Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to paying for a health care overhaul, Americans see just one way to go: Tax the rich.

 That finding from a new Associated Press poll will be welcome news for House Democrats, who proposed doing just that in their sweeping remake of the U.S. medical system, which passed earlier this month and would extend coverage to millions of uninsured Americans.

 The poll found participants sour on other ways of paying for the health overhaul that is being considered in Congress, including taxing insurers on high-value coverage packages derided by President Barack Obama and Democrats as “Cadillac plans.”

By DAVID GOLDSTEIN

The Star's Washington Correspondent 

WASHINGTON | Republican Rep. Sam Graves, a farmer from a rural northwest Missouri congressional district, was once a consistent supporter of easing trade and travel restrictions on Cuba.

But a campaign watchdog group said he began accepting campaign contributions from an anti-Castro, pro-trade embargo political action group and eventually reversed field on Cuba.

Public Campaign, a nonpartisan, nonprofit reform group that backs public financing of campaigns, said in a report released today that Graves cast seven votes between 2003 and 2005 to ease the trade embargo and other sanctions on Cuba.

Then on three subsequent Cuban trade votes, he withdrew his backing and opposed lifting the sanctions, according to the report.

from washingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON - President Obama retreated briefly to the serenity of Camp David this weekend, leaving behind seven days that showcased both the promise and the limits of his presidency.

The respite lasted fewer than 24 hours, and his return to the White House was marked by a victory for the ambitious agenda he has embraced. His allies in Congress had secured — if only by a hair — a historic milestone on the march toward comprehensive health-care reform.

"Moments like this are why they sent us here," Obama said, back in the Rose Garden Sunday afternoon. "To finally meet the challenges that Washington has put off for decades."

By DAVE HELLING and DAVID GOLDSTEIN

The Kansas City Star

A pounded gavel, the votes, then four words: “The bill is passed.”

With that, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced narrow passage Saturday of historic legislation that would fundamentally change American health care for decades.

Democrats erupted in weary applause and cheers after a day-long debate. Republicans, equally tired, promised to continue opposing the $1.1 trillion plan. 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Delay is rarely good for politicians trying to pass legislation. The possibility that Congress might not complete action on a major health care bill this year is another frustration for President Barack Obama and his allies.

 Even if it doesn’t sink the health care effort, a delay would raise new uncertainties and push other domestic priorities further back. It also would give opponents a chance to pick off nervous Democratic lawmakers eyeing their November 2010 re-election campaigns.

 Even some House Democrats with safe seats don’t like the idea of voting on a contentious bill until it’s clear that the Senate will follow suit.

 UPDATE, 1:40:  The Republican alternative is attached in full below.

  WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans have produced a health care bill to offer as an alternative to legislation by majority Democrats, focusing more on lowering costs than expanding coverage.

 The bill is 230 pages long, compared with Democrats’ 1,990-page measure. Unlike the Democrats’ legislation it has no requirement for people to buy insurance and no prohibitions against insurance companies denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The typical family would be spared higher taxes from the House Democratic plan to overhaul health care, and their low-income neighbors could come out ahead.

 Their wealthy counterparts, however, face big tax increases that could eventually hit future generations of taxpayers who are less wealthy.

 The bill is funded largely from a 5.4 percent tax on individuals making more than $500,000 a year and couples making more than $1 million, starting in 2011. The tax increase would hit only 0.3 percent of tax filers, raising $460.5 billion over the next 10 years, according to congressional estimates.

from msnbc

WASHINGTON - After months of struggle, House Democrats unveiled sweeping legislation Thursday to extend health care coverage to millions who lack it and create a new option of government-run insurance. A vote is likely next week on the plan patterned closely on President Barack Obama's own.

Speaking on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress was "on the cusp of delivering on the promise of making affordable, quality health insurance available to every American — and laying the foundation for a brighter future for generations to come."

Officials said the measure, once fully phased in over several years, would extend coverage to 96 percent of Americans. Its principal mechanism is creation of a new government-regulated insurance "exchange" where private companies could sell policies in competition with the government. Federal subsidies would be available to millions of lower-income individuals and families to help them afford the policies.

from ABC News 

A gauntlet of parliamentary and hurdles and differing opinions beset the road ahead for health reform.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid must navigate his health reform proposal through the Senate with 60 votes at three different points in order to produce a sweeping health reform bill this year.

The differing opinions among Democrats were on display as Senators entered their weekly lunchtime policy huddle in the Capitol Building.

Most definitive was Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut Democrat who caucuses with Democrats. "I will not support cloture on a bill I don't support," he said.

But politicians have a lot of cover here. Lieberman said he may indeed vote for cloture on the motion to proceed to the bill, bringing it to the Senate floor. And that's where he will try to change the bill. He can then oppose cloture before a final vote. And he'll get an opportunity before voting on a conference report that would meld bills passed by the House and Senate.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The focus of the health overhaul debate now shifts to whether Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can persuade a handful of moderate senators to get behind his new proposal for a government-sponsored insurance plan.

 That’s no sure bet. Even Reid, D-Nev., didn’t claim to have the 60 votes needed to pass his proposal when he ended weeks of speculation by announcing that the Senate version of sweeping health care legislation would include a provision for the government to sell health insurance in competition with private insurers.

