Published: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:42:00 -0500
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With the midterm elections approaching, Democrats and Republicans are battling to claim the clean-ethics crown. That's one reason why Rep. David Obey (D-WI), chairman of the Appropriations panel said he's killing off one of lawmakers' most lucrative perks: corporate earmarks. Most of the earmarks come from the subcommittee that oversees defense spending.
Published: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:00:00 -0500
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Senate Democrats and Republicans are trying to work out differences over how to overhaul financial regulations following the financial crisis. One of the big sticking points is the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Democrats, including President Obama, want a separate and independent agency. Republicans want it to be part of an existing agency but Democrats say that's been tried and didn't work.
Published: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:00:00 -0500
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President Obama says the time for talk is over and that Congress needs to take an up-or-down vote on the health care overhaul plan. He traveled to St. Charles, Mo., to sell his plan Wednesday. It was his second trip outside of Washington this week to try to win congressional support for the plan. He also helped raise some cash for Democrats made vulnerable by the long legislative fight.
Published: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:00:00 -0500
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The health care plans before Congress require individuals to purchase insurance. But the penalty for violating the individual mandate may be so low that healthy people might be tempted to pay it instead of buying insurance. That would leave insurers with less healthy customers, prompting companies to raise their rates, prompting more people to drop out, and so forth.
Published: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500
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Justice Department attorneys who once helped represent terrorism detainees are at the center of a raging dispute. Conservatives say that the politically appointed lawyers are influencing U.S. policy to help their former clients.
Published: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:15:00 -0500
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The divide on Capitol Hill is commonly depicted as Democrats versus Republicans and for good reason — the greatest rift in Congress is indeed partisan.
But there's also a cleft between members of the same party, Democrats specifically, with a split between House and Senate members.
Published: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:52:00 -0500
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The president denounced waste, inefficiency and downright fraud in the government's health care system on Wednesday as he sought to rally public support for his revamped overhaul plan.
Published: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:21:00 -0500
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The legislation would give months of continued jobless checks to people who have been out of work for more than half a year and help the unemployed pay for health insurance. The 62-36 vote came over protests from conservatives who say the bill adds too much to the $12.5 trillion national debt.
Published: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:00:00 -0500
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The relationship between the House and the Senate is becoming heated, affecting Democratic efforts to get health care and other legislation passed. Norman Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, offers his insight.
Published: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:54:00 -0500
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Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich brought up a resolution Wednesday to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by the end of this year at the latest. Although the measure did not pass, lawmakers agreed on one thing: The debate itself was important for the Congress to have.
Published: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:34:00 -0500
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A long-overlooked group of women who flew military aircraft during World War II were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on Wednesday. Known as Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP, they were the first women to fly U.S. military planes.
Published: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:00:00 -0500
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Ruy Teixeira correctly predicted a Democratic majority in 2008. As 2010 elections draw near, he returns to act as a clairvoyant, with Matt Continetti, associate editor of The Weekly Standard. Matt Bai of The New York Times Magazine fills in for Political Junkie Ken Rudin.
Published: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:36:00 -0500
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Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said insurers should drop their opposition to health overhaul and instead help fix a broken system, marked by spiraling costs and a lack of consumer choice.
Published: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0500
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The president's party typically loses about a half-dozen seats in midterm elections. With 37 governorships at stake this year, that may mean bad news for the Democrats.
Published: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:00:00 -0500
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NPR's Julie Rovner and Father Thomas Reese of Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Center talk to Steve Inskeep about how abortion remains an obstacle to passing health care legislation. They also discuss the influence of Catholic bishops on the health care vote.
