin W. Edwards went to church. Greater St. Stephen Baptist in central city New Orleans received him as if he were a visiting prince. Edwards knelt near the altar. He was blessed by the black minister. After two years of enduring David Duke’s racist bile, a swelling congregation … Read more

Few worries gnaw on a parent like the prospect of putting a child through college. Tuition is rising faster than the nation’s inflation rate, and the yearly cost of a higher education now drains 25% of the median family income. With financial aid limited, more and more college students are graduating not just with degrees … Read more

A speedboat passes offshore windmills in the North Sea off Denmark. Former President Trump’s war on turbines dates from a losing battle against an offshore wind farm near one of his golf courses in Scotland. (Associated Press) For a long time, Donald Trump derided electric vehicles as expensive and impractical. “Nobody wants them,” he charged, … Read more

President Reagan crowed today over his double-barreled victories in Congress to start toward a balanced budget and tax reform, needling doubters by asking, “What’s this I heard about lame duckery?” When House Republicans last week stunned the Administration by deserting Reagan on a procedural vote and nearly killing tax reform, critics in both parties proclaimed … Read more

A member of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces walks inside a prison in Raqqa, Syria. An American citizen who allegedly fought for Islamic State in Syria has been detained in Iraq for more than two months. (Asmaa Waguih / Associated Press ) In a case that defense lawyers warned could create a “constitutional black hole,” … Read more

Attempting to crack decades of political paralysis over reform of the costly automobile insurance system in California, the Legislature Monday night passed and sent to Gov. Pete Wilson a sweeping overhaul bill despite the opposition of powerful special interests. With the marathon legislative session only hours away from a scheduled midnight adjournment, the lawmakers also … Read more

President Reagan proposed a “radical, historic” overhaul of what he called “the un-American” federal income tax system Tuesday, promising to free common citizens “from the grip of special interests” and to provide “a ladder of opportunity” for all. “America, go for it!” the President exhorted in a long-heralded nationally televised address from the Oval Office. … Read more

When FBI agents raided the northern Virginia home of President Trump’s former campaign manager Paul J. Manafort Jr. on July 26, they came with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. They arrived before dawn, forced the front door lock and burst in with a no-knock warrant, tactics typically used in a major drug bust. The … Read more