Free Republic

Staffers on Capitol Hill were calling it the Louisiana Purchase. On the eve of Saturday's showdown in the Senate over health-care reform, Democratic leaders still hadn't secured the support of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of the 60 votes needed to keep the legislation alive. The wavering lawmaker was offered a sweetener: at least $100 million in extra federal money for her home state. And so it came to pass that Landrieu walked onto the Senate floor midafternoon Saturday to announce her aye vote -- and to trumpet the financial "fix" she had arranged for Louisiana. "I am not going...

House Democrats splinter over health careupdated 1 hour, 5 minutes ago WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Democrats split sharply over the issue of health care reform Friday as negotiations between a committee chairman and party conservatives broke down. A leader of the party's conservative faction in turn declared that the party's internal negotiations over health care had failed and warned the party leadership not to ram the current version of the health care bill through by circumventing the traditional legislative process. The escalating public dissension within the ranks of House Democrats raised new questions about the bill's prospects. House Energy and...