Elections Directory USA

AP - The Internal Revenue Service on Friday released the guidelines that small companies can use to apply for tax credits to spur medical research.

AP - President Barack Obama will make a renewed push for a greener tomorrow.

Reuters - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Friday he was committed to national reconciliation but made no offer of fresh elections, two days after troops quelled the worst political violence in modern Thai history.

AP - Scientists announced a bold step Thursday in the enduring quest to create artificial life. They've produced a living cell powered by manmade DNA.

AP - A tea party conservative on a national stage, Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul of Kentucky labored Thursday to explain remarks suggesting businesses be allowed to deny service to blacks without fear of federal interference, declaring, "I abhor racial discrimination."

CQPolitics.com - After winning the May 18 special election in Pennsylvania's 12th district by a surprisingly large margin, Democrat Mark Critz must now be considered the favorite to win a full term in November.

AP - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will confer with finance officials in Britain and Germany next week about ways to restore global confidence in the financial system.

AP - At least 16 people later linked to terror plots passed through U.S. airports undetected by federal officials who were on duty to spot suspicious behavior, according to a government report.

The Newsroom - Tea party candidate Rand Paul won Kentucky's GOP Senate nomination in part by bucking the establishment, but could his unconventional beliefs hurt him in the general election?

AP - Democrats won't budge in their family feud in this usually Democratic state, and that could result in Hawaii electing its first Republican congressman in decades.

AP - Scientists announced a bold step Thursday in the enduring quest to create artificial life. They've produced a living cell powered by manmade DNA. While such work can evoke images of Frankenstein-like scientific tinkering, it also is exciting hopes that it could eventually lead to new fuels, better ways to clean polluted water, faster vaccine production and more.

AP - President Barack Obama says he is grateful for the leadership of his outgoing intelligence director, Dennis Blair.

AP - A tea party conservative on a national stage, Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul of Kentucky labored Thursday to explain remarks suggesting businesses be allowed to deny service to blacks without fear of federal interference, declaring, "I abhor racial discrimination."

AP - National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair said Thursday he is resigning, ending a tumultuous 16-month tenure marked by intelligence failures and turf wars among the country's spy agencies.

AP - Prodded by national anger at Wall Street, the Senate cleared the way Thursday for the most far-reaching restraints on big banks since the Great Depression. President Barack Obama cheered from the White House.

Reuters - The U.S. global anti-hunger strategy will focus on a small number of countries where collaborative projects can expand local food production and reduce chronic hunger, the Obama administration said on Thursday.

The Newsroom - What role should President Obama play in the upcoming midterm elections? The Washington Post has a page-one story today quoting congressional Democrats urging Obama to get more aggressive and take a bigger role in the 2010 elections. The money quote comes near the end of the piece, as one endangered Democrat, Virginia Rep. Gerald Connolly, tells the Post he was dismayed to see the White House dial back on its campaigning for Sen. Arlen Specter, who lost his primary bid on Tuesday. "Let me get this straight: If you think I can't win, you're not going to spend political capital on me, even though I spill buckets of blood for you?" Connolly told the Post. "The White House can't be [keeping] distance from people who have walked the plank for them, even when they might lose. Loyalty matters in this business."

AP - The embattled head of Massey Energy Co. went on the defensive Thursday as he faced angry lawmakers who claim the company's indifference toward safety led to the nation's worst mining disaster in 40 years.