Surely, Stanley Dunham was gazing skyward 65 years ago, on D-Day. Dunham, the man whom Barack Obama would one day call Gramps, was a 26-year-old supply sergeant stationed near the English Channel with the U.S. Army Air Forces when the invasion of Normandy at last began.
Six weeks later, he crossed the Channel, too, and followed the Allied front across France. A year later, he was on track to fight in Japan when the atom bomb sent him home instead.
Dunham, who died 17 years ago, was the Kansas-born grandfather with the …

The two Senate Democrats leading the drive to overhaul health care say they will work together to come up with legislation.
Sens. Max Baucus and Edward Kennedy said in a joint statement Saturday they intend to cooperate so their committees pass similar bills that can be combined into a single piece of legislation before the Senate leaves for its August recess.
The statement appeared aimed at dispelling reports that Baucus and Kennedy were working at cross purposes in crafting legislation.
Baucus, D-Mont., heads the Finance Committee. Kennedy, D-Mass., is chairman of the Health, …

President Barack Obama made good on a campaign promise to his most important supporter Saturday night — his wife, Michelle.
The president and first lady jetted to a date in New York late Saturday afternoon, aides and media in tow.
“I am taking my wife to New York City because I promised her during the campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all finished,” the president said in a statement an aide read to the press.
After dining a little more than two hours at Blue Hill, …

We first heard the term decades ago: The “Sun Belt” was just starting a run of phenomenal growth — and no wonder. It conjured a sunny state of mind as well as a balmy place on the map.
Everybody, it seemed, wanted a spot in the sun.
Industries such as aerospace, defense and oil set up shop across America’s southernmost tier, capitalizing on the low involvement of labor unions and the proximity of military bases that paid handsomely, and reliably, for their products and services.
Later, San Jose, Calif., and Austin, Texas, developed …

General Motors Corp.’s board of directors met for a second day Saturday to make the final decision on whether the automaker would complete its restructuring by filing for bankruptcy protection Monday.
The outcome of the meeting could not immediately be determined. GM and the Treasury Department, which has been guiding the Detroit automaker toward a rescue plan that will give taxpayers nearly a three-fourths stake in the company, went into secrecy mode.
GM’s bondholders had a 5 p.m. Saturday deadline to accept an offer to swap their $27 billion in debt for …