As the new governor of the state of New York, Andrew Cuomo has pledged to freeze the salary increases of state employees, veto any increase in personal or corporate income taxes, and impose a state spending cap.

Dan Malloy, who will be sworn in as the next governor of Connecticut on Wednesday, hasn’t pledged anything of the sort.

Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo has been mostly silent lately about his plans for New York, but he's got a lot to say about his plan to present them. Today Cuomo announced that the annual State of the State address won't be held in the State Assembly Chamber, as it usually is. Due to exceedingly high demand for tickets, the governor has opted to host this year's event at the Empire State Plaza's Convention Center.

Congress usually draws the most attention for the things it doesn’t accomplish. The 111th session was no different, but all the partisan bickering, deadlock, and frequent threats of filibuster overshadowed one reality: these legislators actually got a heck of a lot done. With the new session beginning on January 3rd, it's time to ask: How has the 111th Congress changed our lives? Here are just a few of the ways that lawmakers made America different over the past two years.

The United States' economy continued to struggle in 2010 as policymakers attempted to navigate the difficult transition from recession to recovery. A high, stubborn, stagnant unemployment rate serves as the backdrop to a year in which further stimulus measures were considered, the financial industry faced reform, and politicians prepared to compromise on the Bush tax cuts.

The year in Iraq and Afghanistan was marked by grim milestones in the US occupation, fraudulent and confusing elections, sudden changes in military command, and a lot of leaked information. Here's what you may have missed.

Welcome to Politics Bites, where every afternoon at It's a Free Country we bring you the unmissable quotes from the morning's political conversations on WNYC. This morning on The Brian Lehrer Show, Commander Beth Coye, former naval officer and author of My Navy Too, reacted to the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy affecting gay servicemen and women.

Welcome to Politics Bites, where every afternoon at It's a Free Country we bring you the unmissable quotes from the morning's political conversations on WNYC. This morning on The Brian Lehrer Show, NPR national security correspondent Rachel Martin reviewed the Obama administration's assessment of the war in Afghanistan.