Posts by Mike Lillis
Survey finds racial disparities under anti-foreclosure program
Black homeowners are roughly 50 percent less likely than whites to receive help under the largest of the administration’s anti-foreclosure programs, according to a new survey of qualified families.
Senate passes health reconciliation bill
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A bump in the road on health care reform
On health care reform, a major step remains
Democrats face a tough choice: Spend $210 billion to fix the formula that governs payments to doctors under Medicare, or lose doctors’ valuable support.
Obama signs health care reform into law
“Today, after almost a century of trying, today, after over a
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Behind Stupak, House shoots down Stupak abortion amendment
The Republicans tonight had one last chance to put a wrench in the Democrats’ plans to tweak the Senate health bill via reconciliation. It came in the form of something called a motion to recommit, which effectively represented the one…
House passes historic health care reform
With the last-minute support of anti-abortion colleagues, House Democrats on Sunday passed historic legislation to extend health coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans, protect patients from the most flagrant abuses of insurance companies, and curb runaway health care costs. All told, the $940 billion reforms represent the most sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system since the creation of Medicare more than four decades ago.
Stupak to vote yes, White House releases executive order on abortion
The White House just issued an executive order reiterating the 34-year old prohibition on the federal funding of abortion. The move was required to rally Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and a handful of other anti-abortion Democrats behind the…
How reconciliation irons out the House and Senate health bills
Democratic leaders pushing health care reform this year like to argue that a vast majority of the proposals represent uncontroversial changes backed by most Capitol Hill lawmakers. And while that might be true, it hasn’t prevented sharp disagreement between House and Senate Democrats over a handful of high-profile reform provisions. Here’s how the reconciliation bill — which House leaders unveiled today to address what they considered weaknesses in the Senate legislation — would tweak (or not) some of the most contentious provisions in the upper chamber’s bill.
White House shifts away from ‘War on Drugs’ rhetoric
Quietly, free of headlines and fanfare, the Obama White House is toning down the bellicose “war on drugs” position that’s defined the country’s narcotics policy for the last 25 years. Instead, the focus is on tackling addiction as an illness to be treated.
