Alexander Haig, the Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, and White House Chief of Staff under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, died today at the age of 85. He was one of my favourite old school politicians.
He was certainly a very interesting character. A general who had fought in Korea and Vietnam, received multiple military awards; a supreme allied commander in Europe; a politician that in this time brought some colour and excitement to Washington …

Although day in Massachusetts will be over soon, I still take the chance and wish Republican Scott P. Brown best of luck in today’s election for the late Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat.
It’s definitely not an easy task to win in such a Democratic stronghold as Massachusetts, but recent polls have indicated that Brown really has a strong chance. And, for the people of Massachusetts, it’s also a referendum on President Barack Obama and his policies.
I …

According to a recent poll, Republican candidate Scott P. Brown has a chance to win the Massachusetts Senate seat, left vacant by the late Ted Kennedy in the Democrat stronghold.
A poll by Public Policy Polling (PPP), a Democratic survey firm, shows that Brown has overtaken Democrat Martha Coakley, and holds a 48 per cent to 47 per cent lead as the 19th January special election approaches, NewsMax reports.
State Senator Brown leads 63-to-31% …

The United States Senate passed a health insurance overhaul today, 60-39, as both Democrats and Republicans held unified in their positions on the massive bill that mandates coverage for about nine per cent of the US population now without insurance, Fox News reports.
All 58 Democrats and two independents supported the $871 billion, 10-year package that aims to cover about 30 million Americans. Thirty-nine of 40 Republicans rejected the bill. Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, who is …

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has ruled out a run for the Senate in 2010, Fox News reports.
The seat is currently held by Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed by New York Governor David Paterson when former Senator Hillary Clinton became the Secretary of State.
One source close to the former Mayor says that instead of running for office, he will be pursuing other business opportunities in the private sector, noting that after …

US Senate Democrats won a crucial test vote on President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, putting them on track for passage before Christmas of the legislation to remake the nation’s medical system and cover 30 million uninsured, Fox News reports.
All 58 Democrats and the Senate’s two independents held together early today against unanimous Republican opposition, providing the exact 60-40 margin needed to shut down a threatened GOP filibuster.
The vote came shortly after 1am, the unusual …

Massachusetts Attorney General, Democrat Martha M. Coakley, and state Senator, Republican Scott P. Brown are to fight for Edward Kennedy’s US Senate seat in a special election on 19th January.
Coakley captured the Democratic nomination yesterday, easily defeating three men in a race that was notably bereft of drama. On the Republican side, Brown of Wrentham defeated Jack E. Robinson, a lawyer, the New York Times reports.
Coakley and Brown will face off in a special election …

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is considering a run for the US Senate seat held by freshman Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, Bloomberg reports.
Giuliani, 63, doesn’t intend to run for Governor of New York in the 2010 campaign, two sources said. Instead, Giuliani would seek the Senate seat in next year’s election.
A spokeswoman for Giuliani, Maria Comella, said he hasn’t decided on his political future.
Lee Miringoff, poll director at Poughkeepsie, New York- based Marist College, …

US President Barack Obama continues to “reach out to Muslims” by appointing them to key security posts amid charges he wrongly ignored internal Muslim terror, Arutz 7 reports.
Last week he swore in a Muslim rights advocate to the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC), shortly after the Fort Hood massacre, where a Muslim major murdered 13 US servicemen. HSAC members are involved in expertise on national security.
The new member is Syrian-born Kareem Shora, whose was the …

US House of Representatives passed President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform bill with 220 representatives voting “yea” and 215 “nay”, but in Senate the bill faces a difficult path amid divisions in the Democratic Party on how to proceed.
In the House, 39 Democrats opposed the bill and one Republican supported the measure that would expand medical coverage to nearly all Americans and bar insurance practices such as refusing to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions.
The battle now …

Looking ahead to the 2012 American presidential election, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin are definite frontrunners in the Republican Party.
According to Gallup, 71% of Republicans say they would seriously consider voting for Huckabee. This gives him a slight edge over Mitt Romney (65%) and Sarah Palin (65%) in this early test of the strength of several potential Republican contenders. A majority of Republicans also say they would seriously consider voting for Newt Gingrich, …

Americans are today voting for governors, mayors and congressmen and many of the races are seen as an early test of US President Barack Obama’s political influence.
Obama has spent a considerable amount of time and energy trying to ensure that Democrats win governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey, and pick up a Republican-held congressional seat in upstate New York, the AP reports.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds was trailing Republican Bob McDonnell in polls …

Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, unveiled a retooled health care overhaul plan today intended to bridge differences among Democrats and open a history-making floor debate on extending health insurance to nearly all Americans, Fox News reports.
Californian Democrat Pelosi said that the House’s version of a health care reform bill will include a government-run insurance option and extend coverage to 36 million uninsured Americans. She claimed that the bill will lower …

US President Barack Obama unveiled a new strategy towards Sudan yesterday in which the US will seek to work with the Khartoum Government, rather than try to isolate them — even though Washington accuse them of genocide in Darfur, The Times reports.
Obama emphasised, however, that incentives would be offered to Khartoum to end genocide in Darfur only if the Sudanese showed a verifiable change in behaviour. If this was not forthcoming, he warned of increased …

US President Barack Obama called on Congress to approve $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no increase in Social Security next year – by law, the Social Security increases are pegged to inflation, which has been negative this year, thus Obama is planning to pay pensioners a “bonus” despite the cost of living not rising.
“Even as we seek to bring about recovery, we must act on behalf of …

In an unannounced move, US President Barack Obama is dispatching an additional 13,000 US troops to Afghanistan beyond the 21,000 he announced in March, FoxNews reports.
The additional troops are primarily support forces — such as engineers, medical personnel, intelligence experts and military police, bringing the total increase Obama has approved for the war-torn nation to 34,000.
“Obama authorized the whole thing. The only thing you saw announced in a press release was the 21,000,” an unnamed …