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More than a month after a new fiscal year began Oct. 1, the House and Senate are still pressing to pass a group of bills to improve veterans’ benefits and health programs, rolling them together in “omnibus” legislative packets. The omnibus bills can then be shaped by final compromises between the two chambers and passed relatively quickly, often by voice vote, so lawmakers can move on to other business. Standing athwart those plans this month, however, is Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a family physician whose top goal as a lawmaker has been to slow the rising tide of debt caused,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is wrapping up deliberations on war strategy in Afghanistan and is considering final Pentagon options that include sending about 30,000 more troops, officials said on Saturday. A deployment of that size would be less than the 40,000-troop increase recommended by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, but more than many of Obama's Democratic allies may support. Record combat deaths have eroded U.S. public support for the war, and a decision to expand troop levels could become a political liability for the president ahead of congressional elections next...

The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a massive overhaul of the American health care system Saturday night by a vote of 220 to 215. One Republican, Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana, crossed the aisle, while 39 Democrats joined the Republicans in opposing the measure. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called passage of the bill "an historic moment for our nation and for America's families," while Republicans warned that the bill will raise taxes, increase insurance premiums and make cuts to Medicare. An enormous round of applause broke out throughout the House chamber when the crucial 218th vote was cast to...

India deepens defense ties with Israel to tackle threat of terror By YAAKOV KATZ Amid Israeli efforts to bolster military ties and export military hardware, the Indian Chief of Staff Gen. Deepak Kapoor arrived in Israel on Saturday for talks with IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi. Kapoor will hold talks with Ashkenazi as well as other senior Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Ehud Barak. He will visit Yad Vashem in Jerusalem during his four-day visit, as well as the IDF's Southern Command. Israel and India enjoy close defense ties and Israel last year overtook Russia as the...

Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will vote on a 2,000 page bill to give the federal government the power to micromanage the health care of every single American. The bill will no doubt pass. It will raise your taxes, steal your freedom, invade your privacy, and ration your health care. Even the Republicans have introduced their version of Obamacare Lite. It, too, if passed, will compel employers to provide coverage, bribe the states to change their court rules, and tell insurance companies whom to insure. We do not have two political parties in this country, America. We have one party;...

Washington - -- President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were poised to win a stupendous - but still incomplete - victory Saturday, predicting House passage of the biggest expansion of health care coverage since Medicare's creation in 1964, in the face of unanimous Republican opposition. As a matter of policy and politics, the 10-year, $1.05 trillion legislation is among the most complex and difficult Congress has ever considered. Enactment would prove the signal achievement of Pelosi's speakership. Success or failure will define Obama's presidency. In the hours before the vote, Obama traveled to Capitol Hill to urge fellow Democrats...

[Undecideds remaining] According to two senior GOP staffer: D Cardoza J Costa B Markey M Michaud S Murphy B Stupak (depending on amendment) B Ellsworth P Kanjorski S Driehaus J Donnelly Z Space B Chandler R Kind C Carney M Kaptur C Rodriguez A Smith T Perriello

2 killed, 4 wounded; some were to go to Afghanistan with assailantBy Don Walker At least six soldiers from Wisconsin were among the 43 people killed or injured by an Army psychiatrist at Fort Hood, and an Army major said Friday night that the shooter was scheduled to deploy with a Madison-based unit. The man identified as the shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was to be sent to Afghanistan. Madison's 467th Medical Detachment, also known as a combat-stress unit, was also in the process of being deployed with him, according to Maj. Claudia Jefferson, an Army spokeswoman. "Hasan was supposed...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian police detained more than 100 people for "disturbing public order" during a rally this week to mark the anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday. Security forces clashed with supporters of Iran's opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in Tehran on Wednesday when an annual state-organised rally marking the 30th anniversary of the storming of the U.S. embassy turned violent.

Washington (CNN) -- Foes of the House Democrats' health care bill rallied outside the Capitol Saturday afternoon, hours before what many of them anticipate will be a setback for their position -- approval of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's bill. "It may pass out of the House tonight. We do realize that," Jenny Beth Martin, event organizer for the Tea Party Patriots, said. "But there is the Senate still. And we are going to leave no stone unturned and fight the government taking over our health care." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, emerges from her offices Saturday on her way to...

