(CNSNews.com) - As the House prepares to debate legislation Thursday that would authorize more funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan - and set a September 2008 end-date for funding - conservative analysts condemned what they said was excessive "pork spending" in the bill.The U.S. Troop Readiness, Veteran's Health, and Iraq Accountability Act would allocate $103 billion in additional funding for military operations, and to care for wounded troops. But it also contains $21 billion in so-called "pork spending."

(CNSNews.com) - Two senators have proposed increasing the federal tax on tobacco to fund the reauthorization of a program that pays for children's medical care, a move the tobacco industry says would be unfair and unreliable.Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) released a statement in June supporting an increase in the tobacco tax to fund the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), which is due for reauthorization this year. Kennedy and Hatch were the original sponsors of the program when it was created in 1997.

On the Spot (CNSNews.com) - Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh is under fire from liberal media critics and some Democrats in Congress for using the term "phony soldiers" to describe Jesse Macbeth, who was sentenced to five months in prison for falsifying his military records.Macbeth claimed to be the recipient of several medals, including the Purple Heart, and further claimed in Internet videos to have witnessed U.S. soldiers committing atrocities. It was later revealed that Macbeth had served for only six weeks and never saw combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.

(CNSNews.com) - Liberal environmentalists expecting President Bush to embrace dire predictions of the effects of manmade global warming during his State of the Union address Tuesday were disappointed when he mentioned the climate only once.

(CNSNews.com) - If the 2008 budget proposals introduced by Senate Democrats last week are enacted, passing any future tax relief measures would be nearly impossible, because doing so would require a supermajority, Senate Republicans charge.The 64-page proposal released by Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee serves as a rebuttal to the proposal issued in February by the White House. If passed, the Democrats' version would establish points of order -- Senate rules -- against legislation that would cause or increase a budget deficit or that would reduce a surplus.

(CNSNews.com) - Former Sen. John Edwards is the Democratic presidential hopeful best suited to combat global climate change, according to liberal activists voting in a recent poll sponsored by MoveOn.org.Nearly one third of MoveOn members voted for Edwards in a poll conducted following a "virtual town hall" during which members used the Internet to question the 2008 Democratic presidential hopefuls about their global warming policies.

Video report (CNSNews.com) - Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) said Tuesday that he introduced a House resolution to support Rush Limbaugh because the conservative talk radio host "needs defending" from Democrats who have introduced resolutions and made statements condemning him for using the words "phony soldiers" on his radio show.

(CNSNews.com) - A website encouraging Sen. Barack Obama to run for president unveiled a list of celebrity "endorsements" for the Illinois Democrat Thursday, but the site does not have the celebrities' permission and in some cases ignores their criticism of Obama.The website DraftObama.org released a list of 17 actors, musicians, comedians and other celebrities who "work hard for a better America and have made statements in support of Senator Obama."

(CNSNews.com) - As top Justice Department officials prepare to testify before congressional committees over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, legal experts on Tuesday debated whether the Bush administration did anything wrong in letting them go."Subject to one potential qualification, there are no limits on presidential authority to remove United States attorneys," Andrew McCarthy, director of the Center for Law and Counterterrorism at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said during a discussion in Washington, D.C.