Skeptical Dems resign themselves to Obama war plan
WASHINGTON (AP) — A deeply skeptical Congress on Wednesday resigned itself to President Barack Obama's escalation of the Afghanistan war, even as the president's chief military and diplomatic advisers sought to cool any expectations that the war would end in two years. Leading Democrats said they had serious misgivings about the deployment of 30,000 more troops but would not try to block it — or the $30 billion it will cost. Republicans said they support the force increase even as they doubted Obama's July 2011 deadline to start bringing troops home.
New stem cell lines approved for tax-paid research
WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists can start using taxpayer dollars to do research with 13 batches of embryonic stem cells and the government says dozens more cell lines should be available soon, opening a new era for the potentially life-saving field. President Barack Obama lifted eight years of restrictions on these master cells last spring. But $21 million-and-counting in new projects were on hold until the National Institutes of Health determined which of hundreds of existing stem cell lines were ethically appropriate to use.
Congress, Obama spar over paying for Afghan plan
WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid soaring budget deficits, President Barack Obama is running into congressional qualms over how to pay for his troop buildup in Afghanistan. Military strategy aside, the $30 billion cost is causing concern on both sides of the aisle. Still, leaders in Congress predicted Wednesday that Obama would prevail in winning funding for the war escalation. Some Democrats, favoring the 30,000 troop increase, are supporting a "war tax." But the White House and most lawmakers appeared unwilling to take such a step.
AARP backs Democrats in Senate health care fight
WASHINGTON (AP) — With a Senate showdown looming, the politically potent AARP rode to the rescue of Democrats on Wednesday, supporting $460 billion in Medicare cuts to help pay for landmark health insurance legislation. As Republicans pressed to restore the cuts, AARP said Democrats merely were recommending elimination of waste and inefficiency within the giant health care program for seniors.
Abortion showdown looms in Senate
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators debating health care legislation are headed for a clash over abortion, the issue that threatened to derail the legislation in the House. Anticipating the showdown, hundreds of abortion rights supporters gathered on Capitol Hill Wednesday to call on senators to keep new abortion restrictions out of the health care bill. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., plans to unveil an anti-abortion amendment as early as Thursday that abortions rights supporters inside the Senate and out say they can't support.
Obama science advisers grilled over hacked e-mails
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans pointed to controversial e-mails leaked from climate scientists and said it was evidence of corruption. Top administration scientists looking at the same thing found no such sign, saying it doesn't change the fact that the world is warming. The e-mails from a British university's climate center were obtained by computer hackers and posted online about two weeks ago. Climate change skeptics contend the messages reveal that researchers manipulated and suppressed data and stifled dissent, and conservative bloggers are dubbing it "Climategate."
THE INFLUENCE GAME: Soda makers fight unlikely tax
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sometimes, it pays to be paranoid. That's apparently the belief of the trade group that represents the makers of sugary beverages like soft drinks, sports and energy drinks. It spent more than $7 million in just three months this summer and early fall lobbying Congress as it fought a proposed tax on its products to help pay for health care.
WH gatecrashers went without confirmed invitation
WASHINGTON (AP) — Copies of e-mails between the White House party crashers and a Pentagon official undermine their claims that they were invited to President Barack Obama's first state dinner. Tareq and Michaele Salahi pressed the friendly Pentagon aide for four days to score tickets to the big event. By their own admission in the e-mails, they showed up at the White House gates at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 24 without an invitation — "to just check in, in case it got approved since we didn't know, and our name was indeed on the list!"
High court hears Florida beach dispute
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is weighing whether owners of beachfront homes in Florida must be compensated because a beach-widening project cost them their exclusive access to the Gulf of Mexico. The justices heard argument Wednesday in a case with potentially widespread implications for coastal communities nationwide that confront beach erosion.
Panel OKs key regulatory measure; House vote next
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats cleared a crucial hurdle Wednesday in their drive to expand the government's power over Wall Street even as black lawmakers warned that they would use their votes as leverage to secure more economic aid to African-American communities. The House Financial Services Committee voted to slap new restraints on big Wall Street institutions and to demand greater openness from the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve, setting the stage for final passage next week on a broader and sweeping piece of regulatory legislation.
