Capitol Briefing - News and Analysis From the Hill - November 29, 2009

Senate votes to keep Medicare cuts

The Senate voted Thursday to keep nearly $500 billion in Medicare cuts in its overhaul of the health care system, protecting the bill's major source of financing against a Republican attack.

By Web Politics Editor | December 3, 2009; 4:35 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (112)
Categories: Health Reform
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House votes to make current estate tax permanent

The House approved Thursday a measure making the current estate tax rate permanent, overcoming the objections of an unusual coalition of liberal and conservative critics.

By Ben Pershing | December 3, 2009; 2:42 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (185)
Categories: Agenda , House , Purse Strings
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Pelosi rejects tax proposal to pay for Afghan war

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) scuttled the proposed "war tax" to finance the increased troop deployment to Afghanistan, telling reporters Thursday that she would oppose the idea from her closest allies in the Capitol.

By Paul Kane | December 3, 2009; 2:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Dem. Leaders , House , Purse Strings
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Amid anxiety, jobs bill takes shape on the Hill

The White House jobs summit opens today amid concerns on Capitol Hill that the administration has not done enough to address unemployment and uncertainty over how and when Congress can deliver a jobs bill to the president's desk.

By Ben Pershing | December 3, 2009; 9:09 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (30)
Categories: Agenda , Branch vs. Branch
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Pelosi wants entire House to get a war briefing

By Paul Kane Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has requested that every House member receive a top-level briefing on President Obama's request for 30,000 additional troops in Afghanistan, according to a senior aide -- an unusual move demonstrating the high stakes of the war debate. Obama dispatched Secretary of State Hillary...

By Paul Kane | December 2, 2009; 5:29 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Dem. Leaders , House
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Senate health-care debate stalls in dispute over amendments

The Senate health-care debate has stalled on the floor as Democrats blame Republicans for blocking votes on the first two amendments.

By Web Politics Editor | December 2, 2009; 4:11 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (82)
Categories: Health Reform
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Anti-health reform group spends $1 million on ads

By Ben Pershing As the Senate continues its debate over health-care legislation, a grass-roots conservative group is launching a $1 million ad campaign to persuade key senators to oppose the reform measure. Keeping Small Business Healthy, a project run by the advocacy group Institute for Liberty, will begin airing...

By Ben Pershing | December 2, 2009; 6:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: Health Reform
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Obama's Afghan plan draws praise from Rep. Joe "You Lie" Wilson

In a sign of the odd couplings created by the politics surrounding the Afghan war, President Obama received a ringing endorsement Tuesday from Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) for his proposal to send tens of thousands of additional troops to the battlefield.

By Paul Kane | December 1, 2009; 4:38 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (15)

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Lawmakers split over Obama's troop plan for Afghanistan

President Obama won endorsements Tuesday from leading congressional hawks for his proposal to send additional troops into Afghanistan, but antiwar liberals denounced the policy and vowed to fight the effort when the war-funding legislation arrives on Capitol Hill.

By Paul Kane | December 1, 2009; 3:45 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Afghanistan
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House expenses go online

Forty-five years after Congress first began publishing its expenditures, the House took another step into the modern age Monday by putting those numbers somewhere the public can actually find them -- the Internet.

By Ben Pershing | November 30, 2009; 2:42 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: House
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CBO: Senate health plan will increase some premiums -- and expand coverage

Updated 3:40 p.m. By Lori Montgomery The Senate's plan to overhaul the health insurance system would increase premiums in the individual market, but purchasers would get better coverage than under current law and six in 10 would see their premium payments reduced by new federal subsidies, congressional budget analysts said...

By Lori Montgomery | November 30, 2009; 1:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (96)
Categories: Health Reform
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Capitol Briefing: November 29, 2009 - December 5, 2009