• New Dem lawmakers feeling heat on health care 3/18/2010, 5:20 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - Freshman Rep. Steve Driehaus is getting it from all sides on President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

• Obama backs senators immigration overhaul outline 3/18/2010, 5:01 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is backing an immigration bill outline drafted by two senators that says illegal immigrants must admit they broke the law to become citizens.

• Correction: Hospice-Defibrillator story 3/18/2010, 3:20 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - In a story March 15 about hospices being slow to turn off patients' defibrillators, The Associated Press reported erroneously the proportion that had a way to identify implant recipients. The study found 20 percent had a method to do so, not one in 20.

• AP source: AFL-CIO endorsing health care bill 3/18/2010, 2:19 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - A union official says the nation's largest labor federation is strongly endorsing the Obama administration's health care overhaul bill and plans to push wavering lawmakers for support.

• AP source: AFL-CIO endorsing health care bill 3/18/2010, 2:19 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - A union official says the nation's largest labor federation is strongly endorsing the Obama administration's health care overhaul bill and plans to push wavering lawmakers for support.

• Analysis: Delicate bonds keep a president afloat 3/18/2010, 12:08 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has forged a complicated personal connection with the American public: Many voters consider him a principled and inspiring leader even as they question his policies and job performance.

• Coast Guard, Commerce, Ntsb, Marine Mammal, Amtrak Nominations 3/18/2010, 11:39 a.m. EDT
(AP) — xfdte NOMINATIONS sked

• Obama extolls health bill's deficit reduction help 3/18/2010, 11:38 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says his health care overhaul would be the most significant effort to reduce the U.S. budget deficit since the balanced budget act of the 1990s.

• Obama extolls health bill's deficit reduction help 3/18/2010, 11:34 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says his health care overhaul would be the most significant effort to reduce the nation's deficit since the balanced budget act of the 1990s.

• Obama extolls health bill's deficit reduction help 3/18/2010, 11:34 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says his health care overhaul would be the most significant effort to reduce the nation's deficit since the balanced budget act of the 1990s.

• Obama extolls health bill's deficit reduction help 3/18/2010, 11:34 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says his health care overhaul would be the most significant effort to reduce the nation's deficit since the balanced budget act of the 1990s.

• Rep. Ike Skelton Holds A Hearing On Southern And Northern Command Budgets 3/18/2010, 11:16 a.m. EDT
(AP) — Rep. Ike Skelton Holds A Hearing On Southern And Northern Command Budgets

• Grand jury subpoenas GOP unit in Sen. Ensign probe 3/18/2010, 10:46 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury has issued subpoenas to a Republican campaign committee and companies in Nevada in a probe of Sen. John Ensign, who has been under scrutiny for his efforts to find lobbying work for the husband of his former mistress.

• Sen. Carl Levin Holds A Hearing On The "Don'T Ask, Don'T Tell" Policy 3/18/2010, 10:45 a.m. EDT
(AP) — xfdtr SENATE-HRG-DONT-ASK-PLCY sked xfdsu

• Obama says jobs bill to help small-business owners 3/18/2010, 10:32 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says small-business owners especially will benefit from a jobs bill awaiting his signature.

• Obama signs jobs bill as health care intrudes 3/18/2010, 10:32 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has said he wants to focus laser-like on the public's top concern: jobs. But the ongoing effort to remake the nation's health care system keeps getting in the way.

• Obama signs jobs bill as health care intrudes 3/18/2010, 10:32 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has said he wants to focus laser-like on the public's top concern: jobs. But the ongoing effort to remake the nation's health care system keeps getting in the way.

• House Dems on track for vote on $940B health bill 3/18/2010, 9:36 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - House Democrats are pushing to the brink of passage a landmark, $940 billion health care overhaul bill that would simultaneously deliver on President Barack Obama's promise to expand coverage while slashing the deficit, a strategy aimed at winning over the party's fiscal conservatives.

• House Democrats near vote on $940B US health bill 3/18/2010, 9:36 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - House Democrats are on track for a vote Sunday on health care that they say delivers on President Barack Obama's promise of expanded access while also curbing the U.S. government budget deficit.

• Dems sweeten health bill, set showdown Sunday vote 3/18/2010, 7:01 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - Historic health care change in the balance, Democrats plowed fresh billions into insurance subsidies for consumers on Thursday and added a $250 rebate for seniors facing high prescription drugs, last-minute sweeteners to sweeping $940 billion legislation headed for a climactic weekend vote.

• House Dems on track for vote on $940B health bill 3/18/2010, 7:01 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - House Democrats are pushing to the brink of passage a landmark, $940 billion health care overhaul bill that would simultaneously deliver on President Barack Obama's promise to expand coverage while slashing the deficit, a strategy aimed at winning over the party's fiscal conservatives.

• House Dems on track for vote on $940B health bill 3/18/2010, 7:00 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - House Democrats are pushing to the brink of passage a landmark, $940 billion health care overhaul bill that would simultaneously deliver on President Barack Obama's promise to expand coverage while slashing the deficit, a strategy aimed at attracting support from the party's fiscal conservatives.

• Democrats near vote on Obama health care bill 3/18/2010, 7:00 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - Democratic leaders are unveiling what is expected to be their final health care bill Thursday, setting the stage for a Sunday vote on a plan that would affect most Americans and has become the defining issue in Barack Obama's presidency.

