News

3:51 PM, March 10, 2010 ι By MAGGIE HABERMAN
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli came out hard against Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch’s “borrow-our-way-out” proposal for the state’s fiscal crisis, saying, “Borrowing bililons is part of the reason we’re in the current crisis.”
“Borrowing to plug a deficit has serious consequences,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “For every dollar [...]

By MICHAEL TANNER
Last Updated: 1:57 AM, March 10, 2010
Posted: 1:21 AM, March 10, 2010

President Obama’s attempts to ram health- care reform through an increasingly reluctant Congress are starting to resemble a really eventful episode of “The Sopranos.”
Whether or not you believe former Rep. Eric Massa’s bizarre accusations of locker-room confrontations and conspiracies to drive him [...]

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER (AP) – 5 hours ago
WASHINGTON — The government ran up the largest monthly deficit in history in February, keeping the flood of red ink on track to top last year’s record for the full year.
The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the February deficit totaled $220.9 billion, 14 percent higher than the previous [...]

Mar 9, 2010 8:46 pm US/Eastern
Slew Of Tests At All Grade Levels Could Get The Ax
Reporting
Marcia Kramer
NEW YORK (CBS) ― New York State’s fiscal crisis may force the State Board of Regents to eliminate 13 of 17 Regents exams, raising serious questions about how student achievement would be measured.
They have long been a staple [...]

 
By Michael A. Fletcher and Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 9, 2010; A01

Millions of Americans have been forced to rely on unemployment payments for extended periods as the nation struggles through its longest period of high joblessness in a generation, and critics are taking aim, saying that the Depression-era program created as a temporary [...]

Mar 8, 2010 7:09 pm US/Eastern
 
Gov, NYC Mayor Say They Are Trying To Nip Obesity In Bud, But Many Residents Say It’s Just Another Money Grab
Reporting
Hazel Sanchez
ALBANY (CBS) ― The soda tax proposal is back. Governor David Paterson is defending the tax as a way to cover the high cost of treating obesity issues.
A [...]

March 08, 2010 6:20 PM
The Note
Washington’s Original and Most Influential Tipsheet
 
ABC’s Z. Byron Wolf reports: President Obama and Democrats launched a campaign to vilify insurance companies in the final stretch of their health reform effort.Republicans, meanwhile, pointed out that those very same insurance companies would get huge checks from the government if health reform is enacted.
“(Health [...]

By Tom Braithwaite in Washington
Published: March 7 2010 22:30 | Last updated: March 7 2010 22:30

Banks with more than $100bn of assets will be overseen by the US Federal Reserve in a regulatory reform plan that represents a partial victory for the central bank after months of attacks in Congress.
Chris Dodd, the Senate banking committee [...]

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer Andrew Taylor, Associated Press Writer – Fri Mar 5, 6:17 pm ET
 
WASHINGTON – A new congressional report released Friday says the United States’ long-term fiscal woes are even worse than predicted by President Barack Obama’s grim budget submission last month.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicts that Obama’s budget plans would generate deficits over [...]

By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:00 p.m., Thursday, March 4, 2010 
WASHINGTON — Support from his own party in doubt, President Barack Obama summoned more than a dozen House Democrats to the White House Thursday, pleading with them to put aside their qualms, seize a historic moment and vote for his massive health care overhaul. 
It’s [...]