BY STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Next year had been shaping up as a great year to get a big inheritance _ no federal taxes on it. Congress, however, has other plans for the few wealthy heirs expecting a…

By Peter Nicholas
Tribune Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Troubled by the rising jobless rate, President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress are assembling a new jobs package that would devote billions of dollars to projects meant to put people back…

By Steven Thomma
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Abraham Lincoln levied the country’s first income tax to help pay soldiers and buy rifles for the Civil War.
Franklin Roosevelt raised taxes as well, to help pay for World War II.
Lyndon Johnson tacked a temporary…

By Dave Michaels
The Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON — Led by former Republican leader Dick Armey, the conservative group FreedomWorks has attacked the Washington establishment this year, challenging bailouts, health care legislation and other policies that violate the group’s free-market ideology.

But for…

BY SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
New York Times

WASHINGTON — As congressional leaders and White House officials huddle behind closed doors to settle their differences on health care legislation, one of the most powerful voices in the debate — President Barack Obama’s —…

BY MONICA DAVEY
New York Times

BUFFALO, Minn. — Rep. Michele Bachmann will appear in the 2010 calendar of “Great American Conservative Women” (she will be November). Her likeness has been transformed into an action figure. And, so far in 2009, she…

BY MICHAEL COOPER
New York Times

The Great Depression had its red, white and blue “U.S.A. Work Program” signs and the ubiquitous “We Do Our Part” blue eagle emblems, which can still be seen in the credits of films of the era.…

By Richard Simon
Tribune Newspapers

WASHINGTON — When President Barack Obama addressed Congress Wednesday night, he got an unusual greeting: “You lie.”

The comment from Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., could be heard throughout the House chamber and on television in response to Obama’s…

EDITOR’S NOTE — An occasional look at assertions by government officials and how well they adhere to the facts

BY CALVIN WOODWARD AND ERICA WERNER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama used only-in-Washington accounting Wednesday when he promised to overhaul the nation’s…

BY CHARLES BABINGTON
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will deliver a major address to Congress next Wednesday, confronting critics of his health care overhaul and trying to buck up supporters on an issue that has been slipping from his…