by Mattias Gugel | Mar 6, 2012 | Politics
(Department of Health and Human Services website)WASHINGTON — The panel tasked to cut Medicare costs in the 2010 health care reform law is under attack by Republicans and also some Democrats who complain that the 15 appointed members on the board have little...
by Kit Fox | Mar 6, 2012 | Politics
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers and staff slurped cereal and munched on waffles around picnic tables with red-checkered table cloths at a “Share Your Breakfast” event Tuesday on Capitol Hill. The food corporation Kellogg’s, based in Battle Creek, Mich., and the...
by Ariel Rothfield | Mar 6, 2012 | National Security, Politics
WASHINGTON — Wrapping up the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and three of the four top GOP candidates will address the conference’s 13,000 delegates. This will mark the first time that a sitting U.S. president...
by Rebecca Nelson | Mar 5, 2012 | National Security, Politics
Photos by Jaclyn Skurie/Medill WASHINGTON – It wasn’t exactly what the crowd of 13,000 supporters of Israel wanted, but it was good enough. President Barack Obama defended his record on Israel Sunday at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in...
by Medill News Service | Mar 5, 2012 | Politics
WASHINGTON—Chuck Fleischmann is an iron man. In just over 14 months in the House of Representatives, the Republican congressman from Tennessee has never missed a vote. More than 1,000 times, Fleischmann has cast his ballot for Tennessee’s third district. “I’m very,...
by Shirley Li | Feb 29, 2012 | Business, Politics
AUDIO: Democratic lawmakers rally members of the National Treasury Employees Union. (Shirley Li/Medill) WASHINGTON – Moving indoors to escape the heavy Washington rain didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the National Treasury Employees Union Wednesday. Members...
by Patrick Svitek | Feb 29, 2012 | National Security, Politics
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Wednesday told lawmakers he is willing to go only so far in trimming the Pentagon budget to avoid putting the nation at serious risk. Testifying before the House Budget Committee, Panetta reiterated what he said to the...
by Rebecca Nelson | Feb 29, 2012 | National Security, Politics
WASHINGTON — During World War II, the FBI took Lorraine Bannai’s parents and grandparents from their homes in California and imprisoned them in Manzanar, an internment camp for Japanese Americans. Bannai, a law professor at Seattle University, wants to make sure that...
by David Uberti | Feb 29, 2012 | National Security, Politics
WASHINGTON— Middle East experts expressed doubt Wednesday that either Israel or United States is on the brink of conflict with Iran, despite hawkish headlines and aggressive rhetoric from all three countries. Their skepticism, they said, stems from the political...
by Patrick Svitek | Feb 28, 2012 | National Security, Politics
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Tuesday that the United States will lose its standing as a world power if almost $500 billion in spending cuts are piled on top of nearly the same amount of savings already proposed by President Barack Obama over the...
by Ariel Rothfield | Feb 28, 2012 | National Security, Politics
WASHINGTON—Secretary of State Hilary Clinton defended the State Department’s tight 2013 budget Tuesday, saying the agency had to make “difficult trade-offs and painful cuts.” “The request represents an increase of less than the rate of inflation and just over 1...
by Mattias Gugel | Feb 28, 2012 | Politics
WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats on the House Budget Committee Tuesday agreed on one thing during a two-hour hearing: Health care for the elderly and government-funded retirement benefits are on an unsustainable path. But they couldn’t seem to agree on how to...
