The White House called for a "simple up-or-down" vote on health-care legislation Sunday as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appealed to House Democrats to get behind President Obama's chief domestic priority even it if threatens their political careers. In voicing support for a simple majority vote, White House health reform director Nancy-Ann DeParle signaled Mr. Obama's intention to push the Democratic-crafted...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. | With less than two weeks before he must enter the race for governor, state Attorney General Jerry Brown told college-age Democrats on Saturday to stay tuned for news about his presumed bid. Brown, 71, has been acting rather coy for more than year about his plans, but he gave his first extensive comments about how he would run California since becoming the Democrats' presumed nominee. "I've...

FORT WORTH, Texas | Former President George W. Bush turned to his faith amid the tough times during his eight years in office, he said Saturday at a religious school's banquet. "I don't see how I could be president without prayer," he told the crowd of more than 1,100 at the Fort Worth Christian School event at a downtown hotel. "The prayers of the people ... sustained me, comforted me and strengthened me...

President Obama has signed a one-year extension of several provisions in the main U.S. counterterrorism law, the Patriot Act. Provisions in the measure would have expired on Sunday without Obama's signature Saturday. The act, which was adopted in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, expands the government's ability to monitor Americans in the name of national security. Three sections of the Patriot...

MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) -- Marines and Afghan troops who fought through the center of Marjah linked up Saturday with American soldiers on the northern edge of the former Taliban stronghold, clearing the town's last major pocket of resistance. The joint force encountered almost no hostile fire, indicating that the militants have either fled or blended in with the local population -- perhaps to stage attacks...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Charles Rangel said Friday he won't step down as chairman of the powerful House tax-writing committee after being admonished by an ethics panel for accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean. The public rebuke of one of the Democrats' most outspoken leaders posed more woes for a party that had vowed to end a "culture of corruption." The House ethics committee said that aides...

White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers will resign in March, four months after three people crashed the Obama's first State Dinner, according to several news reports. Ms. Rogers, 50, is a family friend of the Obamas dating back their time in Chicago. As social secretary, Ms. Rogers purportedly helped organize more than 300 events in the administration's first 14 months, from the State Dinner to the White...

BREAKING NEWS: WASHINGTON (AP) -- White House aide says Desiree Rogers to step down as White House social secretary next month. Email

NEW YORK (AP) -- New York Gov. David Paterson has officially ended his election bid. At a news conference in New York City on Friday, Paterson cited an accumulation of distractions, but said he had never abused his office. He says he is "being realistic about politics" and says he never abused his office, "not now, not ever." Paterson formally announced his campaign last weekend but had faced mounting calls...

Rep. Tom Price, Georgia Republican, on Friday gave high marks to the TV debate on health care reform -- including one for President Obama -- despite Democrats and Republicans failing to reach a compromise. "I'd give [the president] the grade of 'A' for hogging the time," he said. "I think the American people saw a president who is truly not that interested in listening to the other side." Mr. Price also praised...