By DOUG THOMPSON
Let’s face the sad truth. The United States of America is a nation out of control, spiraling downward at an alarming rate, controlled by a cabal of manipulative political hacks who put their own greed and lust for power above the best interests of a beleaguered country.
By JEREMY PELOFSKY
The U.S. Federal Reserve sent record payouts of more than $4 billion in cash to Baghdad on giant pallets aboard military planes shortly before the United States gave control back to Iraqis, lawmakers said on Tuesday.
The money, which had been held by the United States, came from Iraqi oil exports, surplus dollars from the U.N.-run oil-for-food program and frozen assets belonging to the ousted Saddam Hussein regime.
By ROBERT BURNS
More American troops were killed in combat in Iraq over the past four months  at least 334 through Jan. 31  than in any comparable stretch since the war began, according to an Associated Press analysis of casualty records.
Not since the bloody battle for Fallujah in 2004 has the death toll spiked so high.
By ROB KEZELIS
This is the second of five chapters. It is highly recommended that you read it aloud to loved one in bed. Kids, too.
If you haven’t read Chapter One — Cick here to read
By ANNE FLAHERTY
Tired of waiting for an opportunity to try to stop the war in Iraq, some Democrats say they want to use legislation approving billions of dollars in war spending to insist that President Bush not send more troops.
Others want to use the spending measure to bring the troops home by a certain date.
“The longer we delay taking action, the greater the failure in Iraq and the larger the cost in American blood and treasure,” said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who supports legislation that would cap the number of troops allowed in Iraq.
By RICHARD COWAN
An outspoken supporter of the Iraq war on Tuesday called for a new tax to pay for its astronomical cost as Congress opened a debate on President George W. Bush’s $2.9 trillion budget plan for next year.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut proposed a “war on terrorism tax” at a Senate hearing during which he said the Pentagon’s $622 billion defense budget proposal for fiscal 2008 threatened to crowd out funds for domestic programs.
The lawmaker, a former Democrat turned independent, favors a U.S. troop buildup in Iraq.
By LIZ SIDOTI
Republican Mitt Romney will formally announce his candidacy for president next week in Michigan, his native state and an important early test for the GOP nomination, campaign aides said Tuesday.
The former one-term Massachusetts governor will make his announcement Feb. 13, and then will visit Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina  the first states to hold 2008 contests.
By DALE McFEATTERS
President Bush’s new 2008 federal budget points out that our government is indeed big but not in the way most people think.
Dollar-wise, as a projected cost of $2.9 trillion, it is huge, but most of what it does involves moving money around, mostly from individual income and Social Security taxes, to retirees, the ailing, the disabled and the poor.
By MARTIN SCHRAM
Once again, the Straight-Talk Express has pulled out of the depot and is speeding down yet another Republican campaign trail. But that’s not John McCain in the driver’s seat this time.
As you can plainly see on the nonstop TV news, it’s Rudy Giuliani who is flooring the pedal of the Straight-Talk Express, speeding merrily along, telling it like it is, for better or maybe worse. Pro-surge in Iraq. Pro-choice in America. Pro-gay rights everywhere. Pro-family values everywhere, but, some would say, in his own families.
By PAUL C. CAMPOS
Getting elected president is much like winning a high school popularity contest, except that in high school the cool kids generally aren’t given access to thermonuclear weapons.
This point has been driven home with special force recently. Consider the brouhaha that erupted over Joe Biden’s description of Barak Obama as “articulate and clean and bright and a nice-looking guy.” Almost all the commentary about this statement has focused on the racial stereotypes that Biden tripped all over.