Latest Politics Headlines
All the headlines from our Politics Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Michigan Auto Insurance Bills Stall As Senate Adjourns Without Acting
Dec 28 2009 // The Michigan Senate adjourned before Christmas without taking action on a property/casualty insurance bill package already passed by the House of Representatives. The package would, among other things, give the insurance...
Health Bill Passes Key Senate Vote
Dec 21 2009 // A broad healthcare overhaul passed its first crucial test in the Senate Monday, with 60 Democrats voting to put President Barack Obama’s top legislative priority on a path to passage by Christmas. In a...
What Senate Health Bill Would Do
Dec 21 2009 // A sweeping healthcare reform bill appears headed for passage in the U.S. Senate after surviving a test vote early Monday morning. The bill has been criticized by some liberals who complain that without a new government...
Medicare Expansion May Not Survive in Senate Healthcare Bill
Dec 15 2009 // U.S. Senate Democrats struggled Monday to agree on a broad healthcare overhaul and said a compromise plan to allow an expansion of the Medicare health program for the elderly would likely be dropped. After a meeting to...
Michigan House, Senate Pass Bills Banning Texting While Driving
Dec 10 2009 // The Michigan House has voted to prohibit the use of cell phones to send text messages while driving. The main bill in the package passed the House by a 94-13 vote Tuesday. A similar measure passed a Senate committee...
Democrats Weigh Replacing Public Option, Expanding Medicare
Dec 9 2009 // U.S. Senate Democratic healthcare negotiators said they agreed Tuesday to replace a government-run insurance option with a scaled-back non-profit plan and would seek cost estimates on the deal. “We have a broad...
How House, Senate Health Care Bills Compare
Dec 6 2009 // The federal health care legislation released by the U.S. Senate’s Democratic leaders on Nov. 18 resembles a bill passed by the House of Representatives on Nov. 7 in many ways but there are some major differences...
House Extends Estate Tax But Senate Likely to Change
Dec 4 2009 // The U.S. House of Representatives passed a permanent extension of the federal estate tax on Thursday, but the measure, which taxes estates at rate of 45 percent after exempting the first $3.5 million, is likely to be...
Winners, Losers in Senate Health Bill
Nov 23 2009 // Democrats in the Senate cleared the first procedural hurdle for sweeping healthcare reform Saturday by voting to open debate on the historic legislation. The Senate debate due to start on Nov. 30 is expected to last for at...
U.S. Senate Gears Up for First Key Healthcare Reform Vote
Nov 20 2009 // Democrats in the U.S. Senate geared up for a fierce battle over a new healthcare reform plan Thursday as Republicans condemned the bill’s price tag and tax hikes before the first crucial test vote Saturday. Senate...
House, Senate Healthcare Bills Have Major Differences
Nov 19 2009 // The healthcare legislation released by the Senate’s Democratic leaders Wednesday resembles a bill passed by the House of Representatives on Nov. 7 in many ways but there are some major differences between the...
Insurance Agent Seeks GOP Nod in Pennsylvania Congressional Race
Nov 17 2009 // An insurance agent from Meadville, Pennsylvania says he’ll seek the Republican nomination for the 3rd Congressional District in northwestern Pennsylvania. Fifty-one-year-old Steven Fisher says he’ll challenge...
Senate Financial Regulation Bill Hikes Credit Rating Firms’ Liability
Nov 16 2009 // Credit rating agencies, accused of assigning top ratings to shoddy securities, would be exposed to greater liability under a wide-ranging financial services reform bill released by a leading U.S. senator. The draft bill...
Wisconsin Republicans Aim to Repeal Auto Insurance Mandates
Nov 15 2009 // Republican legislators in Wisconsin are trying to muster support for a bill that would repeal new minimum car insurance mandates. The state budget Gov. Jim Doyle signed earlier this year required all motorists to purchase...
Senate Bill Calls for New Financial Stability Agency, Insurance Office
Nov 11 2009 // A government financial stability agency would be created under a draft financial regulation reform bill from U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd obtained by Reuters Tuesday. The long-awaited Dodd bill...
Insurance Trades Cast Wary Eyes at Senate Financial Services Bill
Nov 11 2009 // Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) of the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday introduced a draft of the long-awaited financial services regulatory reform bill. While insurance industry representatives were quick to...
U.S. Senate Passes Tax Loss Credit for Business
Nov 6 2009 // U.S. companies of all sizes would get to apply losses in 2008 or 2009 to prior income over five years to receive tax refunds under a bill that passed the Senate by a unanimous vote Wednesday. The provision was added to...
Wisconsin Republicans Rail Against Auto Insurance Provisions
Nov 4 2009 // Republican legislators in Wisconsin are trying to muster support for a bill that would repeal new minimum car insurance levels. The state budget Gov. Jim Doyle signed earlier this year required all motorists to purchase...
House Republicans Plan Own Healthcare Reform Bill
Nov 3 2009 // Republicans in the House plan to offer an alternative to Democrats’ massive healthcare reform bill that would not raise taxes or require people or businesses to buy health insurance, the House Republican leader said...
Michigan Senate Rejects Ban on Location in Setting Auto Premiums
Oct 30 2009 // The Republican-led Michigan Senate has killed legislation that would have banned auto insurers from considering where a driver lives when setting rates. Democrats say the practice is unfair to motorists who pay higher...