The CEO of the Christian Medical Association says government-run healthcare will mean the end of right of conscience for physicians. The House promises a vote on healthcare reform by Saturday, although a version of the bill would still need to be approved by the Senate. Dr. David Stevens warns if that happens, many will feel inclined to leave the medical profession. "It's going to damage right of conscience for faith-based healthcare professionals. We actually surveyed 2,800 faith-based doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, and 95 percent of them said they will leave healthcare if it came down to violating their...

After two days of investigation into the mass shooting at Fort Hood, investigators have tentatively concluded that the attack was not part of a terrorist plot. Rather, they have come to believe that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused in the shootings, acted out under a welter of emotional, ideological and religious pressures, according to interviews with federal officials who have been briefed on the inquiry. Investigators have not ruled out the possibility that Major Hasan believed he was carrying out an extremist’s suicide mission. But the investigators, working with behavioral experts, suggested that he may have long...

FLASHBACK Pelosi says After the Rules Committee finalizes it is an "Absolute Outrage" not give members three days to READ THE BILL

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A handful of pro-life Republicans in Congress have a difference of opinion on legislative strategy and it has produced a friction that has blossomed during the debate on the pro-abortion health care bill. The difference concerns whether the Stupak Amendment could result in helping the health care bill. The pro-life movement has been fighting for months to get language included in the health care reform bill to make sure it does not fund abortions through the public option and the affordability credits. After refusing pro-life Rep. Bart Stupak a vote on his amendment to stop abortion...

At this moment, Democratic sources say their internal head counts have them breaking through the 218 mark this afternoon. Whether that will mean that more Democrats will come on board, or that Pelosi is going to cut other members lose, is still unclear. But Dems are confident they have won. By John Bresnahan

To pass a healthcare reform bill, addressing abortion is necessary in order to get the support of conservative Democrats. Lobbyists for Catholic bishops were part of the negotiation.

Sources: Pelosi, Dems lock up 218 By PATRICK O'CONNOR & JOHN BRESNAHAN & JONATHAN ALLEN | 11/7/09 7:16 PM EST POLITICO 44 Hours before an expected vote on a sweeping health care bill, House Democrats believe they've secured the 218 votes they need to approve the bill, several party insiders said. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took to the House floor about 6:30 p.m. to say, “Today we will pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act.. . .We will make history. We will also make progress for America's working families." In response to a question about whether the bill would...

WASHINGTON — When it comes to combating global warming, Sen. Lindsey Graham is right where he loves to be — ahead of the curve, in the mix on a major issue, at the table for high-level, bipartisan talks behind closed doors. Graham, a South Carolina Republican, is working with Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to craft a climate change bill. They face the dual challenge of overcoming widespread GOP opposition and withstanding relentless attacks by Big Oil and allied energy interests. "Our goal is to create a vision that not only will...

Bill Would Restrict Veterans’ Health Care Options Buyer and McKeon Offer Amendments to Protect Veterans and TRICARE Beneficiaries Washington, D.C. — Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Steve Buyer and House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Howard P. “Buck” McKeon offered three amendments to the Pelosi healthcare bill that would protect America’s Veterans and military TRICARE beneficiaries. The healthcare legislation, which is expected to be voted on in the full House in the coming days limits veteran’s and service member’s health care choices and places veterans and military health care unnecessarily at risk by not clearly excluding military...

FORT HOOD (November 7, 2009)--A Muslim leader in Killeen says Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist suspected of going on a shooting rampage Thursday at Fort Hood, asked him for advice on what he should tell soldiers who had concerns about going to fight Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. Osman Danquah, who is a co-founder of the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen, said he had a bad feeling about Hasan after the two talked twice in late summer. He told The Associated Press Saturday that Hasan regularly attended services at the mosque in his uniform. Danquah said Hasan never...

The American Society of Medical Doctors (ASMD) today released a nationwide, nonpartisan poll* of physicians showing that: 70 percent of specialty doctors oppose current Congressional and White House proposals for health-care reform; 66 percent believe that a government-run health insurance plan would restrict doctors' ability to give the best advice and offer the best care possible to their patients; and More than 60 percent would not accept new patients with government insurance (including 27% who would not accept any patients on the new government plan). Chairman of the ASMD, Alfred O. Bonati, M.D., said that, "As a physician, the results...

Oh, how the tables have turned.Nervous Democrats are on defense and emboldened Republicans sense opportunity heading into 2010 and the midterm elections. It was just three years ago that the GOP lost the House and Senate as well as governors' races in a cross-country Democratic wave.Now, with most states under their control and comfortable majorities in Congress, Democrats must protect far more seats than Republicans: 19 governors' mansions, 17 Senate seats and as many as 60 House districts in moderate-to-conservative regions and swing-voting areas.At this point, Democrats must do it in a more troubling political environment than in 2006 and...

