Two top executives from the embattled company Solyndra will appear before Congress later this week, but their lawyers announced today that they will invoke their Fifth Amendment rights and decline to answer questions.

"This is not a decision arrived at lightly, but it is a decision dictated by current circumstances," wrote Walter F. Brown Jr., the lawyer for Solyndra CEO Brian Harrison in a letter to Congress.

Among those circumstances, the lawyer said, is a broadening investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice into the Obama administration's decision to loan $535 million to the California solar power company, and the abrupt financial ruin of the firm, which shut its doors late last month.

"It would be irresponsible for anyone in his position not to [take the Fifth]," wrote Jan Nielsen Little, the lawyer for Solyndra's chief financial officer, W.G. Stover, Jr., in a separate letter.

A vacationing U.S. President Barack Obama accused Congress on Saturday of holding back the U.S. economic recovery by blocking "common sense" measures he said would create jobs and help growth.

In remarks recorded on Wednesday on his campaign-style bus tour in Illinois and aired during his holiday in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, Obama said the stalled construction, trade and payroll tax bills could give a boost to the economy.

"The only thing preventing us from passing these bills is the refusal by some in Congress to put country ahead of party. That's the problem right now. That's what's holding this country back," the president said in his weekly radio address, which is also transmitted on the Internet.

Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner indicated Sunday that he intends to stay on the job, despite calls for his resignation by some Republicans in the wake of Standard & Poor’s downgrade of America’s credit rating.

“Secretary Geithner has let the President know that he plans to stay on in his position at Treasury,” Jenni Lecompte, the assistant secretary for public affairs at Treasury, said in a statement. “He looks forward to the important work ahead on the challenges facing our great country.”

At the end of June, Bloomberg reported that Geithner was considering stepping down after he helped reach an agreement with Congress to raise the debt ceiling, in order to spend more time with his family.

Geithner defended his decision Sunday to remain at Treasury.

“Today’s jobs report confirms what most Americans already know: We still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do to give people the opportunity they deserve,” President Barack Obama said Friday morning in a statement on the June jobs report.

“The economy is not producing nearly enough jobs,” he said, adding that Congress should not wait to act on measures to boost job growth.

Elliott, in a telephone interview, told WND an amendment submitted by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, for the Department of Homeland Security 2008 budget would gut the already-approved Secure Fence Act, which was adopted with the promise hundreds of m

Call your Senators now and urge them to vote down this so-called "free trade" agreement. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the free agreement as early as Tuesday, December 4.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill today criticized Homeland Security officials for allowing a Mexican national infected with a highly contagious form of tuberculosis to cross U.S. borders 76 times and take multiple flights on U.S. airlines. Republican Sens. Susan

With Teamsters staffers shouting protests from behind yellow police tape, an inspector from the Maryland State Police in front of US DOT headquarters did a safety check of two trucks – one from Mexico and one from the US – in a demonstration designed

The Gaston County Sheriff's office is working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to better identify people illegally in the country. The 287g program is part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act passed by Congress in 20

When writing to a Senator or Representative other than your own, you will not likely get a reply unless you make it clear why they should reply; for example, if you represent an organization or company which has members or does business in their district,