LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
"The international community has no choice today but to draw a line in the sand."
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown,
accusing Iran of secretly building an underground nuclear-fuel plant in violation of international rules Article, 1A
Tax on health plans gets House look
WASHINGTON - House Democrats are considering a tax on high-cost insurance plans to help pay for the health-care overhaul that tops President Barack Obama's domestic agenda.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday that the tax is "under consideration" as Democrats search for consensus within their ranks before taking a bill to the House floor later this fall.
An aide said that if the House does incorporate an insurance tax in its plan, it would probably be a more modest one than what Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has proposed.
The House Democratic plan calls for raising income taxes on upper-income people to pay for covering the uninsured. Baucus has instead proposed a tax on high-cost insurance plans worth more than $8,000 for an individual policy and $21,000 for family coverage.
House Democrats met as the Senate Finance Committee upheld a central provision in a companion bill on a 14-9 vote.
Republicans sought to strip out a requirement for policies to provide specified benefits such as preventive and surgical care and mental health services in policies sold to consumers who receive federal subsidies to make the cost more affordable.
Ginsburg better, goes back to work
WASHINGTON - Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had cancer surgery earlier this year, made a quick return to work Friday after feeling ill at the office and spending the night in a Washington hospital as a precaution.
The 76-year-old justice was released from Washington Hospital Center in the morning and was at her desk by early afternoon, the court said.
Ginsburg became lightheaded in her office Thursday afternoon after receiving an iron sucrose infusion for anemia.
Although she was found to be stable after an examination, the court said she was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
Ginsburg underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer in February, followed by a round of chemotherapy.
A common side effect of chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer is anemia.
Stopgap spending passes in House
WASHINGTON - The U.S. House approved stopgap legislation to keep the government running through the end of next month while lawmakers work on the annual spending bills needed to fund federal agencies.
With the end of the government's fiscal year looming Wednesday, the chamber voted 217-190 to keep most agencies at current budget levels through Oct. 31.
Arkansas' Reps. Mike Ross and Vic Snyder, both Democrats, voted for the measure. Rep. John Boozman, a Republican, voted against it. Rep. Marion Berry, a Democrat, didn't vote.
The bill includes provisions allowing the cash-strapped Postal Service to fill a budget hole by deferring $4 billion in payments due at the end of this month to an employee benefits trust fund.
Lawmakers also attached the annual appropriations bill funding Congress itself, which would provide the chamber with an 8 percent increase for office budgets to pay for staff salaries, equipment and other expenses.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said his colleagues would take up the legislation next week.
It would be the first of the 12 annual appropriations bills to reach President Barack Obama's desk.
Puerto Rico shedding public workers
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Puerto Rico's government announced Friday that it will lay off more than 16,000 public workers in the U.S. Caribbean territory, adding to an unemployment rate higher than that of any U.S. state.
The island has about 200,000 public employees.
The government hopes the layoffs will help close a $3.2 billion deficit as the island struggles through its third year of recession and a 15 percent unemployment rate.
Union leaders announced an islandwide strike in protest on Oct. 15.
The layoffs of 16,970 employees are needed to prevent the government from shutting down and sinking the island's credit, said Carlos Garcia, president of the Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico. The layoffs are expected to save $386 million, he said.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 09/26/2009