Politics - Democratic Party

NEW YORK - Could it be that President Barack Obama's Midas touch is starting to dull a bit, even among members of his own party?

STATELINE, Nev. - Former Vice President Dan Quayle gives President Barack Obama high marks for surrounding himself with quality advisers on national security and the economy. But Quayle says it's not yet clear whether Obama's Democratic administration will govern more liberally than he campaigned.

WASHINGTON - Organized labor is nearing a deal to salvage legislation that could aid the union movement, but it had to drop "card check" — a key component of the original bill that would allow workers to form a union by signing cards instead of holding a secret ballot vote.

Here are details on the House Democrats' health care overhaul bill. Two House committees — Ways and Means and Education and Labor — finished their portions of the $1.5 trillion, 10-year bill on Friday. A third committee, Energy and Commerce, is aiming to complete the legislation by Wednesday:

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama, worried about growing resistance to his health care plan, exhorted Congress not to "lose heart" Friday and urged deeper cost cuts to calm concern over the huge expense of covering millions of uninsured Americans.

Democrats’ triumphant rollout of a sweeping health care reform bill earlier this week already feels like a distant memory.

BEAUFORT, N.C. - Having swapped his hip-holstered Blackberry for fishing pliers, the U.S. attorney for eastern North Carolina watches closely from the captain's chair aboard the 45-foot "Jolly Mon" as his crew prepares for a day on the water.

WASHINGTON - In their zeal to protect their members from politically hazardous votes on issues such as gay marriage and gun control, Democrats running the House of Representatives are taking extraordinary steps to muzzle Republicans in this summer's debates on spending bills.

For a brief moment Thursday, Senate Democrats could celebrate. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus suggested for the first time publicly he was hoping for a bipartisan deal to pay for health care reform by the end of the day.

CHICAGO - The American Medical Association on Thursday endorsed a liberal health overhaul bill that includes a public insurance option, a bold step for a traditionally conservative group with a checkered past on health reforms.

WASHINGTON - Democrats' health care bills won't meet President Barack Obama's goal of slowing the ruinous rise of medical costs, Congress' budget umpire warned on Thursday, giving weight to critics who say the legislation could break the bank.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blasted the Democratic National Committee Thursday for its decision to run ads against Democratic senators concerned about President Obama's health plan.

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman says he'll set a vote in his panel next week on confirming Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

WASHINGTON - House Democrats want to guarantee people with pre-existing health conditions faster access to insurance coverage.

WASHINGTON - House Democrats shouldn't expect votes from Republicans in passing a bill that increases taxes on the rich to pay for health care reform.

WASHINGTON - House Democrats scrambling for ways to pay for overhauling health care would raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans to levels not seen since the 1980s, breaking one of President Barack Obama's campaign pledges.

WASHINGTON - Some prominent Senate Democrats are fighting a bid by the U.S. catfish industry and its Southern allies on Capitol Hill to impose new inspections on fast-growing Vietnamese imports of the fish.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., raised nearly $1 million more than her likely Democratic primary challenger in the recent fundraising quarter.