News & Politics Blog 1328 items | updated May 17 2013

By Ryan J. Reilly / Talking Points Memo

The Obama administration issued procedures late Tuesday on their interpretation of the provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which required some terrorism suspects to be held in military custody. In short, the guidelines make it nearly impossible for a terrorism suspect to end up in the hands of the military.

Under broadly written categorical waivers carved out by the Obama administration, the military custody requirement will be waived if the suspect's home country objected to military custody; if the individual is a lawful permanent resident arrested in the country or for conduct conducted in the country; when a suspect is originally charged with something other than a terrorism offense; when a person is originally arrested by state or local law enforcement; when a transfer to military custody "could interfere with efforts to secure an individual's cooperation or confession"; or when transferring an individual might interfere with joint trials with other defendants.

By Stephanie Whiteside / current.com

We all know Rick Santorum has been vocal in his opposition to abortion and contraception. On "Face the Nation" recently, the Republican presidential candidate also spoke out against another facet of reproductive care -- prenatal testing.

Santorum, who has a daughter who has been diagnosed with the genetic disorder Trisomy 18, singled out anmniocentesis as one form of prenatal testing that he believes insurance companies should not be required to cover.

"The bottom line is that a lot of prenatal tests are done to identify deformities in utero and the customary procedure is to encourage abortions," Santorum argued.

But just what is an amniocentesis and what role does it play for pregnant women? Does it merely result in abortions, or is there something more important at stake? The politics of the procedure now command the headlines, but according to women who have gone through it, as well as medical professionals, the coverage of Santorum's controversial comments miss an important aspect to this story.

By Victor Balta / current.com

Rick Santorum is out with a bold, new ad in which he paints Mitt Romney as the "establishment" choice that is being force fed to Republicans this primary season, and warns conservatives they should not "blindly" follow Romney right into the nomination.

As political ads go, it's a decent, bone-chilling one. 

But it's notable for another reason.

A trial against BP over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that affected tens of thousands of businesses and individuals has been delayed until Monday as the parties continue to work on a settlement. A potential deal would be worth around $14 billion, according to a report from Bloomberg News. But if BP can’t reach an agreement to compensate the victims, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says federal prosecutors are prepared to battle the oil giant in court and promises developments in the ongoing criminal investigation.

In other environmental news this past week...

By Carrie Mihalcik / current.com

Arizona Republicans go to the polls today to cast their votes in the presidential primary. Republican candidates have largely ignored the state -- with the exception of a CNN debate last week, which brought massive cheers from the home crowd when Newt Gingrich claimed President Obama supports "infanticide."

But we're always watching Arizona.

Whether it's the state's controversial immigration laws or its outlandish public officials, the desert state knows how to produce shock and awe. And before you start getting all offended, let's just clarify there's no intention here of painting the entire state or all of its residents with the same brush. Just the crazy ones. And, trust us, you have no idea who you are.

That said, here are 7 reasons, in no particular order, why Arizona scares us:

By Pema Levy / Talking Points Memo

At an event in Lansing, Michigan Monday, Rick Santorum put forward an alternate theory for the cause of the financial crisis in 2008: that rising gas prices caused Americans to default on their mortgages, leading to the wave of foreclosures that sparked Wall Street's near collapse.

"We went into a recession in 2008 because of gasoline prices," Santorum said to a hotel ballroom of supporters. "The bubble burst in housing because people couldn't pay their mortgages because of $4 a gallon gasoline."

By Eric Kleefeld / Talking Points Memo

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) is continuing to joust with Democrats on the Obama administration's contraception mandates on health insurance -- and not just with his Democratic opponent, former White House financial reform adviser Elizabeth Warren. The latest Dem to step up to challenge Brown on the issue, the Boston Herald reports: Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), son of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy whose old seat Brown won in the January 2010 special election. The younger Kennedy's demand: Stop invoking my dad's name.

Brown's answer: Nope.

By Carrie Mihalcik / current.com

David Levitt, founding director of OccupyGovernment.org, told Cenk Uygur back in October that his organization had a candidate in mind to challenge U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). But he left out one important detail: He is that candidate.

Levitt, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, officially announced his intention to run for the U.S. Senate earlier this month and announced Thursday that he's secured the signatures needed to get on the ballot statewide.

