Out of Los Angeles and Oakland, it's highway gridlock, merely the beginning of a trucking nightmare that extends into much of the U.S. Not only are few roads being built in urban locales, and congestion pricing that would free up existing capacity being blocked, but neglected bridges and tunnels portend more Minneapolis-like calamities.

FORBES: Bare Shelves?

Bosses at the infirmary announced the hospital was full to capacity, with 40 beds "blocked" by patients who were well enough to leave but could not be discharged because of delays in finding nursing home places for them.

BBC: Failings at first PFI hospital

Shortly afterward, the Senate blocked a proposal to ban the manufacture and sale of certain semiautomatic rifles often called assault weapons and ban high-capacity ammunition magazines.

WSJ: Background-Check Gun Measure Fails in the Senate