 The issue has been the biggest flash point in the health care debate, and government-sponsored insurance had been seen as unlikely to be included in Senate legislation because of opposition from moderates. The House’s health care bill, expected to be released as early as this week, is certain to contain a strong provision for a so-called public insurance option, though details aren’t final.

 from the Post-Chronicle

The health reform bill making its way through the House of Representatives will include a public insurance option, but negotiations are continuing on the details of the plan, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

"At the end of the day we will have a public option" in the House bill, Pelosi told a news conference.

She noted it was possible the Senate might include a public insurance option in its final health reform bill. As a result, negotiations over the House bill were not just about the public option but are looking at the shape of a final bill that could be approved by both chambers, Pelosi said.

Both the Senate and the House have approved multiple health reform bills that must now be molded into a final bill that can be approved by each chamber. The two bills will then have to be reconciled for final adoption.

From Politico:

In the Kansas Senate race, GOP Rep. Todd Tiahrt’s record over eight House terms has earned him endorsements from a constellation of conservative stars, ranging from the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins to former Education Secretary Bill Bennett to anti-abortion activist Phyllis Schlafly.

But when it comes to some of the most influential Senate conservatives, Tiahrt has come up nearly dry in his GOP primary against Rep. Jerry Moran. In fact, all but one of the seven Republican senators who have offered endorsements in the open Senate race have weighed in for Moran over Tiahrt, his House colleague.

There are a variety of reasons why, but for several of the senators there was a more personal component to their decision to wade into a contested primary between two GOP House colleagues: a C Street connection

WASHINGTON (AP) — Health care legislation taking shape in the House carries a price tag of at least $1 trillion over a decade, significantly higher than the target President Barack Obama has set, congressional officials said Friday as they struggled to finish work on the measure for a vote early next month.

 Democrats have touted an unreleased Congressional Budget Office estimate of $871 billion in recent days, a total that numerous officials acknowledge understates its true cost by $150 billion or more. That figure excludes several items designed to improve benefits for Medicare and Medicaid recipients and providers, as well as public health programs and more, they added.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A House panel is investigating the role of mortgage lenders in the financial crisis and is seeking information from some of the biggest U.S. companies to determine if they used deceptive practices to lure borrowers into the housing boom.

 Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Friday the panel also is issuing a subpoena to Countrywide Financial Corp. — now owned by Bank of America Corp. — for records related to its so-called “VIP” program that provided mortgages to several senators and other officials with preferential terms. Documents provided in response to the subpoena will go to the House ethics committee.

from msnbc

WASHINGTON - The Senate has long been seen as opposed to the federal government selling health insurance in competition with private industry, but now senior Senate Democrats and White House officials are strongly considering including such a measure in health care overhaul legislation, officials say.

The provision would permit individual states to drop out of the system, a design that could make it more palatable to moderates who have opposed the "public option."

Liberals in Congress view a public option as an essential ingredient to overhaul the nation's health care system, and President Barack Obama has said frequently he favors it. But he has also made clear it is not essential to the legislation he seeks, a gesture to Democratic moderates who have opposed it.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A coalition of black, Latino and Asian lawmakers on Thursday expressed opposition to a proposal that would require next year’s census forms to ask about the status of a person’s citizenship.

 The House lawmakers criticized a proposal by Sens. David Vitter, R-La., and Bob Bennett, R-Utah, as a political ploy designed to discourage immigrants from participating in the high-stakes count, which begins April 1.

 They also echoed warnings from the Census Bureau that making a last-minute change to the census would add burdensome costs to print new forms and prevent the head count from being completed on time, as legally required.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Senate Democrats intend to try to strip the health insurance industry of its exemption from federal antitrust laws, according to congressional officials. It’s the latest evidence of a deepening struggle over President Barack Obama’s effort to overhaul the health care industry.

 If enacted, the switch would mean greater federal regulation for an industry that recently has stepped up its criticism of portions of a health care bill moving toward the Senate floor.

 Congressional officials said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, arranged to make the announcement Wednesday, joined by Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York.

from the Post Chronicle 

Sen. Roland Burris, the controversial replacement for Barack Obama's abandoned Illinois Senate seat as placed there by ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has come down on the side of a public option in the proposed health care overhaul.

In fact, Burris is making waves in his own Democrat party in that he is outright refusing to vote for a bill that does not include the public option.

"I would not support a bill that does not have a public option," Burris, 72, said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "That position will not change."

Burris has been, for lack of a better word, a burr under the saddle of Democrat leaders, who frankly did not want him in the Senate seat he now occupies. His threat to veto any health care bill that doesn't have a government run insurance program has brought more unwanted attention.

from msnbc

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's plan to remake the nation's health care system is about to take its biggest step yet toward becoming reality.

The pivotal Senate Finance Committee was poised to approve sweeping legislation Tuesday requiring nearly all Americans to purchase insurance and ushering in a host of other changes to the nation's $2.5 trillion medical system.

Much work would lie ahead before a bill could arrive on Obama's desk, but action by the Finance Committee would mark a significant advance, capping numerous delays as Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., held marathon negotiating sessions — ultimately unsuccessful — aimed at producing a bipartisan bill.