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  • Medicare payments for physical therapy have poor prognosis
    Mar 13, 2010 — Los Angeles Times
    Glenn McDonald undergoes physical therapy twice a week for a bad back. The cap did not apply to diagnoses such as multiple sclerosis, joint replacement and "spinal stenosis of the lumbar region" a seriously bad back. He pays a Medicare premium, he said, and still pays Medicare taxes.
  • Antiabortion religious leaders urge lawmakers to pass Senate health bill
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    We believe that the provisions below provide extensive evidence that longstanding restrictions on federal funding of abortion have been maintained. More than 30 million Americans may finally gain access to a health care system that is affordable -- providing families, children and seniors with fundamental care that is essential to human dignity. Cynthia L. HaleSenior PastorRay of Hope Christian Church, Decatur, GADr.
  • As costs soar, Mass. foresees change in health insurance rules
    Mar 12, 2010 — The Boston Globe
    ...coverage.The state's landmark 2006 health law requires nearly everyone to have health insurance or to pay a stiff tax penalty.But several board members said that since 2006, insurance costs have risen much faster than incomes. The affordability formula the board uses is pegged to income and the cost of health insurance plans that are available in each region.``We need to look at how the percentage of income we are asking people to contribute to insurance has...
  • Bay State seeks fair shake in health bill
    Mar 12, 2010 — The Boston Globe
    Governor Deval Patrick is a friend of the president's, and Kerry was critical in shepherding the health care bill in the Senate Finance Committee. Lawmakers decided yesterday to adopt the Senate language on health insurance funding of abortion, which is less restrictive than the House-approved version. The average federal share is 57 percent of the cost.The Senate bill would force all states to expand Medicaid and would help to pay the cost of the added coverage.
  • Chicago Tribune Jon Yates column
    Mar 12, 2010 — Chicago Tribune
    Jon Yates Mar. 11, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Avery Anderson will turn 2 in August. To obtain a $1,000 child tax credit, he needed Avery's Social Security number. Neither did the state, which had not received a birth record from the hospital. For months, Anderson tried to obtain the birth certificate, juggling calls between the state, county and hospital.
  • Chile shaken to the core
    Mar 12, 2010 — Los Angeles Times
    Augusto Pinochet in 1990 and had registered significant social and economic gains during its 20-year tenure.Pinera's win inevitably created doubts about the future. A number of pitfalls await him.The earthquake did not only split Chile's ground and swamp entire towns with a deadly tsunami.
  • China's migrant permits stir outcry
    Mar 12, 2010 — CNN
    Residents get either a rural hukou or an urban hukou, depending on birthplace. That has forced the Chinese government to gradually relax the hukou restrictions to allow mobility among rural residents. In practice, the hukou system is no longer as strictly enforced as before.
  • Democrats Struggle to Finish Health Bill
    Mar 12, 2010 — New York Times
    Democratic opponents of abortion, led by Representative Bart Stupak of Michigan, have threatened to vote against the Senate bill, saying its abortion restrictions are not tough enough. House Democratic leaders have had desultory talks with Mr. Durbin said, the Senate must decide: “What is dilatory?
  • Dems look to health vote without abortion foes
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    Abortion opponents say the provision falls short in restricting taxpayer dollars for abortion coverage. White House officials and congressional Democratic leaders met Wednesday evening in Pelosi's office. The House bill would have prohibited health plans receiving subsidies from covering abortions.
  • Drones silently patrol U.S. borders
    Mar 12, 2010 — CNN
    In fact, the nearest Border Patrol agents are far away. Jerry Kersey is the Customs and Border Protection agent in charge of this night's Predator mission. Right now, Predator aircraft monitor some border regions on a limited basis.
  • Fifth-grader spends birthday lobbying for health care reform
    Mar 12, 2010 — CNN
    She wanted people to have health care and not wait till management level to be offered health care," said Marcelas. Marcelas' appearance on Capitol Hill was the latest in a series of events featuring ordinary individuals struggling with the health care system. Republicans argue that any serious health care reform plan needs to start with stronger cost containment measures, including tort reform.
