Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Science & Health Sep 30, 2013
Glitches, logistical problems plague exchanges
by Sarah Kliff
Buying health insurance will be as easy as purchasing a plane ticket or shopping on Amazon, President Barack Obama has promised. Maybe, but perhaps not on Tuesday — the day when millions of Americans are supposed to be able to start buying coverage under ...
Science & Health Sep 30, 2013
Obama's health plan set for launch — ready or not
Starting Tuesday, an estimated 50 million Americans who do not have health insurance are to start signing up for coverage as the core of President Barack Obama’s overhaul takes hold. Subsidies will be available to help those with lower incomes pay for insurance. And ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 30, 2013
Democrats, Republicans in eleventh-hour showdown as shutdown looms
As the U.S. government teeters on the brink of a partial shutdown, congressional Republicans and Democrats traded blame for the failure to reach agreement on a temporary funding bill to keep federal agencies open. Congress was closed for the day Sunday after a post-midnight ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 29, 2013
Shutdown nears as House delays health law
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved legislation early Sunday imposing a one-year delay on key parts of America’s health care law and repealing a tax on medical devices as the price for avoiding a partial government shutdown Tuesday. Senate Democrats had already pledged to ...
Politics & Diplomacy | ANALYSIS Sep 29, 2013
Shutdown quandary shows Washington's breakdown
by Karen Tumulty
Washington once again stands at a moment of crisis — only this time, Democrats and Republicans are not negotiating a way to avoid it. They are not even speaking to one another. The cumulative effect of almost three years of governing by near-death experience ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 29, 2013
Congress' Rahul Gandhi blasts Singh on decree plan
Ruling Congress party scion Rahul Gandhi’s blistering rejection of a government decree to protect convicted lawmakers has made it uncertain whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can continue in office, opposition and media said Saturday. Gandhi, the No. 2 in the Congress hierarchy, turned on ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 29, 2013
Looking to 2016, Rubio and Paul rush to join Cruz
by David Nakamura
Sen. Ted Cruz might have alienated the Republican establishment with his all-night polemic against the Affordable Care Act. But that doesn’t mean the caustic Texan didn’t win any friends in Washington. As Cruz’s 21-hour speech dragged on, GOP Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 28, 2013
Senate sends spending bill to House fate
Democrats in the U.S. Senate set up a clash with House Republicans that could lead to a partial shutdown of the federal government in the coming week, approving a spending bill Friday that includes funding for President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul — a ...
Business Sep 27, 2013
Obama draws line in sand on health law, debt ceiling
by Zachary A. Goldfarb
To the chagrin of many in his own party, President Barack Obama has almost always been willing to negotiate — on taxes, on spending, even on the social safety net. But in the current fights over a potential government shutdown and the debt limit, ...
World Sep 27, 2013
Lawmakers propose NSA restrictions
Lawmakers overseeing U.S. spy agencies proposed stricter limits on the government’s electronic surveillance Thursday while also calling for bolstering its authority to track terrorism suspects coming to America. Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, defended the National Security Agency’s collection of phone ...
Business Sep 27, 2013
Republican hard-liners block plan to avoid U.S. defaulting on debt
The Republican Party’s right wing on Thursday blocked a strategy by House Speaker John Boehner for navigating a series of deadlines to keep the government funded and avoid a first-ever U.S. debt default. Boehner and his leadership team revealed the first step of that ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 26, 2013
U.S. Senate clears spending hurdle in averting shutdown
The Democratic-led Senate easily cleared a hurdle to averting a government shutdown after a Republican lawmaker ended a 21-hour speech aimed at using the measure to derail President Barack Obama’s signature health care overhaul. Senators voted unanimously Wednesday to allow a temporary spending bill ...