Senators express hope for a health reform bill 
Senators prepared to cast their first votes Wednesday on health-care reform, but even as partisan divisions hardened and contentious amendments stacked up, Democrats increasingly expressed optimism that they would succeed in passing a bill before Christmas.
The initial amendments offered illustrated the legislation's vast scope and lingering vulnerabilities. The first, co-sponsored by Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), would increase preventative health care for women at a 10-year cost of $940 million. One aim of the measure is to blunt concerns raised last month when an independent commission recommended that women undergo mammograms less frequently.
The second amendment, authored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), would strip out the bill's primary revenue source, nearly $500 billion in Medicare cost savings. Although AARP and other seniors groups have said otherwise, Republicans are attacking the cuts as a threat that could eventually shorten lives.
Couple asked Defense official for entree to state dinner via e-mail
E-mails turned over to the Secret Service show that Tareq and Michaele Salahi had sought a top Defense Department official's help to gain access to last week's White House state dinner.
People familiar with the inquiry into how the Salahis were able to attend Tuesday's gala, even though they weren't on the official guest list, said the Salahis exchanged e-mails with Michele S. Jones, special assistant to the secretary of defense and the Pentagon-based liaison to the White House. It was unclear how well the Salahis know Jones, but Jones includes the Salahis' lawyer, Paul W. Gardner, as one of her 50 friends on Facebook.
Several people familiar with the Jones-Salahi correspondence, including some who requested anonymity because it's part of an ongoing investigation, said the e-mails support the Salahis' case that they were cleared to attend Tuesday night's gala.
Health Premiums Will Rise for 14 Million Under Senate Measure
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Insurance premiums would jump asmuch as 13 percent for millions of Americans under a U.S. Senateproposal that is supposed to make health care more affordable, anonpartisan report found.
The higher fees would be paid by the 14 million Americanswho buy their own coverage and earn too much to get proposedsubsidies, according to the report today from the CongressionalBudget Office. Subsidies would lower costs for 18 millionpeople. The 134 million people covered through large employersmay see premiums hold steady or fall as much as 3 percent.
The report “is a setback” for the Senate measure pushedby President Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats “and islikely to become ammunition for Republicans in their effort toblock reform,” said Matt Perry, an analyst with Wells FargoSecurities LLC in New York, in a note today. The Senate is dueto begin debate this week on the measure, which would spend $848billion over a decade to extend coverage to 31 million uninsuredAmericans.
Senate to begin debate on healthcare overhaul
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate opens debate on a broad healthcare overhaul on Monday with senators seeking an elusive compromise on thorny issues like a government-run insurance plan, abortion coverage and holding down costs.
The debate on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority, which opens at 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT), is expected to last three weeks or more. Republicans have vowed to do whatever they can to block or delay the bill.
The Senate plan is designed to rein in costs, expand coverage to about 30 million uninsured Americans and halt industry practices such as denying coverage to those with pre-existing medical conditions.
Huckabee commuted sentence of suspect in Washington police slayings
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee started Sunday morning by dialing back expectations about his political future, but by evening, it was his past that was at issue when the Seattle Times broke news that the suspect in the slaying of four police officers in a Seattle suburb was a former Arkansas resident who had had his sentence commuted by Huckabee and who was wanted on an outstanding Arkansas warrant.
In response to the revelations, Huckabee released a statement seeking to cast some of the responsibility onto the parole board that freed the man, 37-year-old Maurice Clemmons, and the criminal justice system that repeatedly failed to properly handle the convicted felon. Said Huckabee:
"The senseless and savage execution of police officers in Washington State has saddened the nation, and early reports indicate that a person of interest is a repeat offender who once lived in Arkansas and was wanted on outstanding warrants here and Washington State. The murder of any individual is profound tragedy, but the murder of a police officer is the worst of all murders in that it is an assault on every citizen and the laws we live within.
Senate opens work on healthcare bill
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate began work on a sweeping healthcare overhaul on Monday, with senators on both sides pouncing on the findings in a nonpartisan budget report on insurance premiums to bolster their arguments.
With the debate expected to last up to three weeks, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid warned senators they would work on weekends if necessary to hammer out compromises on thorny issues like a government-run insurance plan, abortion coverage and holding down costs.
"The next few weeks will tell us a lot about whether senators are more committed to solving problems or creating them," Reid said.
Pakistan must step up action against al Qaeda-Brown
LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called on Pakistan to take tougher action against al Qaeda and step up its efforts to track down the group's leader Osama bin Laden.
Brown said the efforts of British and coalition forces in Afghanistan to tackle the Taliban insurgency needed to be matched by more effective action by the Pakistan government and forces on their side of the border.
"Brown called President (Asif Ali) Zardari yesterday, he expressed support for what Pakistani forces are doing against the Pakistani Taliban but said he wanted to see tougher action against the leadership of al Qaeda," a British official said.
Couple said to seek payment
The Virginia socialites who apparently crashed the White House state dinner last week remained elusive Saturday, as reports surfaced that the aspiring reality-TV stars were trying to sell their story for hundreds of thousands of dollars and CNN said the couple's upcoming appearance on "Larry King Live" had been cancelled.
The Associated Press reported that Tareq and Michaele Salahi were offering to talk to broadcast networks about their experience and were looking for a payment in the mid-six figures range. The news service attributed the information to a television executive it did not name. According to the report, representatives for the couple contacted networks to urge them to "get their bids in" for an interview.
The New York Times cited television executives making the same claim, also speaking on condition of anonymity. "They are asking for best offers from all the networks," the newspaper quoted one as saying.
Virginia socialites reported to be seeking payment to talk
The Virginia socialites who apparently crashed the White House state dinner last week remained elusive Saturday, as reports surfaced that the aspiring reality-TV stars were trying to sell their story for hundreds of thousands of dollars and CNN said the couple's upcoming appearance on "Larry King Live" had been cancelled.
The Associated Press reported that Tareq and Michaele Salahi were offering to talk to broadcast networks about their experience and were looking for a payment in the mid-six figures range. The news service cited a television executive it did not name.
Network news divisions generally do not pay for interviews.
After making a splash, Va. socialites go silent
The Virginia socialites who apparently crashed the White House state dinner last week remained elusive Saturday as CNN said it had cancelled the couple's upcoming appearance on "Larry King Live."
CNN said Tareq and Michaele Salahi's appearance on Monday had been cancelled after producers were told that the Salahis were postponing. And for the second day in a row, no one answered the door at the couple's house in Front Royal.
At the house, reporters and photographers were staked out at the end of the Salahis' gravel driveway. A CBS employee folded a handwritten note into the door, promising the couple that they would get a fair hearing of their side of the story if they talked with anchor Katie Couric.