  • FULL STORY
    Mar 12, 2010 — CNN
    In fact, the nearest Border Patrol agents are far away. Jerry Kersey is the Customs and Border Protection agent in charge of this night's Predator mission. Right now, Predator aircraft monitor some border regions on a limited basis.
  • GOP member: White House 'clowns' are 'punishing' lawmakers after security flub
    Mar 12, 2010 — The Hill
    Good grief, it’s time to say we don’t want clowns in charge of something as important as our healthcare.
  • Graham: Immigration Reform In Peril
    Mar 12, 2010 — Politico
    Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement issued just after he and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) met with Obama.“For more than a year, health care has sucked most of the energy out of the room. Most had expected the Schumer-Graham measure to be formally introduced in January.
  • Hawks eyeing wrong prey
    Mar 12, 2010 — The Boston Globe
    Five out of the six members appointed by Obama are basically deficit hawks. So the deck is pretty well stacked before the commission even begins.But, wait, aren't deficits a real problem? It should be the majority report.Robert Kuttner is co-editor of The American Prospect and a senior fellow at Demos.
  • Hayworth Ties To Alipac Questioned
    Mar 12, 2010 — Politico
    Jason Rose, a spokesman for the former congressman, scoffed at the McCain campaign's request to disavow ALIPAC."Because of comments someone made in a comments section of a website? Is John McCain a KKK sympathizer because their members supported him in 2008? Groups like the Anti-Defamation League are offended.
  • Irish PM talks about visit to Washington
    Mar 12, 2010 — Washington Post
    Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen meets with President Obama next week in Washington before a St. Cowen discussed his objectives with Washington Post correspondent Anthony Faiola. Q. Will economic issues be high on the agenda?
  • Los Angeles Times David Lazarus column
    Mar 12, 2010 — Los Angeles Times
    Certain services, packages and equipment prices will change." Even then, the company can't quite bring itself to clearly state that prices are going up again. Iritano's doctor believes he could require another round of microwaves in about six months.
  • Obama delays trip for health care push
    Mar 12, 2010 — CNN
    Obama spent much of the past week pitching his health care plan to nervous congressional Democrats behind closed doors. Democrats also are debating whether to include a large student loan reform bill in the health care reconciliation package. CNN's Ted Barrett, Lisa Desjardins, Suzanne Malveaux, Alan Silverleib and Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.
  • Obama heads to Ohio to pitch health care bill
    Mar 12, 2010 — USA Today
    President Obama will hit the road again to drum up public support for his health care plan, this time visiting an Ohio town near Cleveland on Monday. The White House just announced that Obama will be in Strongsville, Ohio, on March 15 to discuss health insurance. He'll appear at the Walter F. Ehrnfelt Recreation and Senior Center.
  • Obama Links Immigration Overhaul in 2010 to G.O.P. Backing
    Mar 12, 2010 — New York Times
    Obama’s immigration policies for the first time. Graham are shaping would tighten enforcement against hiring illegal immigrant workers by creating a national biometric identification card for all workers, including American citizens and legal immigrants. Unions oppose any expanded program to allow in temporary immigrant guest workers, arguing that those programs leave immigrants vulnerable to abuse and undercut American workers.
  • Obama won't promise immigration reform
    Mar 12, 2010 — The Hill
    ...pursue legislation this year.Last summer, Obama vowed to pursue immigration reform in 2010.Obama held three meetings on the politically sensitive topic — one with activists, one with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and one with Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who are working on bipartisan legislation.White House press secretary Robert Gibbs indicated that while immigration and a new comprehensive energy bill are important to Obama,...
  • Senators give Obama a bipartisan plan on immigration
    Mar 12, 2010 — Los Angeles Times
    Schumer and Graham and was pleased to learn of their progress in forging a proposal to fix our broken immigration system. They said they told Obama that families were being severed by widespread deportations. Schumer has been trying to line up additional Republican co-sponsors in hopes of broadening the bill's bipartisan support.
