Politics

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Delegate Benjamin L. Cline, Augusta Republican, is leading a bipartisan push in the General Assembly to simplify the state tax code and make it more fair. (Richmond Times-Dispatch via Associated Press)

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State Sen. Charles W. Carrico Sr., Grayson Republican, gestures during a meeting of the Senate Courts of Justice committee at the Capitol in Richmond. Mr. Carrico sponsored the bill that would repeal the one gun a month legislation. The committee approved the bill by an 8-6 vote. (Associated Press)

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Egyptians set up an obelisk with the names of people who were killed during the 18-day uprising as they marked in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday the first anniversary of the start of the revolt that forced President Hosni Mubarak from power. (Associated Press)

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Egyptians chant slogans during a demonstration marking the first anniversary of the popular uprising that unseated President Hosni Mubarak in Giza, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

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Egyptian protesters hold a large banner depicting Gen. Hussein Tantawi, left, former President Hosni Mubarak, center, and former interior minister Habib al-Adly in nooses with Arabic writing that reads, "The peoples rule," in Tahrir Square during a rally to mark the one year anniversary of the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. Tens of thousands of Egyptians rallied Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of the country's 2011 uprising, with liberals and Islamists gathering on different sides of Cairo's Tahrir Square in a reflection of the deep political divides that emerged in the year since the downfall of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak. The graffiti at right, in Arabic, reads, "freedom," and "down with the military rule."(AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

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Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond makes a statement to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, outlining the referendum consultation Wednesday Jan. 25, 2012. Salmond announced the Scottish government's preferred options for the vote on whether to sever ties from Britain, which it plans to hold in the fall of 2014. (AP Photo/ Andrew Milligan/PA)

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President Eisenhower delivered a State of the Union speech that was written on a 12th-grade level. (Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum)

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Indiana State Police stand guard at the entrance of the House of Representatives in Indianapolis during a debate Wednesday on a bill that would make Indiana the nation's 23rd state with a right-to-work law. Democrats fought the measure, which would ban unions from collecting mandatory dues from workers. (Associated Press)

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Ant-Syrian regime protesters wave Syrian revolution flags and shout slogans during a demonstration against Syrian President Bashar Assad, at Bayada area in Homs province, central Syria, on Wednesday Jan. 25, 2012. Government forces clashed with army defectors and stormed rebellious districts in central Syria on Wednesday, firing mortars and deploying snipers in violence that killed at least seven people, including a mother and her 5-year-old child, activists said. (AP Photo)

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In this citizen journalism image provide by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria, a young Syrian girl holds an Arabic placard read:"I am breathing freedom," during a demostration against the Syrian regime, in Homs, Syria, on Tuesday Jan. 24, 2012. With Arab pressure mounting to end 10 months of bloodshed, the Syrian regime vowed Tuesday to solve its own problems even if "half the universe" is conspiring against it. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria)

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**FILE** The string of islands known as Senkaku islands in Japanese, and Diaoyu in Chinese, are seen here Sept. 29, 2010. Relations between China and Japan were strained when a Chinese fishing boat collided with Japanese patrol vessels earlier that month near the islands in the East China Sea that are claimed by both countries as well as Taiwan. (Associated Press)

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Republican presidential candidate and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney speaks Jan. 25, 2012, with Univision News anchor Jorge Ramos at the "Meet the Candidates" event, hosted by Univision at Miami Dade College in Miami. (Associated Press)

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Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, accompanied by his wife Callista, speaks Jan. 25, 2012, at Wings Plus Restaurant in Coral Springs, Fla. (Associated Press)

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European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton speaks at a press conference in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. Ms. Ashton is on a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories as part of her ongoing efforts to encourage the two sides to resume negotiations. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

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Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaigns Jan. 25, 2012, at American Douglas Metals in Orlando, Fla. (Associated Press)

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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (center), Arizona Democrat, is greeted by Rep. Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida Democrat, before President Obama's State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Saul Loeb, Pool)

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This video image provided by House Television shows Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Arizona Democrat, on the floor of the House on Capitol Hill on Jan. 25, 2012. Giffords resigned from the House amid tears, tributes and standing ovations, more than a year after she was gravely wounded by a would-be assassin. (Associated Press/House Television)