Politics - AP

HOUSTON - An indisputable Washington insider, Kay Bailey Hutchison has been so close to the federal government's levers of power in her three Senate terms that former Vice President Dick Cheney has endorsed her over another Republican.

WASHINGTON - The official uniforms for NBA players could soon be made in Asia.

WASHINGTON - A day after the recall of 2.1 million cribs linked to four suffocations, the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission conceded the agency "hasn't been acting as quickly as it should."

WASHINGTON - In the history of U.S.-India relations, there's been plenty of broken bread and even a few crumbled Triscuits.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama declared Tuesday that U.S. ties with India will be "one of the defining relationships" of the 21st century as he welcomed India's prime minister for the first state visit of his administration.

WASHINGTON - Republicans love to get their hands on the Democrats' health care legislation. They show it to the cameras at every opportunity, even piling one version on top of another to make a big pile look even bigger.

WASHINGTON - With more Americans going hungry than ever before, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is concerned that dozens of states aren't adequately administering food stamp programs designed to provide food to low-income Americans.

WASHINGTON - Big banks are roaring back. At crisis' edge last year, they are repaying billions of dollars dumped into their vaults to rescue them. Dividend checks are accumulating at the Treasury. Taxpayers won't recoup the full sum of the government's unprecedented infusion to the financial sector, but the returns are ahead of schedule.

WASHINGTON - Most Americans don't expect a health care overhaul to affect their lives directly, but those who worry about the fallout outnumber those expecting to come out ahead, a poll out Tuesday has found.

WASHINGTON - A lot more Americans are feeling stressed out by debt this holiday season, raising the glum likelihood they'll behave like Scrooge rather than Santa.

WASHINGTON - A technology originally developed for premature babies may be helping to save some of the sickest swine flu patients by rerouting their blood so their lungs can rest.

WASHINGTON - Failure is not an option on health care, a leading Democratic senator said Monday, even as Republicans turned up the heat on moderates who hold the fate of the legislation in their hands.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is getting used to leaving events before they end — even when he doesn't have to.

MINNEAPOLIS - A Minnesota man has pleaded not guilty to terror-related charges in connection with the disappearances of as many as 20 young men who left the Twin Cities to fight with terrorists in Somalia.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama praised representatives of a women's organization whose members have been beaten by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's police force and face court trials for challenging Zimbabwe's government. He said their grassroots efforts could improve the African country.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama called his war council together Monday as he moves toward a decision on whether to add more U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama said Monday the nation's economy is in good shape for the long term thanks to "core strengths" such as its universities, its innovation and a dynamic workforce.

WASHINGTON - Reports of hate crimes against gays and religious groups increased sharply in 2008, according to FBI data released Monday.

WASHINGTON - Two Senate leaders trying to steer a pair of President Barack Obama's high-stakes initiatives through Congress are being dogged by re-election worries, and it's not clear whether their legislative prominence will help or hurt them.