Politics

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Defense Secretary Robert Gates, right, talks with Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011, as they testified before the House Armed Services Committee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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An Iraqi man waves the national flag while protesters chant anti-government slogans during a demonstration in Baghdad on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011. About 200 people rallied against a lack public services, rampant corruption and a scarcity of government jobs. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

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Indian Muslim youths ride a horse during a procession marking the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad in New Delhi on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

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An Indian Muslim family watches a procession marking the birth anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad from the window of their house in New Delhi on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

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Rep. Robert Goodlatte, 6th District Republican, right, is introduced on the floor of the Virginia House of Delegates at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Feb. 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

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Florida Gov. Rick Scott announces his new budget during a tea party event in Eustis, Fla., on Monday, Feb. 7, 2011. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

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Sen. John Kerry (second from left) meets with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani (right) in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011. Mr. Kerry may have a rocky time persuading Pakistan to free U.S. consular employee Raymond Davis, allegedly involved in the shooting of two Pakistanis. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)

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Police prevent Yemeni government supporters from entering Sanaa University, where anti-government protestors are gathered, in Sanaa, Yemen, on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011. The government sent 2,000 policemen into the streets of the capital to try to put down days of protests against the president of 32 years, a key U.S. ally in battling al Qaeda. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

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** FILE ** Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (center) welcomes Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi (right), who is guarded by a female bodyguard (left), upon his arrival at the Presidential Palace in Cairo in July 2002. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

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Henry Morello, 84, of Anthem, Ariz., talks about his ordeal in the desert during a news conference on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew appears before the Senate Budget Committee to defend President Obama's fiscal year 2012 budget as Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill square off on federal spending, in Washington on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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** FILE ** In this April 20, 2009, file photo, FBI agents escort Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse into FBI headquarters in New York. Muse has admitted he's a modern-day pirate. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano, File)

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"We're waiting for presidential leadership," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said Tuesday. "Entitlement reform will not be done except on a bipartisan basis with presidential leadership." (Associated Press)

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"In the last two years, under President Obama, the federal government has added 200,000 new federal jobs," House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, said Tuesday as the GOP outlined proposed budget cuts. "If some of those jobs are lost, so be it. We're broke." (Associated Press)

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President Obama presents the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to former President George H.W. Bush Tuesday at the White House. Mr. Obama said Mr. Bush's "humility and his decency reflects the very best of the American spirit." (Associated Press)