CENTENNIAL, CO — Mitt Romney injected himself into a battle between religious groups and the Obama administration on Monday night, calling a new requirement that health care plans include coverage for contraception a “violation of conscience.”

Before one of the largest crowds of his campaign, Romney decried the new rule, which requires religious institutions like hospitals, universities and charities to provide coverage for contraceptive services as part of their health care plans, regardless of the particular group’s teachings on contraception.

While churches are exempt from the new requirement, it has quickly become a lightning rod issue for social conservatives, with the Catholic Church leading the charge against it.

Washington (CNN) — Former Presidential candidate John Edwards will have to pay back over 2 million dollars in federal matching funds given to his 2008 campaign for president, the Federal Election Commission ruled on Thursday.

The commission voted 6 – 0 against Edwards and contends his campaign was in “excess of the Candidate’s entitlement.”

“At the end of the day if there were more matching funds received than campaign obligations at the point when the campaign ended you have to make a repayment, ” Ellen Weintraub, FEC Commissioner said during the hearing.

In an interview with CBS Evening News, President Obama says he can’t guarantee Social Security checks will go out Aug. 3rd if a debt-ceiling deal is not reached by the Aug. 2nd deadline.

The following clip was posted on the cbs news website, more of the interview expected to air tonight:Scott Pelley: Can you tell the folks at home no matter what happens that
Social Security checks are going to go out on August the 3rd? There are
about 20 billion dollars of Social Security checks that have to go out
the day after the government is supposed to go into default.

Washington (CNN) — Former Democratic vice presidential nominee and two-time presidential candidate John Edwards pleaded not guilty Friday to conspiracy and campaign law violations, acknowledging that he had “done wrong,” but denying that he broke the law.

His plea came hours after a federal grand jury indicted him on six counts, including conspiracy, issuing false statements and violating campaign contribution laws.

(CNN) — News that Mexican authorities found 513 would-be illegal immigrants packed tightly into trucks, with the United States as their destination, should shock Americans into action. They were from Mexico, Japan, China, India and Nepal, and authorities said each had paid $7,000 to gangsters to be smuggled in.

Coming only days after President Obama mocked those calling for stronger border and workplace enforcement (by asking if they wanted moats and alligators), the incident highlights the role of organized crime in smuggling people into the United States in defiance of federal immigration law.

WASHINGTON — No one was more critical than Representative Mark Steven Kirk when President Obama and the Democratic majority in the Congress sought passage last year of a $787 billion spending bill intended to stimulate the economy. And during his campaign for the Illinois Senate seat once held by Mr. Obama, Mr. Kirk, a Republican, boasted of his vote against “Speaker Pelosi’s trillion-dollar stimulus plan.”

Though Mr. Kirk and other Republicans thundered against pork-barrel spending and lawmakers’ practice of designating money for special projects through earmarks, they have not shied from using a less-well-known process called lettermarking to try to direct money to projects in their home districts.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A handful of McDonald’s employees in northeastern Ohio received handbills in their most recent paychecks suggesting they vote for three Republican candidates.

“If the right people are elected we will be able to continue with raises and benefits at or above our present levels,” the insert said. “If others are elected we will not.”

The fast food chain’s corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill., distanced itself from the action by Canton franchisee Paul Siegfried, saying it was not reflective of the company’s position. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, the Democratic elections chief, said she was launching an investigation because the action appeared to violate Ohio election laws.

(CNN) — The Obama administration’s rush to sweep the recent Russian spy scandal off the table as quickly as possible with this swap is a bad move on several counts.

It is understandable and correct that President Barack Obama values the overall U.S.-Russian relationship above the question of whether a few Russian spies spend years in jail.

The “reset” campaign was an excellent idea; too bad no one in our Department of State knew how to correctly spell the word in Russian when Secretary Hillary Clinton presented the “button” to the Russian Foreign Minister.

I know it takes money to get elected, but why does it take millions to do this. All that money could be used for people who has no home. Put money they have taken out of Social Security and never put back. It is just they should put some of that money in a account every time there is an election and they could help some of what they have taken and should have left alone.

WASHINGTON – Deep-pocketed unions, business groups and others are spending heavily in the year’s early primaries, including a staggering $9.6 million to influence a Democratic Senate race in Arkansas, adding volatility to a struggle for control of Congress that has already produced its share of surprises.

Washington (CNN) — Financial reform? Not exactly. The bill before Congress does nothing to address the fundamental background causes of the crash of 2008.

Wall Street may have been the instrument of the crash. But the crash was made elsewhere: in Washington’s failed policies for middle-class families — and in China’s distorted rush for economic growth.

The story is not a simple one. But I hope you will pay attention to the details. If you don’t, you may find that the pocket that has been picked is your own.