Nearly 20 years ago, former Virginia governor L. Douglas Wilder announced that he wanted to create a museum that would tell the story of slavery in the United States. He had the vision, the clout, the charm to make it seem attainable, and he had already made history: the grandson of slaves, he was the nation’s first elected African American governor . Read full article > >

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Two decades later, donors wondering what happened to plans for slavery museum

RICHMOND — Virginia will likely become the second state in the nation — after North Dakota — to allow private adoption agencies to turn away parents based on sexual orientation or religious and moral beliefs. Read full article > >

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Virginia adding ‘conscience clause’ to adoption laws

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is testifying before the Senate Budget Committee Tuesday morning about the state of the U.S. economy and the nation’s fiscal health. Bernanke is expected to warn lawmakers against impeding near-term economic growth in the name of cutting a long-term budget deficit. And he is expected to defend the Fed’s policy of keeping interest rates near zero to stimulate the economy — all in line with Bernanke’s testimony last week before the House Budget Committee. Read full article > >

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Bernanke expected to warn lawmakers against hampering growth

House Republicans will present a long-awaited plan to fund the nation’s transportation system on Tuesday, a proposal that would shift more decision-making authority to state governments, dramatically reduce the time spent on environmental reviews and encourage private companies to expand the highway system by building toll roads . Read full article > >

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House Republicans to unveil transportation bill

A new analysis suggests the nation’s economic condition is worsening, throwing a wrench into talks meant to pave the way for more financial support.

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Grim Economic Forecast for Greece as It Negotiates With Creditors

As thousands of protesters pushed toward Bolotnaya Square , crews from mainstream Russian television fanned out. Satellite trucks were ranged curbside, their engines running. For six days after the Duma elections last month, TV ignored the street protests that were starting to shake the nation. Now the reporters and cameramen were ready. But still, not a peep. Read full article > >

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Russian TV veers back to familiar ground

Confidence among the nation’s single-family home builders rose in January for the fourth consecutive month, according to the National Association of Home Builders/ Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released Wednesday. Read full article > >

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Home builders’ confidence grows in January

Explore the occupations and industries of the nation’s wealthiest households.

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What Do They Do?

Occuparenting isn’t easy. Your precious children? The ones who had violin lessons and SAT tutors and years of orthodontia and organic lunches? They are now sleeping under tarps, in the mud, rain and frigid temperatures, in an encampment that is home to an epic urban rat infestation . And their new neighbors are a sizable portion of the nation’s hard-core homeless population. Next week hordes of them plan to Occupy Congress , a protest that could spark confrontations with the U.S. Capitol Police and lead to arrests. Read full article > >

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Occupy squalor: the ultimate test for helicopter parents

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Tuesday will be a day of reckoning for at least one of the Republican presidential hopefuls: Jon Huntsman , whose quirky and quietly rogue candidacy hinges entirely on a strong showing in the nation’s first primary. Huntsman went for broke here, skipping Iowa and spending virtually the entire campaign in a state that seemed more receptive to his moderate views. For months, he has been trundling from town to town in New Hampshire wearing a silver belt buckle and cowboy boots, delivering mild-mannered critiques of the president and occasionally breaking into his fluent Chinese. Read full article > >

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For Jon Huntsman, New Hampshire primary could be now or never

New Hampshire has one of the healthiest economies in the country, but voters are still deeply nervous about the nation’s fiscal health.

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In New Hampshire, Fiscal Anxiety Despite Relative Economic Health

A move by Iraq’s government to welcome a deadly insurgent group into its political system is adding to sectarian tensions and could tilt the nation’s center of gravity closer to Iran.

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Iraqi Moves to Embrace Militia Open New Fault Lines

Indications are that the nation’s gloomy jobs picture continues to brighten, but experts disagree on two crucial points: the pace of improvement and whether the recent gain in momentum will continue through 2012. The Labor Department will add a piece to the puzzle Friday when it releases its monthly jobs report offering the official take on what happened last month in the nation’s job market. Read full article > >

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Employment outlook remains mixed

Continuing his push to identify more historic sites important to the nation’s Hispanics, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar touted a new report Wednesday that identified several sites tied to Latino heritage in Colorado and New Mexico — including one in his own back yard — that could one day become national parks or historic landmarks. Read full article > >

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Sites identified as potential Latino national parks

TV newscasts are increasingly seeded with corporate advertising masquerading as news — and the federal government wants to do something about it. Concerned that subtle “pay-for-play” marketing ploys are seeping into the news, the Federal Communications Commission has proposed a regulation that would require the nation’s 1,500 commercial TV stations to disclose online the corporate interests behind the news. Read full article > >

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FCC seeks to change regulation of corporate interests disclosures on TV news