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Articles by Seth McLaughlin

House GOP works on health ‘solutions’

Wasting no time, House Republicans moved quickly ahead Thursday with their own overhaul of the nation's health care system, commanding key committees to get to work and launching a fresh attack on federal policies regarding abortion funding.

January 20, 2011

House pulls plug on health care law

House Republicans on Wednesday scored their first victory in their long-shot bid to scrap President Obama's health care overhaul, delivering a repeal bill to the Senate and a stiff rebuke of White House policy that will help shape the political landscape over the weeks, months and years to come.

January 19, 2011
"Cutting the [U.N.] budget is not enough, because you need to reform the monster, you need to reform the beast, and if you don't get fundamental reform, you are still rewarding a corrupt, mismanaged agency," said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. (Associated Press)

House panel eyes reforms in U.N.

The new Republican majority in the House is poised to revive some old battles over the U.S. government's financial contribution to the United Nations, vowing once again to use the power of America's purse to force what it calls needed reforms at the world body.

January 17, 2011
"It is telling that the more Americans learn about it, the more discouraged they are by its harmful effects," new House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Sunday about the new health care law. (Associated Press)

Parties’ talking points spin health care law

With consumers already enjoying prescription-drug discounts, expanded health coverage for young adults, and insurance plans for pre-existing conditions, Democrats say the Republican push to repeal the health care overhaul will encounter opposition from the growing number of people who benefit from it.

January 16, 2011

Health-law fight highlights CBO balancing act

In rolling out their "Pledge to America" last year, House Republicans repeatedly cited Congressional Budget Office research as proof President Obama's health care overhaul was too expensive.

January 12, 2011

Senator wants to mix it up at Obama address

Sen. Mark Udall wants his colleagues to adopt a new seating arrangement, calling on lawmakers to break with tradition by sitting next to a member of the opposing party during President Obama's State of the Union address Jan. 25.

January 12, 2011

GOP disputes deficit effect of health law repeal

Congress' official scorekeeper said Thursday that the House Republicans' first major bill, which would repeal last year's health care law, would increase deficits by $230 billion over 10 years - setting off a firestorm of criticism from Democrats who said the GOP is already walking away from its pledges of fiscal restraint.

January 6, 2011

Centrists likely to sway priority issues on Hill

Tea partyers may be getting all the attention, but the centrist wings of both parties remain the fulcrum in Congress, though which way they swing depends on the issues lawmakers tackle first.

January 5, 2011

Tea party organizers warn: ‘We are watching’

Eager to dispel the notion that their protest movement is a mere flash in the pan, the nation's tea party activists are preparing to welcome the newest crop of lawmakers to Washington by reminding them of the consequences if they walk away from their campaign promises.

January 4, 2011

Legislators acted with eye on 2012 races

It's no coincidence the tax-cut deal President Obama and Republicans reached extends the Bush-era tax breaks for two years, or just in time for the next national election.

December 26, 2010

Collins, Lieberman prove formidable team

The repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy owes much to Sens. Susan Collins and Joseph I. Lieberman, who kept the issue alive when it appeared dead in the kind of partnership that is likely to become a model for getting things done in next year's divided Congress.

December 21, 2010
Associated Press “[Congress' repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell'] shows me that America has come to a point where it understands that sexual orientation should not be used against you,” said Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat.

Virginian: Bar gays from National Guard

Responding to the federal repeal of the military policy banning open gays from serving in the armed forces, a state lawmaker in Virginia plans to fight back with legislation that bars "active homosexuals" from serving in the Virginia National Guard.

December 19, 2010
President Barack Obama updates the status of the tax-cut deal struck with congressional Republicans, at the White House in Washington, Monday, Dec. 13, 2010. The legislation would avert a Jan. 1 increase in income taxes for nearly all Americans, including middle and high earners. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House approves tax-cut compromise bill

Staving off the largest tax increase in history, lawmakers Friday morning passed President Obama's tax-cut deal with Republicans through the House after fending off a last-minute effort to increase the estate tax beyond what was proposed.

December 16, 2010

‘Don’t ask’ bill OK’d by House, sent to Senate

Democrats jammed through the House a repeal of the ban on gays openly serving in the military, breathing new life Wednesday into a proposal that appeared dead a week ago and putting the pressure on the Senate to take up the vote before the end of the year.

December 15, 2010
LIBERALS' FOE: "I'm on dartboards all over the country," Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II says. (Associated Press)

Cuccinelli savors health care win

The man who put the first dent in the president's health care law, Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, is a newcomer to the national stage, but he's long been a crusader against the expansion of federal powers — winning his share of friends and foes along the way.

December 14, 2010
"This is not a tax on the rich. This is a tax on the very, very, very rich," said Sen. Bernard Sanders. He delivered an eight-hour speech on Friday in opposition to President Obama's tax-cut deal with Republicans. (Associated Press)

Democrats not pleased with deal on estate taxes

Sen. Bernard Sanders' impassioned eight-hour speech Friday, slamming President Obama's tentative tax-cut deal with Republicans, directed some of his sharpest attacks at the plan's provisions to tax dead people's estates.

December 12, 2010

Hill economist gets hosannas and hoots

Mark Zandi, Moody's Analytics chief economist, has become an oracle of sorts on Capitol Hill, where members of both parties have recited his financial forecasts in an attempt to seize the high ground in battles over stimulus packages, deficit reduction plans and the tax cuts enacted during the George W. Bush administration.

December 9, 2010

Debt commission falls short on test vote

President Obama’s high-profile debt commission Friday fell three votes short of the support it needed to forward a far-reaching deficit reduction plan to Congress, with 11 of the 18 members voting to back the proposal. A supermajority of 14 votes was needed to formally endorse the blueprint.

December 3, 2010