• Gov't orders recall of 1.2 million high chairs 3/18/2010, 6:33 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - The government is announcing a recall of some 1.2 million high chairs, saying they pose a fall hazard to children.

• Gov't orders recall of 1.2 million high chairs 3/18/2010, 6:33 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - The government is announcing a recall of some 1.2 million high chairs, saying they pose a fall hazard to children.

• Obama to sign bill to spur job growth 3/18/2010, 5:44 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is set to sign a jobs bill into law Thursday morning.

• Govt rewarded bank auditors with big bonuses 3/18/2010, 5:02 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - As banks gambled on the risky mortgages that helped create the worst financial crisis in generations, the U.S. government handed out millions of dollars in bonuses to regulators at agencies that missed or ignored warning signs that the system was on the verge of a meltdown.

• A symbol of the slave trade joins US and Cuba 3/18/2010, 3:09 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - It will be the rarest of sights: a black-hulled, two-masted replica of a slave-carrying schooner slipping into Havana's harbor flying two flags-those of the United States and Cuba.

• Retired Catholic bishop endorses health care bill 3/17/2010, 10:29 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - A retired Catholic bishop is announcing his support for President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, despite the church's official opposition.

• Retired Catholic bishop endorses health care bill 3/17/2010, 10:29 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - A retired Catholic bishop is announcing his support for President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, despite the church's official opposition.

• Obama argues for health care effort on Fox News 3/17/2010, 7:07 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Wednesday took to the Fox News Channel, derided by his White House as a wing of the Republican Party, to sell his embattled health care overhaul in an interview punctuated with interruptions from the host and chiding from the guest.

• Analysis: Flareup adds to Obama's Mideast trouble 3/17/2010, 5:32 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - The path to peace in the Middle East gets no easier just because rage over a diplomatic slap by Israel is giving way to calmer words.

• Ftc Role In Protecting Financial Services Consumers 3/17/2010, 5:19 p.m. EDT
(AP) — xfdte FTC-ROLE sked

• VA seeks to make benefits easier for vets to get 3/17/2010, 5:10 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - The Veterans Affairs Department is taking steps for the first time to make it easier for veterans of the Iraq or Afghanistan wars to get disability benefits for malaria, West Nile Virus and other diseases.

• IG: Vets waiting too long to give disability exams 3/17/2010, 5:10 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - The internal watchdog for the Veterans Affairs Department says VA medical centers need to give compensation and pension medical exams to veterans sooner in order to expedite disability claims.

• Rep. Alan B. Mollohan Holds A Hearing On The Fbi Budget 3/17/2010, 4:40 p.m. EDT
(AP) — Rep. Alan B. Mollohan Holds A Hearing On The Fbi Budget

• Clinton to attend Mideast session amid crisis 3/17/2010, 4:33 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - With the Mideast peace process stalled and U.S.-Israeli relations in crisis, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton headed Wednesday to a Mideast strategy meeting of top international diplomats.

• FBI Director Mueller: Nigerian airplane suspect has been cooperating with US investigators 3/17/2010, 3:00 p.m. EDT
(AP) —

• FBI Director defends handling of Christmas case 3/17/2010, 2:54 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - FBI Director Robert Mueller on Wednesday defended his bureau's handling of the Christmas airline bombing attempt, insisting agents in Detroit moved quickly to protect lives. The suspect, he added, has been cooperating after his arrest.

• Ed secretary: ban NCAA teams with low grad rates 3/17/2010, 2:32 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says college basketball teams that don't graduate at least 40 percent of their players should be banned from postseason play

• US military: Goal still to capture bin Laden alive 3/17/2010, 1:59 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday that it remains the goal of U.S. troops to capture Osama bin Laden alive and "bring him to justice."

• More pet owners report injuries from skin products 3/17/2010, 1:36 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - Products intended to treat cats and dogs for fleas and ticks kill hundreds of pets each year and injure tens of thousands, the Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday as it outlined plans to make the products safer.

• Obama's health care plan picks up support 3/17/2010, 12:25 p.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's much-challenged health care overhaul gained traction Wednesday as a liberal lawmaker became the first to switch his opposition and Roman Catholic nuns declared their support in an unusual public break with their bishops.

• Obama praises GOP lawmakers for jobs bill support 3/17/2010, 11:48 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is thanking lawmakers-and Republicans especially-for their help sending him a jobs bill.

• Obama praises GOP lawmakers for jobs bill support 3/17/2010, 11:48 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is thanking lawmakers-and Republicans especially-for their help sending him a jobs bill.

• NYSE Euronext Investor Day - Part 13 3/17/2010, 10:48 a.m. EDT
(AP) — xfdfd FD- (FAIR-DISCLOSURE)-10

• Kucinich will support Obama health overhaul 3/17/2010, 10:20 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - Liberal Rep. Dennis Kucinich says he will support President Barack Obama's health care overhaul bill when the House considers it.

• Kucinich will support Obama health overhaul 3/17/2010, 10:20 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - Liberal Rep. Dennis Kucinich says he will support President Barack Obama's health care overhaul bill when the House considers it.

• Catholic nuns urge passage of Obama's health bill 3/17/2010, 10:14 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - Catholic nuns are urging Congress to pass President Barack Obama's health care plan, in an unusual public break with bishops who say it would subsidize abortion.

• February wholesale prices drop 0.6 percent 3/17/2010, 8:33 a.m. EDT
(AP) — WASHINGTON - Prices at the wholesale level plunged in February by the largest amount in seven months as a big drop in energy prices offset higher food costs.