GOP Sen. Snowe joins Democrats in advancing health care bill toward debate in full Senate

WASHINGTON — Historic legislation to expand U.S. health care and control costs won its first Republican supporter Tuesday and cleared a key Senate hurdle, a double-barreled triumph that propelled President Barack Obama’s signature issue toward votes this fall in both houses of Congress.

Move over Palin! Maine’s Snowe is the female maverick in the GOP

WASHINGTON — Forget Sarah Palin. The female maverick of the Republican Party is Sen. Olympia Snowe.

AP Interview: Baucus didn’t know for sure Snowe was ‘yes’ on health bill until she cast vote

WASHINGTON — Sen. Max Baucus says he didn’t know for sure that Republican Senator Olympia Snowe would vote in favor of his health care overhaul bill until she actually did so.

Unions plan ad announcing opposition to Senate Finance Committee bill unless it’s changed

WASHINGTON — About 30 unions will run a full-page ad in newspapers Wednesday announcing their opposition to the Senate Finance Committee’s health overhaul bill, a top labor lobbyist said.

Obama praises Republican Sen. Snowe for ‘diligent’ work ahead of crucial health care vote

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is praising Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe for being “extraordinarily diligent” in working with Democrats on health care reform.

Stocks barely cling to highest levels of 2009 as lower sales from Johnson & Johnson disappoint

NEW YORK — Investors grew cautious Tuesday after quarterly sales at Johnson & Johnson fell short of expectations and an influential analyst stirred worries that bank shares are overheated.

Senate Finance Committee votes to restore federal funding for abstinence education

WASHINGTON — A Senate committee voted Tuesday night to restore $50 million a year in federal funding for abstinence-only education that President Barack Obama has pushed to eliminate.

Obama urges Congress to enact sweeping health care bill, saying ‘time for bickering is over’

WASHINGTON — Shaking off a summer of setbacks, President Barack Obama summoned Congress to enact sweeping health care legislation Wednesday night, declaring the “time for bickering is over” and the moment has arrived to protect millions who have unreliable insurance or no coverage at all.

Biden says the Obama administration will lay out a bold and contentious health care plan

WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday the Obama administration is fiercely determined to get a health care overhaul, although he conceded it likely won’t happen without “an awful lot of screaming and hollering.”

Homeland Security: Democratic senators wrongly took credit for projects, politics not a factor

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Friday that two Democratic senators falsely took credit for steering millions of dollars to projects in their home state, even as officials acknowledged that the Homeland Security secretary met with the lawmakers and discussed financing the projects.

Lawmakers clash over cost as Senate starts work on overhaul of health care

WASHINGTON — Hoping to make history, the Senate set off on its major overhaul of the nation’s health care system Wednesday, but its first steps were quickly overtaken by fresh cost concerns and partisan anger.

Senate Democrats press head on health care bill; first big test comes in committee votes

WASHINGTON — Eye-popping new cost estimates for President Barack Obama’s plan to overhaul the U.S. health care system are forcing majority Democrats to scale back their plans to subsidize coverage for the uninsured.