This week, gas prices rose, Brazilians celebrated Carnival, the GOP bickered in another debate and Australia introduced the first virtual supermarket. Get caught up with The Week in Photos:

LINK: http://current.com/photo-galleries/the-week-in-photos-feb-18---24/

By Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo

One of Aristotle's laws of nature is that every time fuel prices rise, political snake oil salesmen come out of hiding to blame it on their enemies: They attribute (or implicitly link) cost spikes to the other party's policy decisions. The solution, they always say, lies in the policies they've advocated since what feels like the beginning of time.

This happens every few years, and every few years it's total nonsense.

By David Taintor / Talking Points Memo

The war drums are beating louder and louder for Iran. And on CNN Thursday night, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani did his part, casually saying President Obama should threaten to "bomb" Iran to prevent the country from developing a nuclear weapon.

Obama has made the situation more complicated by being such a "weakling," Giuliani said, including writing a secret letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamanei asking for a dialogue.

By Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo

The GOP's ongoing push to allow employers to deny contraceptive -- or any -- health care coverage has Democrats in an amusing position: outraged that the Republican party has reignited the culture wars, and simultaneously salivating over what they believe is a deadly GOP political misstep.

In the days ahead, Senate Republicans, led by Missouri's Roy Blunt, will vote on a controversial amendment to pending transportation legislation -- one that would enshrine employers' right to limit health care benefits for moral reasons.

By David Taintor / Talking Points Memo

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Friday defended the legality of the NYPD's covert monitoring of Muslims in New York and New Jersey.

"Everything the NYPD has done is legal, it is appropriate, it is constitutional," Bloomberg said on WOR radio.

by Lois Beckett / ProPublica

Feb. 23: This post has been updated.

You bought your house when the market was high and then lost your job. In order to avoid foreclosure, you negotiated a short sale for half of what you paid, ruining your credit rating for years and draining your bank account. But there is a tiny silver lining: Thanks to a 2007 law, you don't have to pay taxes on the $100,000 of debt your bank forgave as part of the short-sale agreement.

This week, real estate columnist Kenneth R. Harney pointed out that this important tax break will expire at the end of 2012 -- and, because of opposition from conservative members of Congress, might not be renewed.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to revisit the polarizing topic of affirmative action in college admissions. The court won't hear arguments until next fall, right around election time, but pundits think the verdict is already in.

Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor, said on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" on Tuesday that the 2003 Supreme Court decision Grutter v. Bollinger could end up in the, "ashbin of history":

As Black History Month comes to a close, a new Facebook page is bringing up complicated issues of identity and culture in an increasingly diverse country.

Created by Gibré George, the page called "Don't Call Me African-American" has fueled ongoing conversations about the nature of identity and racial politics in the United States. George created the page as a response to feeling that the term African-American didn't resonate with him:

"It just doesn't sit well with a younger generation of black people," continued George, who is 38. "Africa was a long time ago. Are we always going to be tethered to Africa? Spiritually I'm American. When the war starts, I'm fighting for America."

Today's announcement of the 2011 George Polk Awards in Journalism winners included Associated Press reporter Matt Apuzzo and colleagues Adam Goldman, Chris Hawley and Eileen Sullivan for their work uncovering the CIA's controversial collaboration with the New York Police Department in targeting the Muslim community. 

The operations, conducted with advice and guidance from the Central Intelligence Agency, were secret until the AP series. The AP reporters documented how the NYPD assigned "rakers" and "mosque crawlers" to ethnic neighborhoods, infiltrating everything from booksellers and cafes to Muslim places of worship. The stories renewed debate over how far government should go and what tactics it should use to prevent another major terrorist attack in the United States.

The organized efforts to deny that climate change is happening has received attention this past week, thanks to uncovered documents that show who is sponsoring the movement and what their agenda is going forward. Internal reports show that the right-wing think tank, the Heartland Institute, is being funded by the Koch brothers, Microsoft, and many tobacco companies. Most alarming is word that the group is attempting to develop a K-12 schoolhouse “global warming curriculum” that presents climate science as “a major scientific controversy.” The revelations have embarrassed the Institute to the extent it has questioned the veracity of stolen documents. One environmental activist has admitted to posing as someone else to obtain the documents. Now you know how it feels to be illegally hacked, say climate scientists in a letter to the Heartland Institute.

In other environmental news from the past week...

By Carrie Mihalcik / current.com

Rick Santorum is lashing out at the media after facing a swarm of criticism over a contraception "joke" made by one of his top supporters.

"This is the same gotcha politics you get from the media and I'm just not going to play that game," Santorum said in an interview on "CBS This Morning". "This is someone who’s a supporter of mine and I'm not responsible for every comment a supporter of mine makes."