Poll: Trust, Obama approval decline

Poll: Trust, Obama approval decline

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama’s re-election glow is gone. Congress’ reputation remains dismal. And only about 1 in 5 Americans say they trust the government to do what’s right most of the time, an Associated Press-GfK poll finds.

Most adults disapprove of Obama’s handling of the federal deficit, a festering national problem. But they also dislike key proposals to reduce deficit spending, including a slower growth in Social Security benefits and changes to Medicare.

Rounding out the portrait of a nation in a funk, the share of people saying the United States is heading in the wrong direction is at its highest since last August: 56 percent.

Immigration bill

WASHINGTON

Four Democratic and four Republican senators formally unveiled a sweeping immigration bill Thursday at a news conference attended by traditional opponents from big business and labor, conservative groups and liberal ones. The lawmakers argued that this time, thanks to that broad-based support, immigration overhaul legislation can succeed in Congress.

Two Republican senators had a dueling news conference with law-enforcement officials to bash the bill’s security provisions, and several conservative bloggers seized on one provision of the legislation to falsely claim that it would allow people here illegally to get free cellphones.

Florist sued for not serving gay couple

SEATTLE

The American Civil Liberties Union in Washington state filed a lawsuit Thursday on behalf of a gay couple denied service at a flower shop for their upcoming wedding.

The lawsuit is in response to a March 1 incident in which Barronelle Stutzman refused to provide flowers for Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed’s wedding, despite the two men being longtime patrons of her shop — Arlene’s Flowers and Gifts in Richland, about 200 miles southeast of Seattle.

Thursday’s lawsuit is the second legal action taken against Stutzman. Last week, Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a consumer-protection lawsuit.

Musharraf flees to avoid arrest

ISLAMABAD

Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf fled court in a speeding vehicle Thursday to avoid arrest after his bail was revoked in a case involving his decision to fire senior judges while in power over five years ago.

The harried escape broadcast live on Pakistani TV marked a new low in Musharraf’s troubled return from exile last month to seek a political comeback in the May 11 parliamentary election.

Musharraf made his exit with the help of bodyguards, who pushed him past policemen and paramilitary soldiers and helped him into a black SUV that sped off with a member of his security team hanging on the side of the vehicle.

Huge spring storm

ST. LOUIS

A powerful spring storm system stretching from southern Texas to northern Michigan unleashed a wave of weather extremes on the Midwest on Thursday and threatened to bring its mix of hard rains, high winds and severe thunderstorms to the East by the weekend.

The massive system was wreaking havoc from the Rockies to the Rust Belt. Up to a foot of snow was expected in parts of Minnesota and the Dakotas. Snow and ice closed highways in Colorado and Wyoming. Rivers surged beyond their banks from downpours in Missouri, Iowa and Illinois. Tornadoes caused scattered damage in Oklahoma. Lightning temporarily knocked out a nuclear power plant.

Associated Press