National Politics

Employers across the country are lining up to receive federal money for retiree health care costs. But the City of San Diego is not among them.

San Diego National Wildlife Refuge On List

It could be a busy week in Washington, D.C. as lawmakers try to work out a spending plan to prevent a possible government shutdown. We speak to NPR White House Correspondent about the budget negotiations, the president's reelection announcement, and the nationwide unemployment rate.

As part of a $61 billion package of cuts, House Republicans passed a proposal to eliminate $430 million in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Republican Congressman Brian Bilbray joins us to talk about why he voted in favor of eliminating funding for the CPB. And, KPBS General Manager Tom Karlo talks about why he thinks federal funds should continue be used to help pay for public broadcasting.

San Diego Congressman Darrell Issa has built a staff with close ties to organizations that could benefit from the investigations conducted by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, according to the Watchdog Institute. We speak to Watchdog Institute Executive Director Lorie Hearn about the ties Issa's staff has to billionaires Charles and David Koch, who made their fortunes in the oil and chemical business and are funders of a numerous conservative causes.

San Diego Congressman Duncan D. Hunter introduced legislation this week that would slow down the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. We'll find out what kind of support Hunter is getting from his colleagues in the House and how the bill could impede the implementation of the repeal.

President Obama paid tribute the victims of the Tucson, Ariz., shootings Wednesday, urging Americans to change the nation's vitriolic public dialogue by "talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds."

San Diego County will lead the way in trying to aggressively punish and prosecute so-called “gang pimps” in California. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to sponsor new state legislation in Sacramento.

The 112th Congress, in which Republicans control the House and Democrats have a slimmer Senate majority, officially began at noon Wednesday.

It's hard to say who had the better December, the University of Connecticut women's basketball team or President Obama and the lame-duck Democratic-controlled Congress.