Top News Stories of the Week
By Drudge Retort
Friday, March 19, 2010 at 08:00 AM
The following stories were the biggest news events of the preceding week, according to the users of the Drudge Retort.
House May Pass Senate Bill Without Vote
After laying the groundwork for a decisive vote this week on the Senate's health-care bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Monday that she might attempt to pass the measure without having members vote on it. Instead, Pelosi (D-Calif.) would rely on a procedural sleight of hand: The House would vote on a more popular package of fixes to the Senate bill; under the House rule for that vote, passage would signify that lawmakers "deem" the health-care bill to be passed.
Posted by ExpsRedemption at 11:21 AM on March 16, 2010 | 463 COMMENTS
Health Reform Crosses CBO Hurdle
House Democrats said Thursday that their revamped health care reform bill would achieve the deficit reductions needed to push forward with a delicate plan to finalize the package, setting up a possible vote for Sunday. Sources said the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the updated package will save save $130 billion over the first 10 years after passage and $1.2 trillion over the second decade.
Posted by Corky at 12:03 PM on March 18, 2010 | 316 COMMENTS
Circuit Court: 'Under God' Constitutional
The phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegience is not an unconstitutional endorsement of religion, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Thursday. court denied atheist Michael Newdow's suit, eight years after making the opposite ruling. Judges said the phrase invokes patriotism, not religious faith. "Thus, the pledge is an endorsement of our form of government, not of religion or any particular sect," they ruled.
Posted by MURPHY at 08:01 AM on March 12, 2010 | 254 COMMENTS
Valedictorian Sues to Stop Graduation Prayer
A Greenwood High School honor student who learned in class about court rulings striking down school prayer has found a real-world application -- his own graduation ceremony.
Posted by mitch at 08:33 AM on March 14, 2010 | 226 COMMENTS
Walmart Fires Cancer Patient over Medical Pot
Now that medical marijuana is legal in Michigan, can an employer fire a worker who tests positive for the drug? WalMart did. "I was terminated because I failed a drug screening," says former WalMart employee Joseph Casias, who uses marijuana on his doctor's recommendation to treat pain from sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor.
Posted by mitch at 08:27 AM on March 13, 2010 | 215 COMMENTS
'Far-Right' Texas Board Issues Textbook Standards
A far-right faction of the Texas State Board of Education succeeded Friday in injecting conservative ideals into social studies, history and economics lessons that will be taught to millions of students for the next decade. Teachers in Texas will be required to cover the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation's Founding Fathers, but not highlight the philosophical rationale for the separation of church and state. Curriculum standards also will describe the U.S. government as a "constitutional republic," rather than "democratic," and students will be required to study the decline in value of the U.S. dollar, including the abandonment of the gold standard.
Posted by mmike at 01:30 PM on March 13, 2010 | 204 COMMENTS
Kucinich Switches to Yes on Health Reform
Health care reform advocates inched closer to victory Wednesday morning as a high-profile liberal Democrat switched his position and announced his intention to vote for a sweeping $875 billion plan under consideration in the House of Representatives. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said he believes "health care is a civil right" and that he had "to make a decision on the bill as it is, not on the bill as I'd like to see it."
Posted by Corky at 04:57 PM on March 17, 2010 | 180 COMMENTS
Social Security Starts Cashing Uncle Sam's IOUs
For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits billions more each year. Not anymore. This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes nearly $29 billion more.
Posted by LIVE_OR_DIE at 09:33 PM on March 15, 2010 | 175 COMMENTS
Vatican Denies Celibacy Led to Sex Abuse
The Vatican on Sunday denied that its celibacy requirement for priests was the root cause of the clerical sex abuse scandal convulsing the church in Europe and again defended the pope's handling of the crisis. Suggestions that the celibacy rule was in part responsible for the "deviant behavior" of sexually abusive priests have swirled in recent days, with opinion pieces in German newspapers blaming it for fueling abuse and even Italian commentators questioning the rule. Much of the furor was spurred by comments from one of the pope's closest advisers, Vienna archbishop Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, who called this week for an honest examination of issues like celibacy and priestly education to root out the origins of sex abuse.
Posted by moder8 at 12:33 PM on March 15, 2010 | 169 COMMENTS
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Posted by rcade at 12:00 PM on March 17, 2010 | 168 COMMENTS
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