Survivors of the Fort Hood massacre described today how Major Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly gunned down unarmed soldiers, and then shot them again as they lay wounded on the floor. Investigators believe more than 100 shots were fired from Hasan's gun in a matter of minutes. He was described as calm and methodical in his attack, pausing only to reload. Soldier Keara Bono survived the onslaught although she was wounded slightly in the back and grazed in the head. Bono told "Good Morning America" today that she initially thought the scene of Hasan standing up, praising Allah and starting to...

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says he is not flip-flopping when it comes to support of the federal stimulus package championed by Democrats, saying his comments earlier this week to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer were more about the actual stimulus legislation passed by Congress, and not the effort itself. “I think the question posed to me was, ‘Did you endorse this specific bill?’” Crist told reporters Friday after speaking to the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices policy institute in Tampa. “And I said, ‘No, I didn’t,’ but the concept I thought, and still believe, was important, necessary and it helped...

House Democrats who have announced they are voting against the Obama-Pelosi-Health Care bill.The list is compiled from various news sources. Please add confirmed 'no' votes with a source link to the thread.The 'Rats have 258 members. They can lose 40 votes and still reach the 218 votes needed to pass the bill on a simple majority.It is expected that all 177 Republicans will vote against the bill. No Republican has announced they would vote for the bill.TN, John Tanner and Bart GordonSD, Stephanie Herseth SandlinNY, Mike McMahon and Eric MassaWA, Brian BairdNJ, John AdlerNC, Larry Kissell and Mike McIntyreMS, Travis...

US Bishops: Abortion Isn't Health Care Send Urgent Message to Congress WASHINGTON, D.C., NOV. 6, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Keep abortion funding out of health care reform. That is the key message the U.S. episcopal conference communicated today in an urgent letter sent to the nation's House of Representatives. In the letter, sent as House members debated procedures related to abortion and the health care reform bill, the bishops "strongly urge" the lawmakers to "vote for essential changes and a fair process in the House of Representatives to ensure that needed health care reform legislation truly protects the life, dignity, health and...

Some moderate Democrats still are “really anguished” over voting for the energy bill, Rep. Jason Altmire told Fox News, and they “would be reluctant now to vote for health care and take a second vote that might be unpopular in their district.”With Republicans raising the volume of their protests and House Democratic leaders uncertain if they have enough rank-and-file support, some moderate Democrats sense that passing a health care reform bill will be as difficult as the House’s energy bill, which was approved by a slim margin June. That has caused quite a bit of hand-wringing among the Democrats. Some...

Below is a template to send to the Blue Dogs demanding the socialist, unconstitutional health care bill be killed along with their email addresses. You can change the template as you see fit. Some addresses may come back undeliverable. Don't let that deter you. Put in the subject: Vote NO on Pelosi Healthcare bill or we vote NO in 2010 Put in the message: We are organized, engaged, and enthused. We were able to organize sending 20,000 to 45,000 people to Washington DC in less than 6 days even during a recession when people do not have money. In 2...

Price Trends / WAR OF THE WORLDS (Round # 2): If you use 120 years of data for your time horizon, and assume prices will return to the average, then our residential property bubble will fall 49% from the bubble peak to the long-run average (see above (a) aka “(x) - (z) / 202” aka “Projected Fall Peak to Trend”). This total projected fall is less than the 60% predicted in my recent post based upon 20 years of data and a trend line drawn with the eye (click here to see that post). Property Values Set to Fall 43%...

President Barack Obama will leave the country for a four-nation tour of Asia starting Wednesday despite a host of domestic concerns, including the massacre at Fort Hood, a sharply rising jobless rate, his health care legislation stalled in the Senate and his Afghanistan troop decision still pending. He planned his Nov. 11-19 trip around the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Singapore, but added stops in Japan, China and South Korea. The itinerary reflects the growing importance of East Asia — especially China — to everything from financing U.S. debt and powering the global economic recovery to climate change, disease...

TEHRAN, Iran – Senior Iranian lawmakers rejected on Saturday any possibility of Tehran shipping uranium abroad for further enrichment, intensifying pressures on the government to reject the U.N.-backed plan altogether. Prominent conservative lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Iran won't ship its low enriched uranium abroad in a single batch or in several shipments, a compromise suggested by some government officials, under any circumstances.

