The Great California Fiscal Earthquake

As 2009 settles in, California isn’t quite the Golden State anymore. School districts are expected to lose billions of dollars in financing for improvements and development, and health-care services for the elderly, infirm and poor will most likely deteriorate. State employees are facing payroll cuts, unpaid leaves and a hiring freeze.

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Report on Sanford’s travel records expected soon

South Carolina’s attorney general said Thursday he expects a report showing whether Gov. Mark Sanford used any public money on private travels to be released soon. Attorney General Henry McMaster, a Republican who plans to run for governor in 2010, called for an investigation into Sanford’s travel records after the governor admitted he had visited his mistress more times than he previously disclosed.

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Why Marriage Matters

Around the time of my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, I turned to my father at the dinner table one night and said, “It’s amazing, Dad — 50 years, and you never once had an affair. How do you account for that?” He replied simply, “I can’t drive.” Watching the governor of South Carolina cry like a little girl because his sexy e-mails got forwarded to his local newspaper, the State, made me wonder whether the real secret to a lasting marriage lies in limiting your means of escape

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Court declares Franken the winner of Minnesota Senate race

Minnesota’s Supreme Court has dismissed former Sen. Norm Coleman’s challenge to the state’s November election results and declared Democratic challenger Al Franken the winner. The court’s unanimous, unsigned opinion declared that Franken “received the highest number of votes legally cast” and is entitled “to receive the certificate of election as United States senator from the state of Minnesota.” If the ruling brings an end to seven months of challenges by Coleman, Franken would become the 60th member of the Senate Democratic caucus, a move that gives the party a filibuster-proof majority in the chamber, at least on paper.

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S.C. Attorney General to review Sanford’s travel records

The attorney general of South Carolina on Tuesday asked the state law enforcement division to review Gov. Mark Sanford’s travel records after the governor admitted to more visits with his mistress than previously disclosed. “In light of the governor’s disclosure of additional travel today, I have requested that SLED conduct a preliminary review of all Governor Sanford’s travel records to determine if any laws have been broken or any state funds misused,” Attorney General Henry McMaster said in a statement.

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‘Gayby boom’: Children of gay couples speak out

Jesse Levey is a Republican activist who says he believes in family values, small government and his lesbian mothers’ right to marry. Levey is part of the “gayby boom” generation. The 29-year-old management consultant is the son of a lesbian couple who chose to have a child through artificial insemination

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What Does the Energy Bill Really Mean for CO2 Cuts?

With a razor-thin margin of just seven votes, the House of Representatives on Friday evening passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act — the first bill to put a fixed and declining cap on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Republicans and Democrats in the House spent much of the day sparring in sharp language over the bill, which will reduce U.S

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Report: Michael Jackson Hospitalized

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has never shied away from talking about his religious faith. So perhaps it should have come as no surprise that he invoked “God’s law” throughout his long, rambling press conference on June 24 — after going missing in Buenos Aires for six days — to confess his yearlong extramarital affair with an Argentine woman. But in acknowledging his infidelity, Sanford was actually admitting that he had broken a state law: adultery is still punishable in South Carolina by up to a year in prison and a $500 fine

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Sanford’s Sex Scandal: South Carolina and the GOP Assess the Damage

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has never shied away from talking about his religious faith, so perhaps it should have come as no surprise that he invoked “God’s law” throughout his long, rambling press conference Wednesday afternoon to confess his year-long extramarital affair with an Argentine woman. But in acknowledging his infidelity, Sanford was actually admitting that he had broken a state law: adultery is still punishable in South Carolina by up to a year in prison and a $500 fine

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