Tom Howell Jr.

Public sector slashes part-timers’ hours ahead of Obamacare mandates

Local governments, community colleges and other public employers are cutting work hours among part-time employees to prepare for coming mandates under Obamacare, according to the New York Times.

February 21, 2014

Flu season hit young adults especially hard this year: CDC

This year's flu season is hitting young and middle-aged adults particularly hard, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

February 21, 2014

N.J. to forfeit $7.6M in Obamacare funds after Christie fails to submit plan

New Jersey will likely lose a $7.6 million Obamacare grant from the federal government after it failed to submit a plan by Thursday's deadline on how it would use the money, according to the Newark Star-Ledger.

February 21, 2014

Industry survey says Obamacare’s medical device tax is killing thousands of jobs

A new survey says Obamacare's tax on medical device manufacturers has cost the industry about 33,000 jobs.

February 21, 2014

Hillary Clinton enjoys high favorability ratings, better than Joe Biden’s, poll shows

A majority of Americans view Hillary Clinton favorably a year after she left her post as secretary of state, although her rating is 5 points lower than it was when she served in President Obama's cabinet, Gallup said.

February 21, 2014

Adelina Sotnikova’s home-cooked Olympics win over Yuna Kim prompts change.org petition

More than 1.5. million people have signed a petition on Change.org that demands an investigation into the ladies figure skating competition at the Olympic Games in Sochi.

February 21, 2014

Feds: Medicaid fraud reached ‘epidemic levels’ in D.C. region

Federal prosecutors said Medicaid fraud has reached “epidemic levels” in the nation’s capital, as they announced charges Thursday against 25 people accused of making claims based on fake symptoms and personal home care that was never performed.

February 20, 2014

More than 12,000 Capitol Hill lawmakers, aides sign up for Obamacare in D.C.

A provision of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 requires members of Congress and their official staff to obtain health insurance from state-based exchanges tied to the law, although some have found a way around the provision.

February 20, 2014

Sen. Rob Portman: Congress should tread lightly on minimum wage hike

Republican Sen. Rob Portman said Thursday that lawmakers should tread warily in sizing up a Democrat-led proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, citing economic conditions and a new report that says the hike could kill a half-million jobs.

February 20, 2014

Biden: Obamacare off to ‘hell of a start’ despite problems

Vice President Joseph Biden used a quick stop in Minneapolis to tout the rollout of Obamacare, even as he acknowledged that sign-ups could fall short of goals.

February 20, 2014

More than half of Americans view China unfavorably, poll shows

More than half of surveyed Americans view China — the nation's chief "strategic and economic rival" for years to come — in an unfavorable light, a Gallup poll said.

February 20, 2014

Ted Cruz beats back criticism, defends his debt-limit moves

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz says he has no regrets about opposing a Senate plan to extend the nation's debt limit this month, saying party leaders should have held firm against the measure instead of green-lighting it so they could later claim they voted against it during the final vote.

February 20, 2014

Hillary Clinton dominates the 2016 field in Ohio, poll shows

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would trump the rest of the presidential field among Ohio voters in 2016, as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie "is stuck in traffic with other leading Republican contenders," a new poll said.

February 20, 2014

Residents of the Dakotas lead the nation in well-being: Gallup poll

The Dakotas led the nation in well-being in 2013, according to a new index that knocked Hawaii off the top spot and placed West Virginia and Kentucky at the bottom for the fifth year in a row.

February 20, 2014

Federal judge in Virginia rejects challenge to Obamacare subsidy

A federal judge in Virginia has thrown out a lawsuit, which mirrors one under appeal in the District, that claims Obamacare subsidies should only flow to residents who live in a state that decided to run its own insurance market under the law.

February 19, 2014

Canada leader to bring up Keystone with Obama

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke Wednesday to officials with the TransCanada company that wants to build the Keystone XL pipeline, shortly before he meets with President Obama at the "Three Amigos" summit in Mexico.

February 19, 2014

California’s Obamacare market says it’s reached projected enrollment goal

California's state-run Obamacare market says its exceeded its 2014 open-enrollment goal with six weeks left to go in the sign-up period.

February 19, 2014

Obama-style campaign efforts don’t always translate into Obamacare success: report

The door-to-door tactics that helped get President Obama re-elected have not worked as well when it comes to selling his signature health care law, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

February 19, 2014

Sen. Marco Rubio condemns violence in Ukraine

Rubio on Wednesday urged the Obama administration "to use every diplomatic means at its disposal" to punish Ukraine officials involved in acts of violence amid continuing unrest in Kiev, the capital city.

February 19, 2014

Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s lead over possible challenger tightens: survey

Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich enjoys a positive job approval rating but hasn't been able to shake his possible Democratic challenger, the "largely unknown" Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald, according to a Quinnipiac University survey.

February 19, 2014