“Government business and finance” on The Daily Caller

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn defended a massive increase in state income taxes passed by lawmakers Wednesday and promised to quickly sign the measure to help heal the state’s ailing finances. (more)

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — One of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ doctors declared Tuesday she has “a 101 percent chance of surviving,” as she made more progress, moving both arms and breathing on her own for the first time — just three days after a bullet shot through her brain. (more)

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn defended a massive increase in state income taxes passed by lawmakers Wednesday and promised to quickly sign the measure to help heal the state’s ailing finances. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — His presidency tied to the fate of the U.S. economy, Barack Obama is revamping his economic policy team and signaling cooperation to ascendant Republicans and the business community at a pivotal moment in the nation’s recovery and Washington politics. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sketched a more optimistic view of the U.S. economy Friday but said the Fed’s $600 billion bond-buying program is needed because unemployment will likely stay elevated for up to five more years. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Cut spending, raise taxes and fees, and accept billions of dollars from Congress. That’s been the formula for states trying to survive the worst economy since the 1930s. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker is ending his term as chairman of President Barack Obama’s economic advisory panel next month, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday. (more)

MOGOSOIA, Romania (AP) — Everyone curses the tax man, but Romanian witches angry about having to pay up for the first time are planning to use cat excrement and dead dogs to cast spells on the president and government. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Nancy Pelosi says she has no regrets on her last day as House speaker, a reign that lasted four years and is ending after the November elections. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — When salmonella-laced peanut products sickened hundreds during a recent scare, President Barack Obama said consumers should be able to have confidence that their government will keep peanut butter-eating children safe — and that included his daughter Sasha. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Eager to show who’s now in charge, the House’s new Republican majority plans to vote to repeal President Barack Obama’s landmark health care overhaul before he even shows up in their chamber to give his State of the Union address. (more)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democrat Jerry Brown was sworn in Monday as California’s 39th governor, returning to the office he left 28 years ago but inheriting a much different and more troubled state than the one he led then. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top White House economic adviser is warning against what he calls “playing chicken” with the need to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. (more)

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s military, the biggest recipient of U.S. military aid after Israel, is in decline, according to American diplomats, who blame the Arab nation’s top brass for failing to modernize and adapt to deal with new threats. (more)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Arnold Schwarzenegger landed in the governor’s office after announcing his upstart bid on late night TV and railing against government spending during raucous campaign rallies — at one playing a spirited round of air guitar to the rock anthem “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration took separate actions this week to protect clean air and federal wilderness areas, reaffirming that the White House can pursue its goals without depending on help from an increasingly combative Congress. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year got off to a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad start. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama lobbied senators by phone Monday to back an arms treaty with Russia that he’s called a national security imperative, as a top Senate Democrat conceded “house by house combat” would be needed to win enough GOP votes to prevail. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Sunday passed a sweeping bill to make food safer, sending it to the House in the waning days of Congress. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama signed into law a huge, holiday-season tax bill extending cuts for all Americans on Friday, saluting a new spirit of political compromise as Republicans applauded and liberals seethed. The benefits range from tax cuts for millionaires and the middle class to longer-term help for the jobless. (more)