House approves tax overhaul; Fight shifts to Senate where passage is less assured

A California jury on Thursday ruled in favor of Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit by a woman who said she developed the cancer mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos in the company's talc-based... A popular local vacation destination for more than 50 years, 3 Ponds Campground in Brentwood is being sold to a developer planning a 55 and over ... (more)

Los Alamos legislator joins land commissioner race after Powell bows out

One Democrat dropped his bid to become state land commissioner Wednesday, and his handpicked candidate stepped into the race for the Democratic nomination to succeed Aubrey Dunn, a single-term Republican who has said he is not running for re-election. Ray Powell, a veterinarian who served as land commissioner from 1994 to 2002 and again from 2011-14, withdrew from the race and said he was endorsing state Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard of Los Alamos.

Senate Finance chairman revises tax plan to end Obamacare mandate

The head of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee proposed major changes to a Republican tax reform plan, adding a repeal of Obamacare's health insurance mandate and making corporate tax cuts permanent while ending individual cuts in 2025. In a statement late on Tuesday, committee chairman Orrin Hatch said the proposed changes would also slightly lower some individual tax rates and includes a repeal of the alternative minimum tax but only through 2025, when it would be reinstated.

Democrats have leverage in one part of the GOP tax cut process

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Nov. 7 said he expects the GOP tax plan "in the end to be revenue neutral for the government, if not a revenue gainer." As Republicans work to pass the largest overhaul of the U.S. tax code since 1986 by the end of this calendar year, they're not banking on any support from Senate Democrats.

Dem candidate: It ‘shouldn’t take brain cancer’ for John McCain to show courage

A House Democratic candidate said this week that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has shown an amount of "courage" recently by standing up to President Trump, but lamented that this only happened after his brain cancer diagnosis. "I've been tweeting on occasion about saluting Bob Corker and John McCain and Jeff Flake - men who have shown a little bit of courage speaking truth to their own party," said Dean Phillips, who is running for a House seat in Minnesota.

In election glow, Dems see health care as winning issue

Emboldened by election wins, Democrats are starting to see a political edge in health care, particularly widening Medicaid access for more low-income people. In Virginia, Democrat Ralph Northam promised a vigorous push as governor to expand Medicaid.

David Sarasohn: Haphazard tax bill a hazard to Oregon

So Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, as ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, went down to the White House recently to talk to the president about the tax overhaul process, accompanied by other Democrats on the committee. One by one, the other Democrats explained to the president their predictable priorities on the bill: helping the middle class, protecting Social Security and Medicare, not exploding the deficit.

69 Marines hospitalized in California E. Coli outbreak

This 2006 colorized scanning electron micrograph image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the O157:H7 strain of the E. coli bacteria. On Wednesday, May 26, 2016, U.S. military officials reported the first U.S. human case of bacteria resistant to an antibiotic used as a last resort drug.

House bill to fund kids’ insurance goes to Senate

Legislation providing five more years of financing for an expired children's health program won House approval Friday, though a partisan battle over paying for the extension continued to play out in the Senate. Each side is using the fight to accuse the other of jeopardizing the Children's Health Insurance Program, which serves more than 8 million children from low-income families.