House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on news that manufacturing activity dropped to the lowest level in three years, construction spending has declined or been flat for the fifth month in a row and that outsourcing could impact up to 1.5 million jobs over the next decade. Read more…

Led by R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, tobacco companies have spent at least $84 million to oppose state ballot initiatives that would increase cigarette taxes, fund tobacco prevention programs and require smoke-free workplaces and public places, according to state campaign contribution reports. The total is likely to increase before election day. Read more…

House Democrats are hitting the airwaves today for New Direction Radio Day with more than 50 Members participating in more than 80 interviews on radio shows across the country. Read more…

Recent public- opinion polling in Colorado shows opposition to Referendum I has increased to within the margin of error of defeating the domestic-partnership referendum. Read more…

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on a study released today by Families USA that provides new evidence that the Republican prescription drug plan does not do enough to meet the needs of America's seniors and people with disabilities, contradicting the administration's claim that seniors have access to at least one prescription drug plan that provides coverage in the doughnut hole at a reasonable cost. The study shows an 18- fold increase in the number of Medicare beneficiaries without any access to meaningful coverage in the so-called doughnut hole in 2007, and an increase of 87 percent in monthly premiums for doughnut hole coverage. Read more…

The nonpartisan N.C. Center for Voter Education has called on a new political committee called FairJudges.Net to stop airing a televised ad promoting certain candidates for the N.C. Supreme Court. Read more…

The Annapolis Center for Science-Based Public Policy is pleased to announce that Doctor McKamy Smith has joined The Center's Board of Directors. Dr. Smith is a nationally-recognized expert on cardiovascular disease; he serves on the staff of the Jackson Heart Clinic and is affiliated with the St. Dominic Hospital and the River Oaks Hospital, all in Jackson, Mississippi. Read more…

An expert in environmental and strategic communications, Robin Murphy, formerly of Conservation International (CI), has been appointed vice president for external relations at the World Resources Institute (WRI). Read more…

On Oct. 27, the Committee on Government Reform released an official review finding Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman's December 2004 report, "The Content of Federally Funded Abstinence-Only Education Program," a misleading and inaccurate description of abstinence until marriage programs. Read more…

A report by the Center for Investigative Reporting documents how numerous federal judges across the country have given political contributions while under consideration for a lifetime appointment to the bench. Read more…

Republicans in Congress received significantly more money from big oil and despite campaign claims to the contrary, voted overwhelmingly against legislation that would reduce demand for oil and increase clean energy supplies, according to a new report released today by the Campaign for America's Future. Read more…

The Institute for Progressive Christianity (IPC) is a grassroots think tank representing a cross-section of progressive Christians. IPC provides research to the media and partners on issues of faith and policy. IPC will present a day-long Symposium on Progressive Faith and Contemporary Politics to be held at the Washington Plaza Hotel, Ten Thomas Circle in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 18. Read more…

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid released the following statement on Vice President Cheney's unwillingness to shoot straight on Iraq and President Bush's failure to change course Read more…

As America's energy dependence rises as a centerpiece of the national political debate, the Apollo Alliance released a report today documenting significant potential job gains from renewable power development in California. Read more…

The Justice Department today settled a lawsuit against a group of developers, builders, architects and engineers who designed and constructed two apartment complexes in Olathe, Kan. The complaint, filed on April 15, 2002, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, alleged that the defendants violated federal civil rights laws by designing and constructing the Ridgeview and Indian Meadows apartment complexes without required features for persons with disabilities. The lawsuit arose as a result of a referral to the Department of Justice by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Read more…

More than half of the nation's HMOs used pay-for-performance programs in their contracts with doctors and hospitals in 2005, according to a new study supported by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. More specifically, the study, which is being published in the Nov. 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, found that nearly 90 percent of those included these arrangements as part of their physician compensation and more than one-third of HMOs with these programs included them in their hospital contracts. Read more…

Who believes that that oil and particularly gasoline prices dropped for political reasons in the runup to the Nov. 7 mid-term elections? Oil and gas investment advisers, that's who, said the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. Similarly, they predict that prices will shoot up after Nov. 7. Read more…

Federal immigration agents conducted illegal searches and relied on racial and ethnic profiling while carrying out a massive series of raids that terrorized residents of several towns in southeast Georgia in early September, according to a federal lawsuit filed here today by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Read more…

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid released the following statement on House Majority Leader John Boehner's decision to blame the troops for Republican failures in Iraq. Read more…

Attorney General Gonzales will deliver remarks at the Criminal Division Awards Ceremony TOMORROW, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2006 at 2 P.M. EST. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff will also attend the ceremony to receive the Henry E. Petersen Memorial Award. Read more…

EDITOR'S NOTE: High-resolution, publication-quality photos supported by the following captions are available for free editorial use at http://photos.usnewswire.com/ Read more…

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and U.S. Marshals Service Director John Clark to Hold Press Conference on Law Enforcement Initiative Read more…

Punchscan, one of the most secure and transparent voting systems so far proposed, is being released today as a complete, open-source system for free use in school elections. The combination of power, readiness for use and openness is without precedent. Funding is available to support adoption by schools and further development for wider use is planned. Read more…

With the election rapidly approaching, candidates who favor getting American troops out of Iraq have a nearly three-to-one advantage among women voters over politicians who want to stay the course. That's the message from a major new poll of registered voters released today. And according to NCRW, the National Council for Research on Women, women voters are leading the electorate in demanding a pullout. Read more…

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - U.N. officials removed the leader of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party from court on Wednesday after he disrupted a hearing on how to proceed with his trial due to his refusal to cooperate with defense lawyers. Read more…