The House of Representatives passed a sweeping health care bill Saturday night with a tight vote of 220-215, making it the biggest expansion of health care coverage since Medicare was created more than 40 years ago.
The issue of abortion threatened to derail House Democrats' health care bill Friday unless staunchly anti-abortion Democrats and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops succeeded in their effort to get strict abortion limitations into the measure.
The western United States, with its independent streak and growing population, is the terrain both political parties are hoping to mine for electoral gains in the coming years.
Victories in New Jersey and Virginia Tuesday provided a major shot in the arm for the Republican Party heading into the 2010 elections, but the Democratic losses of these two governorships should not be interpreted as a significant blow to President Obama.
With a year to go before midterm congressional elections, a new national poll indicates that Americans are divided over whether they'd vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate in their district.
The House of Representatives passed a sweeping health care bill Saturday night with a tight vote of 220-215, making it the biggest expansion of health care coverage since Medicare was created more than 40 years ago.
The issue of abortion threatened to derail House Democrats' health care bill Friday unless staunchly anti-abortion Democrats and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops succeeded in their effort to get strict abortion limitations into the measure.
The western United States, with its independent streak and growing population, is the terrain both political parties are hoping to mine for electoral gains in the coming years.
Victories in New Jersey and Virginia Tuesday provided a major shot in the arm for the Republican Party heading into the 2010 elections, but the Democratic losses of these two governorships should not be interpreted as a significant blow to President Obama.
With a year to go before midterm congressional elections, a new national poll indicates that Americans are divided over whether they'd vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate in their district.
When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he would be pushing for a public option in the final health care bill, it looked as if he had given up on the possibility of a bipartisan agreement.
House Democratic leaders will unveil on Thursday a health care bill that includes a more moderate version of the public option, several Democratic leadership aides tell CNN.
When the stock market broke the 10,000 point barrier a few weeks ago, many investors celebrated. Economists have started to talk about the end of the "Great Recession." But many Americans can't see what all the enthusiasm is about.
"Keep the government's hands off my Medicare." Those words -- quoted by so many TV talking heads -- never seem actually to have been spoken by anyone. It's like that poodle in the microwave story: Everybody has a neighbor who heard it from his cousin.
Given the heated rhetoric and sharp partisan divides that have characterized this year's debate, it's easy to forget that there are several key reforms in health care that Democrats and Republicans can agree on.
During the recent interview that Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry gave to CNN, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee argued it was still too early for the United States to commit more troops to Afghanistan.
During the recent interview that Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry gave to CNN, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee argued that it was still too early for the United States to commit more troops to Afghanistan.
Senate Democratic leaders met Thursday night with White House officials to consider including a government-funded public health insurance option, along with a provision allowing states to opt out of it, in a health care overhaul bill.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Congress is set to consider a measure increasing the amount of money the federal government can lend to small businesses.
I started on Capitol Hill in the fall of 1989 as an intern for House Minority Leader Bob Michel. Republicans had just elected a firebrand named Newt Gingrich to be their whip. Democrats had just replaced their speaker, Jim Wright, with Tom Foley. And George H. W. Bush was settling in to his first year as president.
There was candid frustration Thursday coming from rank-and-file congressional Democrats about the influence of Maine's Republican senator in the health care reform debate.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned her Senate counterparts Thursday that she intends to fight hard for a government-run health care plan as part of any comprehensive overhaul bill.
The focus on health care reform now shifts to the Democratic leadership in Congress a day after the Senate Finance Committee voted through its version of the health care bill.
The health care reform debate reached a new milestone Tuesday as a key congressional committee passed an $829 billion plan projected to extend coverage to an additional 29 million Americans.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in an effort sure to rankle Democrats, is launching a multi-million dollar media blitz to promote job growth and raise alarm bells at what it sees as dangerous economic policies.
Health insurance premiums for the typical American family would increase by another $4,000 by 2019 under a key Senate overhaul plan, according to an industry trade group analysis.
The 1994 elections were approaching, and House Republicans were on a mission to take back control of their chamber for the first time in nearly 50 years.
As one of the most influential Democrats in the House of Representatives, Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York, has seen the highs and lows that come with the job.
The Senate Finance Committee will vote on its long-awaited health care bill next Tuesday, Majority Leader Harry Reid announced on the Senate floor Thursday.
Could a little-known freshman Democrat from a conservative-leaning Florida district be just what the doctor ordered for liberals wary of what they view as a timid president too ready to compromise on overhauling health care?
A compromise health care proposal widely seen as having the best chance to win Democratic and Republican support would cost $829 billion over the next 10 years, nonpartisan budget analysts concluded Wednesday.
In my next life, I'd like to be an opposition party leader. What fun to go to work every day knowing you will always be right, largely because your ideas will remain untested.
A national poll released Monday indicates the Democratic Party is becoming less popular with voters but suggests that Republicans haven't been able to capitalize on the Democrats' downturn.
Much has been said and written about the decline and fall of the Republican Party. That is unsurprising, given the last two elections, when Republicans got their heads handed to them.
If Sen. Barack Obama is able to prevail over Sen. John McCain on Tuesday, all of those Democrats who ripped Howard Dean's 50-state strategy over the last four years should call the head of the Democratic National Committee and offer a heartfelt apology.
Introduction If you have ever watched the Democratic or Republican political conventions, you have probably noticed that they have all the makings of a big party: a crowd, balloons and lots of noise. It wasn't always this way. Originally, the purpose of a convention was to nominate a political party's candidates for president and vice president. That's still the purpose, but today candidates are chosen in primaries and caucuses in the months leading up to the convention. The big party provides a media showcase that advertises the party's platform and presents the nominees to the public.
