Obama offers universal health care plan  —  IOWA CITY, Iowa - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) on Tuesday offered a plan to provide health care to millions of Americans and more affordable medical insurance, financed in part by tax increases on the wealthy.

Mexican Audience Boos Miss USA During Miss Universe Pageant  —  MEXICO CITY — It wasn't Miss USA's night.  —  Booed mercilessly at the Miss Universe pageant by a Mexican audience angry at U.S. immigration policy, and seen by millions of TV viewers as she slipped and fell on the pageant stage …

Bush the Neoliberal  —  Years ago, someone coined the term "neoliberal."  I was never sure what it meant, and it has since fallen into disuse, but whatever the case, I'd like to revive (and mangle) the term and apply it — brace yourself — to George W. Bush.  He's more liberal than you might think.

Progress in Iraq likely to miss target  —  Military officers doubt any of the three top goals will be achieved before the September assessment.  —  BAGHDAD — U.S. military leaders in Iraq are increasingly convinced that most of the broad political goals President Bush laid out early this year …

Plame was 'covert' agent at time of name leak  —  Newly released unclassified document details CIA employment  —  WASHINGTON - An unclassified summary of outed CIA officer Valerie Plame's employment history at the spy agency, disclosed for the first time today in a court filing …

President Bush Discusses Genocide in Darfur, Implements Sanctions  —  Fact Sheet: Fighting Genocide in Darfur  —  THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.  For too long, the people of Darfur have suffered at the hands of a government that is complicit in the bombing, murder, and rape of innocent civilians.

Feds eye Stevens' home remodeling project  —  GIRDWOOD: Veco approved some invoices for 2000 upgrade at senator's house, says builder.  —  The FBI and a federal grand jury have been investigating an extensive remodeling project at U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens' home in Girdwood that involved …

Kharmah Awakens  —  "In fact, there is a civil war in progress in Iraq, one comparable in important respects to other civil wars that have occurred in postcolonial states with weak institutions.  Those cases suggest that the Bush administration's political objective in Iraq—creating a stable …

Desperate Iraqi Refugees Turn to Sex Trade in Syria  —  MARABA, Syria — Back home in Iraq, Umm Hiba's daughter was a devout schoolgirl, modest in her dress and serious about her studies.  Hiba, who is now 16, wore the hijab, or Islamic head scarf, and rose early each day to say the dawn prayer before classes.

Sooner Rather Than Later  —  COBURN OK  —  Sen. Tom Coburn is mulling an entry into the Republican presidential primary, according to sources inside and outside the Senate.  Coburn, a senator from Oklahoma, is believed to be receiving encouragement from a small group of wealthy businessmen …

Digital Fears Emerge After Data Siege in Estonia  —  When Estonian authorities began removing a bronze statue of a World War II-era Soviet soldier from a park in this bustling Baltic seaport last month, they expected violent street protests by Estonians of Russian descent.

Romney Says 'No Salary' if President  —  DOVER, N.H. (AP) - Republican Mitt Romney, conceding that his business career helped him make more money than he expected, said Tuesday he would likely decline a salary as president and instead donate the money - and more - to charity.

Court Protects Gender Discrimintion  —  As Ruth Bader Ginsburg notes, the evidence of gender discrimination in the case of Ledbetter v. Goodyear, decided today by the Supreme Court, is unambiguous: … Despite this, and contrary to the judgment of the EEOC, the Court by a bare 5-4 majority threw …

The Case for Talking to Syria  —  As distasteful as the Syrian government is, Washington must reconsider its policy of non-engagement with Damascus.  Negotiations alone cannot fix the U.S.-Syrian relationship, and we should hold no illusions about the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Venezuela protests TV clampdown by Chavez  —  CARACAS (AFP) - President Hugo Chavez's clampdown on opposition television stations widened Monday as police used rubber bullets and tear gas on demonstrators protesting what they called an attack on free speech.

The Rise Of the Bottom Fifth  —  How to Build on the Gains Of Welfare Reform  —  Imagine a line composed of every household with children in the United States, arranged from lowest to highest income.  Now, divide the line into five equal parts.  Which of the groups do you think enjoyed big increases in income since 1991?

Social conservatives bite bullet, back Rudy  —  Rudy Giuliani, whose positions on abortion and homosexuality mark him as the most socially liberal Republican presidential candidate in more than a generation, is so far winning the contest for the support of social conservatives, according to a new analysis of recent polls.

"Verschärfte Vernehmung"  —  The phrase "Verschärfte Vernehmung" is German for "enhanced interrogation".  Other translations include "intensified interrogation" or "sharpened interrogation".  It's a phrase that appears to have been concocted in 1937, to describe a form of torture …

Send Wolfowitz to Iraq, Says GOP Lawmaker  —  Justin Rood Reports:  —  Paul Wolfowitz may have been ousted from his post at the World Bank, but a free-speaking GOP lawmaker has an idea to keep the so-called "architect" of the Iraq War from standing in the unemployment line.

Campaign Puts New Strain on Secret Service  —  Big Field and Early Start Force Cuts in Other Efforts  —  The U.S. Secret Service expects to borrow more than 2,000 immigration officers and federal airport screeners next year to help guard an ever-expanding field of presidential candidates …

Rules 'hiding' trillions in debt  —  Liability $516,348 per U.S. household  —  The federal government recorded a $1.3 trillion loss last year — far more than the official $248 billion deficit — when corporate-style accounting standards are used, a USA TODAY analysis shows.