Some AMA members are outraged that the group's trustees made the endorsement without the formal approval of the organization's House of Delegates. The American Medical Association's much-touted endorsement of the House health care reform bill has triggered a revolt among some members who want the endorsement withdrawn. Some members are outraged that the group's trustees made the endorsement without the formal approval of the organization's House of Delegates. On Monday, delegates will vote on a resolution offered by some members that, if approved, will withdraw the AMA’s endorsement of the bill. President Obama cited the endorsement of the influential AMA,...

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank took a dig Friday at the Republican lawmaker who organized a protest by conservatives against health care legislation. Frank, a Massachusetts liberal, told an audience: "Some of the people (at the rally) that wanted to engage me in conversation appeared to have been the losers in the 'Are you smarter than Michele Bachmann contest?"' Rep. Bachmann, R-Minn., had organized Thursday's rally attended by thousands of conservatives critical of the Democrats' health care plan. Frank, who recently compared arguing with an angry voter to conversing with a dining room table, said this week's protest was like being...

Washington D.C., Nov 6, 2009 / 06:48 pm (CNA).- A memo from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says that the Ellsworth Amendment to the U.S. House’s proposed health care reform bill is not a “meaningful compromise” but instead is a “money-laundering system” that does not address pro-life concerns about federal funding of abortion.The memo, written by U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities associate director Richard Doerflinger, discusses H.R. 3962 and the Ellsworth Amendment. The amendment claims to prevent federal funds from being used for abortions, CNSNews.com reports. It requires that federal money be segregated...

The health bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bringing to a vote (H.R. 3962) is 1,990 pages. Here are some of the details you need to know. What the government will require you to do: • Sec. 202 (p. 91-92) of the bill requires you to enroll in a "qualified plan." If you get your insurance at work, your employer will have a "grace period" to switch you to a "qualified plan," meaning a plan designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you buy your own insurance, there's no grace period. You'll have to enroll in...

Democratic leaders trying to preserve a high-stakes Saturday vote on a House health reform bill battled a swift current of rank-and-file defections Friday as the White House swung into action to help corral the final votes. But progress was slower than expected – as a bad jobs number Friday with unemployment eclipsing 10 percent, and Tuesday’s election losses making that job harder. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and a number of top aides – including chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan — called wavering members.Democratic officials said their count of hard...

SNIPPET: "Iraqi officials in Al Kut are seeking four suspected Iranian Qods Force operatives behind attacks on security forces. Members of the Iraqi security forces put up wanted posters with photos of the Iranian operates on the streets in an effort to detain the men. The Qods Force agents are wanted for "armed operations against Iraqi security personnel and civilians," an Iraqi security official told Voices of Iraq. "The security authorities in Kut appealed to local residents to report these dangerous persons who are wanted on charges of involvement in terrorist operations in Iraq." The campaign was announced the same...

Romney, Huckabee, and Pawlenty must be thrilled. Gridiron Club President Dick Cooper told club members earlier this afternoon that Palin accepted an invitation to speak at the black-tie affair, according to a member of the club’s executive committee. Meg Stapleton, a spokeswoman for Palin, confirmed that Palin planned to address the dinner in an e-mail to POLITICO: “The Governor was honored to accept the invitation.” Also speaking at the dinner will be Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), whom the club invited to represent his party at the event. The dinner’s December 5th, which makes this even more of a no-brainer than...

Maj Nidal Malik Hasan could become the first person to be sentenced to death by a military court in almost 50 years. The US Armed Forces has a death penalty – lethal injection – but there have been no executions since 1961 when an army private, John Bennett, was hanged for rape and attempted murder. The military can also impose a sentence of life imprisonment without parole and there are nine men on its death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. A "convening authority", a high-ranking officer, will decide whether the government will seek the death penalty. If so, it has...

Abortion opponents won a huge last-minute concession late Friday night after Democratic leaders agreed to grant them a vote on an amendment that would effectively bar insurers that participate in the exchanges from offering coverage for abortions. Members of the Rules Committee were expected to approve a vote on the amendment early Saturday morning after hours of negotiations in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Capitol office. Leaders reluctantly made the decision after working for days to broker a truce that would garner a blessing from the Conference of Catholic Bishops. But the church, according to members and aides, wouldn't accept a compromise...

