Democrats in Congress are gearing up to pass a second election-year economic stimulus package, but unlike the $152 billion measure that passed in February, they are not counting on getting the support of President Bush.

In response to record oil and gasoline prices, the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved 402 to 19 legislation directing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to use its authority, including the agency's emergency powers, to "curb immediately" the role of excessive speculation in energy futures markets.

President Bush said Thursday he will lift key trade sanctions against North Korea and remove it from the U.S. terrorism blacklist, a remarkable turnaround in policy toward the communist regime he once branded as part of an "axis of evil."

The House Wednesday approved a bill that would protect about 25 million taxpayers from paying a tax that originally was meant for only the very wealthy.

A massive foreclosure rescue bill overwhelmingly cleared a key Senate test Tuesday, drawing broad support from Democrats and Republicans alike.

A plan to help hundreds of thousands of homeowners avoid foreclosure is drawing bipartisan support in the Senate, setting the stage for high-stakes negotiations among congressional Democrats.

The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting is proposing a $300 million government prize to whomever can develop an automobile battery that far surpasses existing technology.

The US Government has been trying to find ways to reduce the country's dependence on imported oil in a number of ways.

The US move to biofuels has been a remarkably successful experiment in renewable energy promotion despite its inadvertent, and probably exaggerated, effect on higher agricultural prices.  But the industry's future lies in next generation, non food-derived  biofuels.

President Bush urged Congress to end a ban on offshore oil drilling, seeking to address rising consumer angst over gasoline prices.

Democrat Barack Obama said he would consider trimming corporate tax rates as part of a simplification of the U.S. tax code if he is elected to the White House, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

A former CEO leading Barack Obama's search for a vice presidential candidate resigned abruptly Wednesday after questions about his home mortgage deals became a distraction for a candidate who argues he's not influenced by special interests.

Democrat Barack Obama leads Republican John McCain by 47 percent to 41 percent in the 2008 race for the White House, according to the first NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted after Mr. Obama wrapped up the Democratic presidential nomination.

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain called for a EU-U.S. trade pact, saying exports were a bright spot in the U.S. economy Tuesday.

With gasoline prices topping $4 a gallon, Senate Democrats want the government to grab some of the billions of dollars in profits being taken in by the major oil companies.