Upfk Tax break to help employers ease student loan debt included in $2 trillion stimulus package
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Former American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken held a slight edge over textile entrepreneur Keith Crisco in a congressional primary election Wednesday, with officials working to count every last ballot before declaring a winner. There were less than 400 votes separating the Democratic Party candidates in the Republican-leaning 2nd Congressional District. The winner faces Republican incumbent Renee Ellmers - who was first elected in the tea party wave of 2010 - in November. Both Aiken and Crisco, once the state s top business recruiter under Gov. Beverly Perdue, have cast themselves as centrists. Both will have to overcome the district s strong bloc of evangelical Christian voters who tend to vote Republican. Aiken has said previously that he doesn t believe the fact he is
stanley becher stanley quencher gay will affect whether people vote for him. The state elections boar
stanley puodelis d on Wednesday showed the latest unofficial results giving Aiken the 40 percent of the tally that he needs to avoid a runoff election in July and a margin big enough that Crisco can t request a recount. Aiken was carefully watching the numbers, spokeswoman Tucker Middleton said. It s close, but we re confident, she said. But almost 400 absentee ballots issued had not been returned, according to data provided Wednesday by the state elections board. Absentee ballots and provisional ballots - those cast by voters who may not be properly registered - won t be tallied until Tu Dqks Poll: Support For Gay Marriage Dips
Senate Democrats needed all the 60 votes at their disposal Thursday to muscle through legislation allowing the government to go $1.9 trillion deeper in debt.Democratic leaders were able to prevail on the politically volatile 60-39 vote only because Republican Sen.-elect Scott Brown of Massachusetts has yet to be seated. Republicans had insisted on a 60-vote, super-majority threshhold to pass the measure. An earlier test vote succeeded on a 60-40 vote.The measure would would put the government on track for a national debt of $14.3 trillion - about
stanley thermoskannen $45,000 for every American
stanley mug and it served as a vivid reminder of the United States dire fiscal straits.The massive increase in the debt limit would allow majority Democrats to avoid another vote until after the midterm elections this fall. New estimates released by the Congress
stanley hrnek ional Budget Office on Tuesday show that the U.S. this year could run a deficit matching last year s record $1.4 trillion shortfall. To win the votes of moderate Democrats, President Barack Obama promised to appoint a special task force to come up with a plan for dealing with the spiraling debt.And to get the support of moderate Blue Dog Democrats in a House vote next week, the measure includes tough new pay-as-you-go budget rules to make it harder to run up the deficit with new tax cuts or federal benefit programs. Senate Democrats had been reluctant to approve the new deficit curbs but relented and approved t