WASHINGTON — A 5.7-millimeter pistol used in the Fort Hood shooting was purchased legally by suspect Nidal Hasan at a Texas gun shop, law enforcement officials said Friday. Army Col. John Rossi, deputy commander at Fort Hood, confirmed at a news conference late Friday in Texas that the two weapons carried by Hasan were not military arms, but "privately owned weapons ... purchased locally." He said more than 100 rounds were fired during the attack. Records indicate Hasan bought the FN 5.7 at store called "Guns Galore" in Killeen, Texas, in recent months and that gun was used in the...

Mrs Munley was one of the "first responders" who returned fire after army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan went on the rampage at the sprawling Fort Hood base in Texas. She shot Hasan four times but was herself wounded in the gun battle. Her condition is now stable, according to military officials. "They both exchanged fire and both were wounded," said Col John Rossi during a press conference at the giant base. "Her efforts were superb." The colonel also praised "the heroic efforts of our great soldiers at the scene". The police officer has been praised for her bravery and...

FORT WORTH, Texas — Dale Earnhardt Jr. loves to talk about his sponsorship ties to the military. He had a hard time finding the words Friday to discuss the massacre that left 13 people dead at Fort Hood. Texas Motor Speedway is just 170 miles north of the site of a shooting spree that also injured 30, including the suspected gunman. A U.S. Army logo with the message "God Bless Our Fort Hood Troops" was painted on the infield grass Friday. Moments of silence were planned before each event, including Sunday's Sprint Cup race. The first question of Ryan Newman's...

Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE - News; NYSE:FRE - News), the second largest provider of U.S. residential mortgage funding, on Friday posted a loss of $5 billion in the third quarter and predicted it would need more government support amid a "prolonged deterioration" in housing. Increases in the value of securities Freddie Mac held over the period helped buoy its net worth, however, erasing its need to tap government funds for a second straight quarter to stay solvent while continuing to buy and guarantee home loans. Including a $1.3 billion dividend payment on senior preferred stock bought by the Treasury in previous...

They listen to tales of life's worst moments, but they can't go home and tell their spouses about what they've heard. Sometimes no amount of schooling is enough to shield them from taking on some of their patients' suffering. Those who counsel trauma victims -- whether they be psychiatrists, social workers or advocates -- can experience an emotional toll after intensive exposure to patients' stories of horror. Experts call this phenomenon "vicarious trauma." The impact of trauma on those who help the traumatized has become a subject of discussion as investigators try to piece together why Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan,...

TEHRAN - A Japanese and two Canadian journalists have been arrested along with an Iranian working for "satellite channels," because they were reporting without permission on rallies in Tehran earlier this week, the Fars news agency said on Friday. The cases are under investigation, Fars said, without giving further details of the allegations against the journalists. The Tehran prosecutor said on Friday that his office was investigating the arrest of AFP reporter Farhad Pouladi while he was covering an anti-American rally in the Iranian capital on Wednesday. The annual commemoration of the November 4, 1979 storming of the US embassy...

The health bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bringing to a vote (H.R. 3962) is 1,990 pages. Here are some of the details you need to know. What the government will require you to do: Sec. 202 (p. 91-92) of the bill requires you to enroll in a "qualified plan." If you get your insurance at work, your employer will have a "grace period" to switch you to a "qualified plan," meaning a plan designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you buy your own insurance, there's no grace period. You'll have to enroll in...

Today at 2pm the House Rules Committee will meet to consider the rule for H.R. 3962 , the Affordable Health Care for America Act. As of this morning 104 amendments had been filed with the Rules Committee for consideration. Republican’s have filed 87 amendments and Democrats have filed 17. The debate in the Rules Committee and a final vote could continue well into this evening.The rule being debated today will not only cover HR 3962 but will also apply to HR 3961, the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act, also known as the Doc Fix. This is a procedural gimmick that...

Francheska Velez, 21, had just finished a tour in Iraq and returned to Ft. Hood three months pregnant. The Army granted Velez, a 2006 graduate of Kelvyn Park High School, a maternity leave of absence and she was set to return to Chicago in just two weeks.

Barack Obama cautioned a stunned public on Friday against drawing quick conclusions on a shooting rampage by an officer at a Texas military base that killed 13 people. The president made the comments as the commander of Fort Hood, the US’s largest base for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, quoted witnesses as saying the suspected gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, shouted the Muslim declaration “Allahu Akbar” – God is great – as he opened fire. Speaking at the White House, Mr Obama said: “We don’t know all the answers yet, and I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we...