Social Issues

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican has said that "Republicans will vote against proceeding to any legislative matter until we've funded the government and protected every taxpayer from a tax hike." (AP Photo)

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Three youths caught on surveillance cameras at the Washington Humane Society's shelter on Monday are suspected of having stolen a puppy. (Photo courtesy of the Washington Humane Society)

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Three youths are pictured on surveillance cameras taking a puppy from the Washington Humane Society shelter on Monday. (Photo courtesy of the Washington Humane Society)

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Afghan acting Health Minister Suraya Dalil speaks during a ceremony marking the World AIDS Day in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010. The Afghan Ministry of Health has recorded 636 HIV positive cases and estimates around 2000 - 3000 HIV and AIDS cases in the country, Dalil said. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

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Students hug each other during the "Free Hugs" campaign as they commemorate World Aids Day at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010. The campaign is an initiative to show support and combat discrimination against people infected with AIDS. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

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An unidentified African resident of Pamplona northern Spain, holds a red symbol of the fight against AIDS during events for World Aids Day Wednesday Dec.1, 2010 . (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

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In this photo taken Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010, a volunteer of the Indian Red Cross Society lights a candle during an HIV and AIDS awareness rally ahead of World AIDS Day in Agartala, capital of India's northeastern state of Tripura. World AIDS Day is being marked across the world Wednesday. (AP Photo/Bapi Roy Choudhury)

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A college student displays a red ribbon, the symbol for AIDS awareness, at a rally to mark World AIDS Day in Jammu, India, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

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Nepalese HIV-positive people and activists hold placards demanding access to adequate medical services during a rally to mark World AIDS Day in Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Binod Joshi)

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A little girl embraces a balloon as Filipino health workers and volunteers, not in the photo, mark World AIDS Day in Manila, Philippines Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010. Citing 2008 figures, WHO (World Health Organization) said some 33.4 million are living with HIV, with 2.7 million newly infected with the virus and 2 million dying of AIDS. The Philippines has a low prevalence of HIV infection with 5,729 cases, according to the data from the Department of Health. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

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A couple looks at a red ribbon, symbol of the fight against AIDS, hanging from the Puerta de Alcala in Madrid to commemorate World Aids Day, Wednesday, Dec 1, 2010.(AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

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A person walks past in a market announcing the fight against AIDS in Pamplona northern Spain, Wednesday Dec.1, 2010 during events for World Aids Day. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

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In this photo relased by China's Xinhua News Agency, some 100 "campus ambassadors of AIDS prevention" pose to form the shapes of red ribbons during an activity in Taipei, Taiwan, on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010, a day ahead of the World AIDS Day. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Wong Ching-teng)

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ASSOCIATED PRESS D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's proposed plan to balance the budget includes $161 million in agency and program cuts.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS A woman who contracted AIDS looks through pamphlets as she attends a press conference to highlight the plight of AIDS sufferers in Beijing on Tuesday.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS Chen Bingzhong, 78, formerly head of a government health research and outreach agency, is calling on the government to come clean about a 1990s blood-selling scandal that infected tens of thousands of people with the virus that causes AIDS.

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Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, walks on Capitol Hill in Washington Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010, as committee staff members are receiving a briefing on the Armed Services Don't Ask Don't Tell survey. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)