A Democratic health care proposal in the Senate would trim the deficit and cost less than $900 billion, but it would result in as many as 8 million people being pushed out of private insurance.
The new price tag, produced by the independent Congressional Budget Office, is good news for Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., author of the bill and head of the Senate Finance Committee. Baucus put off a committee vote on his plan at the behest of lawmakers who wanted to make sure the legislation was "deficit-neutral" before deciding whether to vote for it.
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With little hope for meeting President Obama's deadline for closing the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay, a new message is emerging from the administration: Disregard our timetable.
"We're not focused on whether or not the deadline will or won't be met on a particular day," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. "We're focused on ensuring that the facility is closed, and doing that has to be done between now and the 22nd of January to make the most progress that we can that's possible."
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Virginia Democrats see Creigh Deeds -- who spent recent weeks trying to kneecap his Republican opponent -- switching the focus of his campaign to a much-needed positive message in the last month of the governor's race.
Some are urging Deeds to move faster in making the case for himself. Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., openly urged Deeds at a campaign event to ignore campaign consultants and begin running positive ads.
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Senate Democrats desperate to find a way to pass a health care bill that includes a federal insurance plan may have come up with a way to do it without putting moderate members who oppose it in political jeopardy.
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is weighing a plan to bring the final health care bill to the floor without a public option -- making it much easier to get the 60 votes needed to prevent a Republican filibuster -- and then adding the provision later as an amendment.
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In trying to understand what is happening in the nation and world, we all employ narratives -- story lines that indicate where things are going and what is likely to happen next. We can check the validity of these narratives by observing whether events move in the indicated direction. If so, the narrative is confirmed. But if things seem to be moving in an entirely different direction, it's time to discard the narrative and look for another.
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Former Sen. John Warner, R-Va., is lobbying on behalf of foreign and U.S. satellite operators to loosen U.S. export controls aimed at preventing the Chinese military from copying American technology and potentially using it to make weapons.
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The White House is taking pains to downplay conflict between the executive branch and the Pentagon over Afghanistan policy, as President Obama steps up his focus on the still-unresolved war plan.
"I get that the Washington game is to do the back-and-forth, I get that," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. "It's being played well here."
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Since campaigning on a promise to make government more transparent, President Obama has posted a record on openness that is decidedly mixed.
The president promised to post bills passed by Congress for at least five days online before signing them, to allow for public review and comment. So far, he has mostly failed to do so.
Watchdog groups, though, cheered recently when Obama reversed himself on releasing White House visitor logs. Previously, the administration had resisted sharing details of who was visiting the West Wing on key policy matters.
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As Congress lurches closer to a decision on an enormous overhaul of the American health care system, pressure is mounting on legislative leaders to make the final bill available online for citizens to read before a vote.
Lawmakers were given just hours to examine the $789 billion stimulus plan, sweeping climate-change legislation and a $700 billion bailout package before final votes.
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Senate Democrats say they are convinced they can get enough support among lawmakers in their own party to pass a health care bill with a public option, but not the kind that liberal Democrats are envisioning.
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