News on Political Policy

Health Care Overhaul

2010-03-21T19:01:33Z

Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., talks about his opposition to the health care reform bill during a press conference as the House prepares to vote on health care reform in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sunday, March 21, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul

2010-03-21T23:30:06Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval to a sweeping healthcare overhaul on Sunday, expanding insurance coverage to nearly all Americans and handing President Barack Obama a landmark victory.</p><p>On a late-night 219-...

With health vote, Obama claims a new place in history

2010-03-21T23:15:12Z

<div><p>Barack Obama now has a political triumph for the ages to burnish an already historic legacy, as the first president to fulfill the Democratic dream of health care for nearly every American.</p><p>Yet such is the rancor whipped up by the ferocious battle over the health reform bill sent to the president's desk by Congress on Sunday, the impact on Obama's political prospects and those of his Democratic allies i...

Tens of thousands rally for immigration reform

2010-03-21T22:45:37Z

<div id="subtitle">Tens of thousands rally in DC for immigration changes; say frustrated with lack of action</div><div><p>Frustrated with the lack of action to overhaul the country's immigration system, tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied on the National Mall and marched through the streets of the capital Sunday, waving American flags and holding homemade signs in English and Spanish.</p><p>Suppo...

Obama achieves health law success that eluded past

2010-03-21T21:45:16Z

<div><p>Rarely does the government, that big, clumsy, poorly regarded oaf, pull off anything short of war that touches all lives with one act, one stroke of a president's pen. Such a moment has come.</p><p>After a year of riotous argument, decades of failure and a century of spoiled hopes, the United States is reaching for a system of medical care that extends coverage nearly to all citizens. The change that's comi...

Insurers, doctor-owned hospitals get late help

2010-03-21T21:00:38Z

<div><p>Tucked into President Barack Obama's health care bill are several 11th-hour changes that help major insurance companies and doctor-owned hospitals.</p><p>Among the beneficiaries, according to lobbyists and congressional aides, are Kaiser Permanente, the giant California-based insurance company...

House passes Democratic changes to health bill

2010-03-21T21:00:25Z

<div id="subtitle">House passes Democratic changes that helped secure victory for health bill</div><div><p>The House has passed key changes to its just-approved overhaul of health care legislation. The changes are part of a prearranged agreement to guarantee passage of the historic legislation.</p><p>The changes passed by a 220-211 vote. That bill now goes to the Senate for final approval, where it only requires a simple majority to pass.</p><p>The...

AP NewsAlert

2010-03-21T21:00:22Z

<div id="subtitle">House passes package of changes to health care legislation, sends bill to Senate</div><div><p>House passes package of changes to health care legislation, sends bill to Senate.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=72203552&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div> Copyright 2010 <a href="http://www.ap.org">AP News</a></div></div>...

Pro-Israel meeting airs feared scars in US-Israel ties

2010-03-21T19:16:09Z

<div><p>A pro-Israel conference has exposed fears that a row over Jewish settlements had left scars in US-Israeli ties and raised the risk of Israeli strikes against Iran's nuclear program.</p><p>But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- while he visits Washi...

Abortion compromise doesn't satisfy critics

2010-03-21T18:00:21Z

<div id="subtitle">White House compromise with anti-abortion Democrats doesn't satisfy GOP, outside activists</div><div><p>A last-minute compromise that swung a half-dozen anti-abortion Democrats behind President B...

US-Pakistan talks touted as 'intensification' of partnership

2010-03-21T17:15:53Z

<div><p>The United States is touting high-level and wide-ranging talks here on Wednesday with Pakistan, a frontline ally in the war on extremism, as a "major intensification of our partnership."</p><p>President Barack Obama's administration has promised to engage more deeply with Pakistan, which has long seen

China vows to hit back if targeted by U.S. on yuan

2010-03-21T16:30:11Z

<div><p>BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing will retaliate if the United States declares China a currency manipulator and imposes trade sanctions, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said on Sunday, firing the latest salvo in a spat ove...

Health care demonstrators gather outside Capitol

2010-03-21T16:15:13Z

<div id="subtitle">Hundreds of demonstrators swarm Capitol lawn to protest and support health care reform</div><div><p>Hundreds of boisterous protesters gathered outside the Capitol on Sunday afternoon to voice their opposition to the health care legislation being debated inside.</p><p>About 300 people carrying homemade signs, American flags and banners with the colonial-era slogan "Don't tread on me" fanned out across a grassy area near the House side of the ...

Immigration activists rally for change

2010-03-21T15:30:27Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in the U.S. capital on Sunday to demand immigration reform that defends the rights of foreign workers, but their voices may have been muted by Democrats' push for a historic vote on healthcare.</p><p>Carrying signs that said "Justice and Dignity for All U.S. Immig...

Virginia gun rights advocates pack heat with pride

2010-03-21T15:15:37Z

<div><p> About 60 gun rights activists gather in a pizzeria in the Virginia suburb of Falls Church, just outside of Washington DC, their firearms openly displayed in waist holsters.</p><p>They are celebrating what they expect will be the successful enactment in Virginia of legislation expanding gun rights for...

Immigration March

2010-03-21T14:45:58Z

Thousands of immigrant rights advocates pack the National Mall during an immigration reform rally in Washington, on Sunday, March 21, 2010. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

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Obama vows commitment to immigration reform

2010-03-21T13:45:14Z

<div id="subtitle">In taped video message to activists, Obama reaffirms commitment to fixing immigration woes</div><div><p>President Barack Obama is reassuring immigration reform advocates that he is committed to working with Congress on a comprehensive bill to fix a "broken immigration system."</p><p>In a videotaped message presented on giant screens to thousands marching on the

White House announces executive order on abortion

2010-03-21T13:15:57Z

<div id="subtitle">To get votes on health care bill, Obama announces executive order affirming abortion limits</div><div><p>President Barack Obama has announced plans to issue an executive order assuring that health care overhaul legislation would not change the restrictions on federal money for abortion.</p><p>White House communications direct...

MIDEAST ISRAEL PALESTINIANS

2010-03-21T12:15:49Z

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, centre, visits a destroyed house in Jebaliya, northern Gaza Strip, Sunday, March 21, 2010. U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has entered the blockaded Gaza Strip, where 1.5 million people have been under lockdown by Israel

MIDEAST ISRAEL PALESTINIANS UN

2010-03-21T12:15:48Z

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, right, meets with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Jerusalem, Sunday, March 21, 2010. U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, who was touring the Gaza Strip Sunday wants a nearly three-year blockade of Gaza l...