ArklatexPolitics.com

Posted 14 hours 7 minutes 36 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Advocacy groups say President Barack Obama has
assured them that he remains committed to a comprehensive overhaul
of U.S. immigration laws. But what can be accomplished on the issue
this year remains unclear.
At the White House on Thursday, the president spent more than an
hour discussing his promise to rewrite U.S. immigration laws. He
was to meet later Thursday with New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a
Democrat, and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican. The
lawmakers are drafting a bill on the issue.
Obama had promised to tackle the immigration issue in his first
year in office. That hasn't happened, and advocates are growing
restless. The groups are bringing tens of thousands of people from
around the country to Washington for a demonstration on March 21.

Posted 14 hours 9 minutes 16 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is delaying his trip to
Asia next week to focus on his big push on health care.
A senior administration official tells The Associated Press that
Obama now plans to leave Washington on March 21 and return March
26. The original dates were March 18 to March 24. The official
spoke on condition of anonymity because the White House hasn't
announced the delay.
The president will visit the same countries as planned --
Indonesia, Guam and Australia. The trip was scheduled to coincide
with his daughters' spring vacation from school, but now his family
apparently isn't going.
Word about the delay comes as the White House presses Congress
to pass a health care overhaul. Obama's top priority has sputtered
and the administration is trying to save it after a year of
contentious debate.

Posted 14 hours 10 minutes 55 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is voicing fresh
confidence there are enough votes to pass sweeping health care
legislation, saying lawmakers are "one day closer" to a historic
achievement.
Summing up intense work to get the measure through Congress,
Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill she felt "very exhilarated"
by the tone of conversation in a caucus of Democrats Friday
morning. She said, "We stand ready to stay as long as necessary"
to finish the bill, which has been heavily debated for well over a
year.
The California Democrat also said she was pleased that President
Barack Obama had put off a scheduled trip to Asia to help see the
bill through. Pelosi also predicted that "it won't be very long
and we'll be making a real difference in the life of the American
people."

Posted 14 hours 12 minutes 10 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Republican senator whom Barack Obama once
tried to make his secretary of commerce will be among the members
of Congress to serve on the president's deficit commission.
Judd Gregg of New Hampshire was among a half-dozen lawmakers
named by Republican congressional leaders to serve on the 18-member
panel that is supposed to help rein in ballooning federal deficits.
Friday's announcement made it clear that the lawmakers,
including Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who directly challenged
Obama at a recent health care summit, were selected to focus on the
job of cutting spending, not raising taxes. Gregg at first agreed
to join Obama's Cabinet, but then reneged, saying he didn't agree
with the president's stimulus spending policies.

Posted 14 hours 13 minutes 21 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The wife of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
has undergone surgery after breaking her neck and back in a traffic
accident.
Initially, it had been thought that Landra Reid's injuries would
not require surgery.
A spokesman says the senator has been at his wife's side in a
Virginia hospital today.
Officials say Landra Reid and the couple's daughter, Lana
Barringer, were injured when a tractor-trailer rear-ended their
minivan in stop-and-go traffic on a Washington-area highway
yesterday. The impact forced their car to rear-end another vehicle.
Barranger was released from the hospital last night.
The driver of the tractor-trailer has been charged with reckless
driving. He was not injured.

Posted 1 day 13 hours 50 minutes ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Although Republicans in Congress stand united
against the Democrats' health care reform plan, Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid is telling his GOP counterpart, "We will finish
the job."
And Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa is also voicing
confidence, saying, "The stars are aligning for victory."
But President Barack Obama may not get his wish for a House vote
by March 18, just a week away. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refers to
that deadline only as an "interesting date."
Before a vote, she says lawmakers still need a cost report on
changes that have been made to the bill. After that, it could be a
week or more before the measure goes to the floor.
House Democrats met today to hear a point-by-point briefing on
the plan from White House health reform director Nancy Ann DeParle.
Meanwhile, House leaders have apparently decided not to try to
satisfy anti-abortion Democrats by changing the wording on funding
for coverage of abortions. Instead, they'll try to pass the measure
with or without the support of those Democrats.

Posted 2 days 14 hours 34 minutes ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The head of the Health and Human Services
Department is sketching out a stark choice for the nation's
insurers: oppose reform and eventually lose customers, or work with
the Obama administration to improve the legislation.
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told health insurers Wednesday that
if overhaul fails, premiums will continue to rise and employers
will cancel coverage. She said the industry may make money in the
short term, but it won't work for Americans and it eventually won't
help insurers.
Sebelius urged the insurers to help create a sustainable market
where all Americans could buy coverage. She said they should spend
the millions that might go to attack ads on reducing the cost of
premiums.
The White House released excerpts of her speech.

Posted 2 days 14 hours 38 minutes ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government says unemployment rose in 30
states in January, evidence that jobs remain scarce in most regions
of the country.
The data is somewhat better than December, when 43 states
reported higher unemployment rates, but worse than November, when
rates fell in most states.
Still, five states reported record-high joblessness in January.
They are California, at 12.5 percent; South Carolina, 12.6 percent;
Florida, 11.9 percent; North Carolina, 11.1 percent; and Georgia,
10.4 percent.
Michigan's unemployment rate is still the nation's highest, at
14.3 percent.
Thirty-one states added jobs in January, up from only 11 in the
previous month. But the job gains weren't enough, in many cases, to
lower the unemployment rate.

Posted 2 days 14 hours 41 minutes ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government ran up the largest monthly
deficit in history in February, keeping the flood of red ink on
track to top last year's record for the full year.
The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the February deficit
totaled $220.9 billion, 14 percent higher than the previous record
set in February of last year.
The deficit through the first five months of this budget year
totals $651.6 billion, 10.5 percent higher than a year ago.

Posted 2 days 14 hours 43 minutes ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate has passed legislation to give
months of continued jobless checks to people who have been out of
work for more than half a year and help the unemployed pay for
health insurance.
The jobless aid accompanies a host of other provisions that
would prevent doctors from absorbing cuts to Medicare payments and
help financially strapped states cope with spiraling Medicaid
bills.
The 62-36 vote Wednesday sends the measure into talks with the
House, which passed companion legislation last year but is wary
about some Senate provisions included to defray its impact on the
deficit.
The bill also extends a variety of tax breaks for businesses and
individuals that are popular with senators in both parties.