  • Young immigrants declare illegal status
    Mar 12, 2010 — Chicago Tribune
    They urged people to phone or send texts to Sen. He said his undocumented mother died of lung cancer two months ago after working in a bad factory job for many years.
  • Dems work to finish health care deal
    Mar 11, 2010 — CNN
    Charles, Missouri. "It's time to vote." GOP leaders, meanwhile, remain furious over the Democratic strategy for passing an overhaul bill. Bills passed under in the Senate reconciliation require only a simple majority of 51 votes. A unified Senate GOP caucus will fight to prevent changes promised by the Democratic leadership, they said.
  • New jobs bill is destined for failure
    Mar 11, 2010 — CNN
    Economists Timothy Bartik and John Bishop are major advocates of many job-creation tax credit proposals and estimate that the tax credit in the Senate bill will create around 200,000 jobs. Lastly, tax credits are not the best job creation measure. The job creation tax credit stands little chance of delivering the job creation or economic growth that a sustained program of infrastructure investment can provide.
  • Obama gets pressed on immigration issue
    Mar 11, 2010 — USA Today
    Tonight, Obama will have dinner with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Given all on Obama's political plate, is immigration doable before the Nov. 2 congressional elections? Some activists remind Obama that immigration change was one of his campaign promises.
  • Obama touts plan to cut waste in Medicare, Medicaid
    Mar 11, 2010 — Los Angeles Times
    ...industry lobbying group America's Health Insurance Plans, promised that insurers would provide specific suggestions to improve the legislation. Obama's new fraud initiative builds on a proposal he made ahead of his White House summit last month to woo Republicans, who have long complained about waste in government health programs. Last year, the Medicare and Medicaid programs for seniors and low-income Americans made $54 billion in unwarranted payments to healthcare providers,...
  • On health, Obama has roadblocks in own party
    Mar 11, 2010 — The Boston Globe
    And the president made it clear he backed the idea of attaching the measure to a reconciliation bill.``It's time to vote. But the way forward is complicated and uncertain.First, leaders must settle on which elements of the differing House and Senate bills should be included in a final package. But ``we're going to pass it.
  • Opinion: Jobs bill doomed to fail
    Mar 11, 2010 — CNN
    Economists Timothy Bartik and John Bishop are major advocates of many job-creation tax credit proposals and estimate that the tax credit in the Senate bill will create around 200,000 jobs. Lastly, tax credits are not the best job creation measure. The job creation tax credit stands little chance of delivering the job creation or economic growth that a sustained program of infrastructure investment can provide.
  • Qing Hong Wu, Pardoned Immigrant Detainee, Savors Freedom
    Mar 11, 2010 — New York Times
    After four months locked in a New Jersey immigration jail facing deportation, Qing Hong Wu, 29, was told by guards to pack his things on Tuesday evening. Wu, said she had expected immigration and jail officials to handle Mr. Wu’s immigration lawyer sent a note to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, thanking the agency for its assistance in his release.
  • Senate passes $140 billion in tax breaks, aid to unemployed
    Mar 11, 2010 — Washington Post
    Judd Gregg (R-N.H.). "Why do we keep passing debt on to our children? Creating a conference committee could drag out the process in the Senate for several days, unless Republicans cooperate.House Democrats have been broadly skeptical of their Senate counterparts' approach to jobs legislation. That bill -- which would create a Social Security tax break for companies hiring new employees and reauthorize federal highway spending -- has passed the Senate once with bipartisan support.
  • Shaken to the core
    Mar 11, 2010 — Los Angeles Times
    Almost two weeks after the earthquake that devastated Chile, the country is still reeling from aftershocks. I speak to my sister-in-law in Santiago and she suddenly interrupts our conversation, telling me she has to hang up, está temblandoestá temblando, está temblando it's trembling, again and again. The earthquake did not only split Chile's ground and swamp entire towns with a deadly tsunami.
  • Va. assembly approves bill to bar health-insurance mandate
    Mar 11, 2010 — Washington Post
    But Virginia is the first state to complete legislative action on such a bill.Gov.
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