Sixteen years ago, Bill Clinton led his exiled party back to the White House by pointedly rejecting post-'60s liberalism and promised a "new brand of Democratic politics." But today, as the delegates convene here for their 2008 convention, the Democratic Party has shifted to an economic direction best described as "center left."
There was no way you could miss the point -- they wouldn't let you. Last week Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama held their first joint campaign rally, in a town called Unity, in a field outside the Unity Elementary School.
There are two major national political parties in the United States: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. But have those groups been at the forefront of American politics since the birth of the nation? This One-Sheet helps students learn about the history of political parties in America.
Some Democrats say they fear their party's method of picking a nominee might turn undemocratic as neither presidential candidate is likely to gather the delegates needed for the nomination.
As Democratic and Republican presidential candidates scour the country for votes during the 2008 campaign, they'll inevitably court the Hispanic community, a voting group growing rapidly in number and diversity.
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said Friday he is pulling out of the 2008 Democratic race for president, citing financial difficulties in a campaign that lasted 15 weeks.
The battle for the soul of the Democratic Party is under way. And the outcome of this battle will likely not be determined by any one of the rising number of candidates for the party's 2008 presidential nomination, but rather by the Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill.
From the riotous coverage of this election, starting months ago and ending with the November 7 crescendo, one might conclude that momentous events are afoot: To the barricades! Out with the old; in with the new!
A three-session advance hit a roadblock Thursday, with investors bailing out of drug, telecom and financial stocks following confirmation that the Democratic Party will control all of Congress for the first time since 1994.
A three-session advance hit a roadblock Thursday, with investors bailing out of drug, telecom and financial stocks, following confirmation that the Democratic Party will control all of Congress for the first time since 1994.
Stocks slumped Thursday afternoon, giving up morning gains, as investors bailed out of drug, telecom and financial stocks one session after the Dow hit a record high and the Democratic Party took full control of Congress for the first time since 1994.
Stocks were mixed Wednesday morning, as traditionally Republican Wall Street weighed the possibility of the Democratic Party controlling both houses of Congress.
Stocks slipped a bit Wednesday morning, as traditionally Republican Wall Street considered the possibility of the Democratic Party controlling both houses of Congress.
Well, it is a very pleasant time to be in Washington. Senators and representatives alike have vacated the premises. Most have headed off to ply their trade on their constituents. The off-year elections are approaching, and most of our federal legislators want another stint at what the Democrats call "public service." That is a euphemism for what all reasonable observers call the "public trough."
This Republican-led, do-nothing Congress is on its way home for a five-week vacation. I'm sure while there, they'll be glad to explain to their constituents why they need so much rest in a year in which they will work fewer than 80 days.
I am a 44-year-old woman who grew up in Berkeley who has never once voted for a Republican, or crossed a picket line, or failed to send in a small check when the Doctors Without Borders envelope showed up. I believe that we should not have invaded Iraq, that we should have signed the Kyoto treaty, that the Starr Report was, in part, the result of a vast right-wing conspiracy. I believe that poverty is our most pressing issue and that we should be pouring money and energy into its eradication. I believe that allowing migrant women and children to die of thirst in American deserts is a moral transgression that will stain us forever.
A police squad defused a bomb at the headquarters of the opposition Democrat Party, six days before Thais head to the polls in a snap election called by the beleaguered prime minister.
A story told about Haile Selassie, for 44 years until his toppling in a 1974 coup the emperor of Ethiopia, reminds me of the current state of the Democratic Party.
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean took the helm of the Democratic National Committee on Saturday, vowing, "Today will be the beginning of the re-emergence of the Democratic Party."
The fourth floor of the building directly across the street from the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington looks abandoned. No receptionist greets visitors. The hallway lights aren't turned on. Most ...
Will American voters' unhappiness about corporate corruption, the stock market, and the economy lead to big Democratic gains in the November midterm elections? Don't bet on it.
Most voters don't wake up to the fact that there is a presidential election until their favorite television programs are interrupted every four years by the summer conventions. The nightmare for an...
The new GOP leaders are arguing that they will be be more action-oriented, more efficient, more productive, and more practical than the do-nothing goons they replaced. Probably closer to the truth:...
"Everyone does it" is no excuse, but politicians aren't lying when they say selling access for campaign cash is a Washington staple. The next election is 20 months away, but fund givers are alread...
Bob Dole wants to overhaul welfare. So does Bill Clinton. Clinton wants a Constitutional amendment enshrining victims' rights. So does Dole. Dole wants to cut capital gains taxes. So does Clinton. ...
The analysts, commentators, political scientists, and historians will examine the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in February for hints of what is happening to American politics. They m...
I fully agree with December's Editors's Notes, opposing the new 20% withholding tax on certain pension payouts. The law is a thinly veiled attempt to grab money from unsuspecting Americans. The sim...
Your servant has been writing about ''race norming'' for several years now but has frankly been surprised by the recent attention given this highly esoteric issue in our nation's capital. We have a...
The Democrats are said to have a problem. They are said to be (gasp!) abandoning their principles. According to one of them, Representative Dave Nagle of Iowa, the problem is that ''we have not def...
THE ECONOMIC AGENDA of the Democratic Party's presidential nominee is becoming clear. Quick, you say, forget the agenda, what's his name? Sorry, that's still a mystery after 18 primaries. But a clo...
The latest idea in Washington -- to instantly make good on the boldface above -- is to have the government spend more money. Wait, do not slink away so fast. We know that spending money is not a ne...
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