Author: David Espo
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Senate committee approves health overhaul bill
WASHINGTON • Historic legislation to expand U.S. health care and control costs won its first Republican supporter Tuesday and cleared a key Senate hurdle, a double-barreled triumph that propelled President Barack Obama’s signature issue toward votes this fall in both houses of Congress. “When history calls, history calls,” said Maine Republican Olympia Snowe, whose declaration of…
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Democrats ease impact of US health bill
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s hopes for overhauling the U.S. health care system is likely to advance in the Senate next week now that a key panel has wrapped up months of work on a bill. The most far-reaching overhaul in decades aims to protect millions who have unreliable insurance coverage or none at all…
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Baucus hopes to wrap health bill Thursday
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said Thursday he wanted to complete work on a sweeping health care bill by nightfall, opening the way for Democratic leaders to bring the historic legislation to the floors of both the House and Senate as early as mid-October. “I have high hopes of finishing today,”…
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Analysis: Obama shows flexibility on health care
WASHINGTON – The reversals, hints of concessions and politically dicey proposals on health care are piling up for President Barack Obama, whose appeal for bipartisan legislation carries risk with no guarantee of reward. By one definition, that’s called presidential leadership, flexibility first, meant to embolden others to do the same. By another, it’s political inconsistency…
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HHS secretary to press lawmakers on health care
WASHINGTON – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told lawmakers Wednesday that President Barack Obama is willing to listen to suggestions on how to pay for a health care overhaul, as long as they don’t increase the deficit. “The president is open to good ideas about how we finance health reform,” she said in…
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Pelosi draws response from CIA, criticism from GOP
WASHINGTON – The head of the CIA defended the agency Friday against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s charge that she was misled in 2002 about the use of waterboarding, but he said it ultimately is up to Congress to decide where the truth lies.”Let me be clear. It is not our policy or practice to mislead…
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Sen. Specter switches to Dems; 60-vote majority is near
WASHINGTON – Veteran Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties Tuesday with a suddenness that seemed to stun the Senate, a moderate’s defection that pushed Democrats to within a vote of the 60 needed to overcome filibusters and enact President Barack Obama’s top legislative priorities. Specter, 79 and seeking a sixth term in 2010, conceded…
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Senate reaches agreement on a leaner stimulus plan
WASHINGTON • With job losses soaring nationwide, Senate Democrats reached agreement with a small group of Republicans on Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama’s plan for combatting the worst recession in decades. “The American people want us to work together. They don’t want to see us dividing…
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House passes economic stimulus, prodded by Obama
WASHINGTON – In a swift victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House approved a historically huge $819 billion stimulus bill Wednesday night, filled with new spending and tax cuts at the core of the young adminstration’s revival plan for the desperately ailing economy.The vote was 244-188.”We don’t have a moment to spare,” Obama declared…
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Obama steps to door of White House – and history
WASHINGTON – Barack Obama stood at the threshold of the White House on Monday, summoning fellow Americans to join him in service as tens of thousands flocked to the nation’s capital to celebrate his inauguration as the first black president. “Tomorrow we will come together as one people on the same Mall where Dr. King’s…