Tom Howell Jr.

Washington tribe tries to keep marijuana out of large swath of state: report

A Native American tribe in Washington state is trying to keep the burgeoning marijuana business out of its corner of the state, a new report said.

March 24, 2014

Leading health policy group: People using wrong metrics to judge Obamacare

"The problem is that just about everything about this narrative is wrong. It's the equivalent of judging the local weather from national averages," Kaiser Family Foundation CEO Drew Altman said in a blog post.

March 24, 2014

Malaysian PM: Flight ‘ended in southern Indian Ocean’

Malaysia's prime minister said Monday the missing airplane that's befuddled investigators and anguished passengers' families for two weeks is presumed lost over the Indian Ocean in a spot far off the west coast of Australia.

March 24, 2014

Malaysia P.M. to discuss ‘new developments’ in search for plane

Malaysia's prime minister is set to address "new developments" in the search for the plane that disappeared somewhere over the Indian Ocean two weeks ago, befuddling investigators and leaving the families of the missing passengers in anguish.

March 24, 2014

Gov. Christie’s internal review of ‘Bridgegate’ clears him of wrongdoing: report

Gov. Chris Christie's in-house review of the George Washington Bridge scandal found no evidence the New Jersey governor plotted or directed the lane closings that led to massive traffic jams in a small town across from Manhattan, The New York Times said.

March 24, 2014

New York’s Yankees trump Mets — even in Queens

A frequently cited polling group known for political analysis has delved into the nation's traditional pastime, finding folks in the Big Apple favor the New York Yankees 61-27 percent over the Mets, even in Queens.

March 24, 2014

Jimmy Carter: Russia’s takeover of Crimea is one thing, but ‘that’s far enough’

Former President Jimmy Carter said there was no way to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from laying claim to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula recently occupied and annexed by its looming eastern neighbor.

March 24, 2014

‘Most interesting man in the world’ makes D.C. anti-landmine push

The "most interesting man in the world" is hitting the nation's capital next month in support of efforts to eradicate land mines from war-torn areas of the world.

March 24, 2014

D.C. and San Jose areas are most confident about the U.S. economy

People who live in and around the nation's capital and San Jose are the most confident about the U.S. economy, Gallup said.

March 24, 2014

Supreme Court to weigh religious rights of corporations vs. Obamacare’s ‘contraception mandate’

Obamacare is on the docket as the Supreme Court hears from corporate owners who say their personal beliefs should trump a government mandate that requires their company health care plans to insure birth control.

March 23, 2014

GOP campaign officials mark Obamacare anniversary with warning for Dems

Top Republican campaign officials on Friday marked the fourth anniversary of Obamacare's passage by warning Democrats they will suffer from a lack of credibility among midterm voters this fall because of the health care law's stumbles and flawed promises.

March 21, 2014

Obamacare a winning issue for Democrats, Pelosi says

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi predicted Thursday that Obamacare will be a winning issue for her party in congressional elections this year, despite a high-profile loss in Florida and hang-wringing among her fellow Democrats.

March 21, 2014

Top Dems insist Obamacare a political ‘winner’

Top House Democrats marked Obamacare's fourth anniversary by declaring it a political "winner" in congressional swing districts, despite a high-profile recent loss for the party in Florida and votes to water down the law by dozens of their colleagues.

March 20, 2014

States seek wiggle room on Obamacare deadline

The White House insists it is sticking by the March 31 deadline for enrolling in Obamacare, but states are forging plans to try to find extra wiggle-room that could let Americans complete their sign-ups months after the "drop-dead" date passes.

March 19, 2014

Brief bipartisanship period over Medicare ‘doc fix’ breaks down

Despite a brief burst of bipartisanship, both sides have retrenched in their search for a solution to exploding payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients, with the House GOP planning to put a partisan bill on its chamber floor Friday.

March 13, 2014

House GOP: Obama administration abandoning ‘individual mandate,’ should surrender to repeal

House Republicans said Thursday that the Obama administration has left a giant loophole in its own individual mandate requiring all Americans to obtain health care coverage, saying a vaguely worded "hardship" exception announced last week will let millions of Americans duck the law.

March 13, 2014

Where’s Obamacare? — Rural Virginians choose free clinic over government red tape

Many of the hundreds of people gathered on a recent Saturday for a free clinic are exactly the types of people Obamacare is trying to reach — generally poor in pocketbook and in health, who either lack insurance or whose bare-bones policies don't cover vision or dental care.

March 12, 2014

Obama threatens to veto Medicare-reform bill

President Obama would veto a House bill to scrap the formula used to set Medicare rates, because it pays for the repeal by delaying Obamacare's individual mandate, the White House said Wednesday.

March 12, 2014

Sebelius sticks to Obamacare sign-up deadline

President Obama’s top health official on Wednesday told Congress flatly that the administration will stick to the March 31 deadline requiring Americans to have health insurance, rejecting House GOP protests that the White House is giving breaks to special interests, but not to average voters.

March 12, 2014

Sen. Marco Rubio says Dems are angling for single-payer health care: report

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio says Democrats are "secretly and not so secretly" hoping to use Obamacare's missteps as leverage in seeking a single-payer system of government-run health insurance.

March 12, 2014