Undaunted by ridicule from the leader of his own party, an Indiana lawmaker is standing by his allegations that the Girl Scouts is a radical organization that promotes abortions and homosexuality.

President Barack Obama is proposing to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent and wants an even lower effective rate for manufacturers, a senior administration official says, as the White House lays down an election-year marker in the debate over tax policy. In turn, corporations would have to give up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy.

WASHINGTON — The United States appeared to open the door yesterday to eventually arming the Syrian opposition, saying that if a political solution to the crisis becomes impossible, it might have to consider other options.

ANNAPOLIS, MD. -- A Maryland Senate committee approved a gay-marriage bill yesterday, sending it to the full Senate and moving Maryland closer to becoming the eighth U.S. state to legalize same-sex nuptials.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed yesterday to hear a politically charged challenge to affirmative action at the University of Texas. The court’s decision gives conservatives another chance to reconsider the use of race in college admissions, and it further drives the court into the middle of the presidential campaign.

WASHINGTON — Ron Paul might not win the Republican nomination for president — he has yet to win a single state — but his strategy of trying to amass delegates in caucus states could land him a prominent role at the party’s national convention.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama spoke yesterday with his Afghan counterpart to discuss regional support for Afghan-led reconciliation, the White House said.

SEATTLE — Federal fishing officers in Seattle bought a $300,000 luxury boat to spy on whale-watching tours — but didn’t go through an appropriate bidding process, held barbecues on board, ferried friends and family members across Puget Sound to restaurants and resorts and used the boat for what one visitor called “a pleasure cruise.”

EL PASO, Texas — If the controversy over Planned Parenthood is a problem for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, it didn’t seem to keep people away yesterday from the first race since the dispute erupted this month.

FLORENCE, Ariz. — A nationally known sheriff resigned from presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s Arizona committee and acknowledged he is gay amid allegations of misconduct made by a man with whom he previously had a relationship.

KABUL, Afghanistan — Five visiting U.S. senators took a hard line with Afghan President Hamid Karzai yesterday, outlining the issues that could endanger a long-term partnership between the two nations and emphasizing the importance of American-led night raids as U.S. forces withdraw from the conflict.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum yesterday denied questioning President Barack Obama’s Christian faith but said the president has an environmental belief “that elevates the Earth above man.”

WASHINGTON — As 50,000 people gazed with apprehension at the giant Atlas D rocket from the Florida beaches and millions more anxiously watched on TV, John Glenn was strapped inside his Mercury capsule and chatting on the telephone with his wife, Annie.

WASHINGTON — Tucked in President Barack Obama’s $3.8 trillion fiscal 2013 budget is a list of federal programs that he’s sentenced to death — or something close to it.

WASHINGTON — Americans are getting an election-year tax present. Congress voted with rare speed and cooperation yesterday to extend a Social Security payroll tax cut for 160 million workers and to renew unemployment benefits for millions more who haven’t seen a paycheck in six months.

WASHINGTON — The United States and European Union yesterday expressed cautious optimism that Iran is serious about returning to talks with world powers over its nuclear program.

Republican Gov. Chris Christie yesterday vetoed a bill to make New Jersey the latest U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage, asking lawmakers instead to appoint an advocate for same-sex couples under the state’s existing civil-union law.

WASHINGTON — A half-dozen members of the House Ethics Committee recused themselves yesterday from the troubled investigation of Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and were replaced by a new team, a sign that the stalled probe is set to restart.

WASHINGTON — Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s struggles in Michigan are fueling speculation that Republicans might have to resort to a doomsday scenario and launch a frantic search for a 2012 savior at their convention in August.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama pulled in $29.1 million for his re-election campaign and the Democratic Party in January, raising his total for this election cycle to about $250 million.

The U.S. Congress ended a three-month battle on Friday by passing legislation to extend a tax cut for 160 million workers, a boon for both the economy and Democratic President Barack Obama in this election year.

A bill legalizing same-sex marriage in New Jersey was delivered Friday morning to Gov. Chris Christie, who has vowed to veto it.

Unemployed workers would no longer be able to claim 99 weeks of benefit checks by this summer under a deal being worked out in Congress. Under this week's compromise for extending a Social Security tax cut through the rest of 2012, federal unemployment benefits for people who have been out of work more than six months are being scaled back.

WASHINGTON — Auto dashboards are becoming an arcade of text messages, GPS images, phone calls and web surfing, the government says, and it’s asking carmakers to curb those distractions when vehicles are moving.

WASHINGTON — Capitol Hill negotiators officially unveiled hard-fought compromise legislation to prevent 160 million workers from getting slapped with a payroll-tax hike, even as the top Republican in Congress said the $144 billion measure won’t do anything to help the economy.