Political News from Yahoo

Senator McCain upbeat on immigration reform outlook

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator John McCain on Tuesday predicted that efforts to craft a wide-ranging, bipartisan immigration reform bill would come together promptly in the Senate, which could eliminate the need for President Barack Obama to propose his own measure. The Arizona Republican lawmaker, who is one of the negotiators on a bipartisan measure, emerged from a meeting with President Barack Obama upbeat about prospects in Congress. "We are committed to trying to get the issue resolved as quickly as possible and I think we will ... ...


McCain and Graham press Obama on border

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham pressed President Barack Obama on the importance of border security at a rare White House meeting Tuesday and came away praising the president's commitment to overhauling the nation's immigration laws.

Analysis: The 'fever' that Obama has not broken

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama promised this time would be different, that if he won re-election, a Republican "fever" would break and legislative gridlock would ease.


As India derivatives demand surges, it is Singapore that benefits

MUMBAI, Feb 27 (Reuters) - After long failing to act onforeign investor complaints, Indian policy makers findthemselves in an ironic bind: As global interest in Indianderivatives surges, it is Singapore, not Mumbai, that is reapingthe benefits. In a turnaround from past years, more stock futures andoptions based on India's main NSE share index are tradedin Singapore than India. Billions of dollars in rupeederivatives traded from the city state nearly equal the amountof spot currency traded in India. Deals in Indian debtderivatives are close to volumes in Indian markets. ...

House Republican focuses on tax reform but sees no quick fix

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Republican tax legislator on Tuesday renewed a vow to try overhauling the complex federal tax code this year, but he said no actual legislation would be forthcoming soon. Dave Camp, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, said that major tax reform remains his top 2013 goal. "We have to build this legislation. This is not a bill we are ready to roll out," Camp told reporters at a briefing. "It is certainly not going to be in the next six weeks. ...


APNewsBreak: Taliban attacks not down after all

WASHINGTON (AP) — The American-led military coalition in Afghanistan backed off Tuesday from its claim that Taliban attacks dropped off in 2012, tacitly acknowledging a hole in its widely repeated argument that violence is easing and that the insurgency is in steep decline.


White House, Congress face cuts; details lacking

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and Congress won't be immune to the automatic cuts in federal spending scheduled to kick in Friday. But for all the grim warnings the Obama administration has been detailing about the effect on everything from meat packing plants to airports, the consequences of the cuts on the politicians who concocted the idea are much sketchier.

Factbox: Impact of across-the-board U.S. budget cuts

(Reuters) - Deep U.S. budget cuts are due to kick in Friday unless Congress acts to stop them, which is unlikely. The $85 billion in across-the-board cuts, mandated by a 2011 deficit reduction law, apply in equal measure to defense and non-defense spending. The do not apply to about 70 percent of the money spent by the U.S. government, which includes Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest on government debt. ...

Obama rejects plan for more say in spending cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama brushed off a Republican plan Tuesday to give him flexibility to allocate $85 billion in looming spending cuts, wanting no part of a deal that would force him to choose between the bad and the terrible.


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