Liz Halloran

On Military Sexual Assault Issue, A New Era for An Old Committee

Liz Halloran — Sat, 11 May 2013 11:31:36 +0000

Other bipartisan efforts on Capitol Hill may be collapsing around them, but a cadre of Democratic and Republican women serving on the Senate and House Armed Services committees are leveraging their historic clout to respond together to the sexual assault crisis engulfing the U.S.

Poll: Obama Approval Up, Effectiveness Down; GOP In Doldrums

Liz Halloran — Wed, 08 May 2013 17:05:57 +0000

President Obama's job approval has inched up in recent weeks, but the percentage of Americans who say they believe he is effective has taken a hit, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Wednesday.

And while the image of Republican leadership remains "deeply negative," and continues bearing the brunt of the blame for Washington gridlock, the survey found that the GOP runs even with Democrats on the key issues of the economy, immigration and guns.

The survey also showed that even while Republicans hold a negative view of their own leaders, with over half expressing disapproval,

A Rand Paul White House Path Complicated By Dad's Legacy

Liz Halloran — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:55:17 +0000

Freshman Sen.

Skim Milk, States' Rights And Political Clout: The High Court And DOMA

Liz Halloran — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:55:39 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a challenge to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between "one man and one woman as husband and wife."

It was the court's second and final day of hearing appeals involving same-sex marriage laws.

Gay Marriage Arguments: Cellphones, The Internet And Fertility Over 55

Liz Halloran — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:44:19 +0000

The U.S.

Rand Paul Reaffirms Support For Path To Citizenship

Liz Halloran — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:03:37 +0000

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky doubled down Tuesday on a previous call for a path to citizenship, telling a major Hispanic business group that his message to the nation's illegal immigrants is: "If you wish to live and work in America, then we will find a place for you."

Conservatives, he told the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, must "become part of the solution" to immigration, including dealing with the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants now living in the U.S.

New Pope 'A Fresh Start,' But Old Problems Are Waiting

Liz Halloran — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 10:56:54 +0000

Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church made history twice Wednesday, electing the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere and the first Jesuit.

In choosing 76-year-old Cardinal Jorge Maria Bergoglio of Argentina, now Pope Francis, the College of Cardinals signaled the growing importance of Latin America, Africa and Asia in the church's fortunes.

But they also affirmed their commitment to traditional church doctrine.

"Cardinal Bergoglio has been a staunch defender of orthodoxy," says the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit and editor-at-large at America, a national Catholic magazine.

Pope's Resignation Redefines Papacy, Spurs Talk Of 'Global South' Successor

Liz Halloran — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:56:03 +0000

A worldwide Catholic conversation that many church-watchers say effectively stopped when Benedict XVI was elected pope eight years ago has been rekindled by his announced plan to resign at month's end.

Celibacy. Women's roles. Same-sex marriage.

Stonewall? Explaining Obama's Historic Gay-Rights Reference

Liz Halloran — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 19:23:05 +0000

President Obama made history in his inaugural address when he mentioned Stonewall in the same breath as Selma, the Alabama town considered the birthplace of the black-rights movement, and Seneca Falls, the upstate New York site of the first women's-rights convention.

But Obama's reference was very likely lost on many in the generations that have come of age long after gay men resisted police harassment at the Stonewall Inn gay bar in New York City.

Their five days of riots in the summer of 1969 kindled the nation's gay-rights movement, which Obama placed in the heart of the nation's civil

Add This Group To Obama's Winning Coalition: 'Religiously Unaffiliated'

Liz Halloran — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 20:27:00 +0000

The big demographic story out of the 2012 presidential election may have been President Obama's domination of the Hispanic vote, and rightfully so.

But as we close the book on the election, it bears noting that another less obvious bloc of key swing state voters helped the president win a second term.

They're the "nones" — that's the Pew Research Center's shorthand for the growing number of American voters who don't have a specific religious affiliation.