Romney changes tune: Health care law is 'a tax'

Undercutting what his top adviser said two days ago, Mitt Romney on Wednesday flatly stated that President Obama's individual mandate, which the Supreme Court upheld last week, is indeed "a tax."

Mall a magnet for holiday crowds undaunted by heat, ready for fun

Despite torrid heat, high humidity and lingering power outages and storm damage, the Washington area rang in the nation's 237th year as planned Wednesday.

Millions of dollars spent in clash over jobs records

With four months to go until Election Day, President Obama's well-funded campaign on the airwaves is focusing on two broad themes: that he is a fighter for the middle class who needs more time to finish the job, and that Republican rival Mitt Romney is obsessed with corporate profits to the point of being borderline unpatriotic.

Advocacy of gay rights unwelcome in Uganda

The Ugandan government is seeking to ban 38 nongovernmental organizations that it accuses of promoting homosexuality — a move that critics say aims to divert attention from the administration's political troubles.

Iraq says al Qaeda fighters flowing into Syria

Iraq's foreign minister says the government has "solid information and intelligence" about al Qaeda militants infiltrating Syria from Iraq to carry out attacks.

Lights go dim on another energy project

A geothermal energy company with a $98.5 million loan guarantee from the Obama administration for an alternative energy project in Nevada - which received hearty endorsements from Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid - faces financial problems, and the company's auditors have questioned whether it can stay in business.

Obama presses Congress on immigration at naturalization ceremony

President Obama began his Fourth of July celebration Wednesday by naturalizing more than two dozen active-duty service members, using the event to highlight his recent executive order to spare hundreds of thousands from deportation and press lawmakers to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul.

ID law could impact 10 percent of Pennsylvania voters

Nearly 10 percent of Pennsylvania's registered voters do not have photo identification cards from the state transportation department, and could be ineligible to vote in November under the state's new Republican-backed voter ID law.

Inside the Beltway: Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z

To dream of politics is not a bad thing.

Bishops' 'Fortnight' focuses on health law

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrapped up two weeks of protests against President Obama's health care law Wednesday with a Mass attended by an overflow crowd of 4,000 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Annual Day of Prayer proclamations in dispute

Colorado is embroiled in a legal battle over the constitutionality of the National Day of Prayer proclamation.

D.C.'s Palisades Parade is canon on 4th of July

"It's got a patriotic quality about it," Even if they don't know how or why it became a tradition, politicians in the District know they'd better head to the Palisades for its annual Fourth of July parade.

Calif. lawmakers mull adjusting family structure

California lawmakers are considering an unusual bill that would legalize, in certain cases, more than two parents for a child.

Plan to end Syrian crisis hits standstill

The much-hyped plan to end Syria's misery and guide its transition to democracy appears to have fallen flat despite the endorsement of Western powers.

Palestinians ready to exhume Arafat body for tests

Yasser Arafat's body may be exhumed to allow for more testing of the causes of his death, the Palestinian president said Wednesday, after a Swiss lab said it found elevated levels of a radioactive isotope in belongings the Palestinian leader is said to have used in his final days.

Scalia critics say justice too political last term

Justice Antonin Scalia drew unusually critical attention during this past Supreme Court term for comments he made in court and in his writing that seemed to some more political than judicial.

Commentary

NORQUIST: With a gavel bang, Obamacare is Obamatax

It's official: Obamacare is Obamatax. The Supreme Court saved Obamacare but at the expense of exposing it as simply a massive collection of taxes - 20 taxes at least. Obamacare was supposed to reduce the cost of health insurance but it has six taxes on Americans who already have health insurance. Your insurance will cost more to pay Mr. Obama's tax hikes.

SCHWEIKERT: Obama and Napolitano scorch Arizona

Ostensibly in response to last week's Supreme Court ruling on S.B. 1070, the Obama administration announced that it was terminating Arizona's

LAMBRO: Surprise cost of Obamacare

Several issues are being distorted in the wake of the Supreme Court's contradictory, backdoor ruling that up-held President Obama's health care law on a disputed word definition.

DECKER: States' rights war over Obamacare

President Obama, Majority Leader Harry Reid's Democrat-led Senate and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. don't care that a majority of Americans favor repeal of Obamacare. To them, government can do anything it can get away with to consolidate federal power; that government derives its power from the consent of the governed is ignored.

MILLER: Rand Paul vs. the District

A freshman senator single-handedly stopped Democrats from pushing through a bill expanding the District's authority last week. Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, thought it wasn't right to further empower the city unless it committed to a respect for life, the right to work and the Second Amendment.