TV News LIES

Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday declared McLennan County - home to West, the small community rocked by the deadly fertilizer plant explosion - a disaster area and announced that he’s asking President Barack Obama for a federal emergency declaration as well.

The declarations will help free up funding to help those in the community impacted by the explosion with the massive recovery and rebuilding effort they face.

National Republicans are pulling the plug on Mark Sanford’s suddenly besieged congressional campaign, POLITICO has learned — a potentially fatal blow to the former South Carolina governor’s dramatic comeback bid.

Blindsided by news that Sanford’s ex-wife has accused him of trespassing and concluding he has no plausible path to victory, the National Republican Congressional Committee has decided not to spend more money on Sanford’s behalf ahead of the May 7 special election.

A split developed in the usually united gun-rights lobby Sunday as a well-regarded Second Amendment organization enthusiastically endorsed compromise legislation proposed by Sens. Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey that would expand background check requirements for gun sales, a position opposed by the powerful National Rifle Association.

“We decided to back it because we believe it is the right thing to do,” said Julianne Versnel, director of operations for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, which counts 650,000 members and supporters among its ranks.

A proposed federal regulation that would undo some of the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling has been languishing at the Securities and Exchange Commission for a year and a half, but there are signs the commission may be making a decision on it relatively soon.

The regulation would force tens of millions of dollars in up-to-now secret political donations from corporate general funds into the light.

With no debate, the Republican National Committee voted unanimously here Friday to reiterate the party’s opposition to gay marriage.

The push from social conservatives came after last month’s “autopsy” report called for more GOP outreach to gays and said the party must change its tone on the issue to appeal to younger voters.

In the first quarter of 2013, states have proposed 694 provisions related to a woman’s body, how she gets pregnant, or how she chooses to end that pregnancy.

A new report released on Thursday by the Guttmacher Institute takes a comprehensive look at how the War on Women has continued past the election cycle and into 2013. It shows that the new legislatures across the country are still very much dedicated to restricting sex education, availability of medication, and abortion access for women. Indeed, 47 percent of the 694 provisions were directly related to abortion: