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Obama Heads to U.S. Capitol Today as Health-Care Measure Hangs in Balance President Barack Obama heads to the U.S. Capitol today to urge House Democrats to back legislation overhauling U.S. health care on the eve of a vote that party leaders are voicing confidence they can win.

Hatch Says Democrats `Nuts' to Think Sunday Vote Will Resolve Health Care Republican Senator Orrin Hatch said Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are “nuts” to think tomorrow’s vote on health-care legislation will resolve the issue.

Democrats Are Six Votes Short for Health-Care Bill Passage, Officials Say Democrats need about six more votes from House members to pass a U.S. health-care overhaul, Obama administration officials said today.

Health-Care Overhaul: House Democrats Plan Changes to Senate Legislation House Democrats are aiming to approve tomorrow the biggest changes to the U.S. health-care system in more than four decades, extending coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and attempting to curb rising medical costs.

Medvedev, Obama May Sign Arms Reduction Agreement in April, Clinton Says The U.S. and Russia are close to finishing months of negotiations on a new agreement to cut their nuclear arsenals and may sign the accord next month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday in Moscow.

Democrats Gain Support as They Move Toward Showdown Vote Over Health Care U.S. House Democrats, who cleared a big hurdle in their effort to overhaul the health-care system by producing compromise legislation, are picking up fresh support for a showdown vote this weekend.

Columns

MARGARET CARLSON

Stupak’s Viagra Is Health Bill Abortion Ban

If I were a member of Congress (I know: God forbid. No letters, please), I would be opposed to any health-care dollars going to subsidize the purchase of Viagra. It’s just not fair that Viagra immediately won insurance coverage while birth-control pills remained largely uncovered.

MORE MARGARET CARLSON

AMITY SHLAES

Liberals Getting a Taste of How ‘Balance’ Feels

Lack of balance is the charge being levied against the Texas State Board of Education after it inserted changes to new standards in social studies programs in public schools. The Associated Press said in an article that a “far-right faction” of the board had succeeded “in injecting conservative ideals” into the curriculum.

MORE AMITY SHLAES

Political Capital

ALBERT R. HUNT

Washington Needs Back-to-Work Program of Its Own

A veteran senator, in a private conversation last week, was despondent: “This place is dysfunctional, and it’s not going to get any better,” he said. It could have been a Democrat or a Republican from the North, South, Midwest or West.

Faux White House Intrigue Obscures Deeper Disarray

Late last week, the best topic for this column seemed to be warfare inside the White House: dueling op-eds, blogs and articles debated whether Rahm Emanuel was the cause of Barack Obama’s winter of discontent, or was it that the president and his other top adviser, David Axelrod, had ignored the chief of staff’s sage counsel.

More Albert R. Hunt

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