The nation in brief

LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY “At some point,

Washington has to deal with its spending problem. I’ve

watched them kick

this can down the road for 22 years that

I’ve been here. I’ve had enough of it. It’s time to act.”House Speaker John Boehner Article, 1A GOP concerns

delay Hagel vote

WASHINGTON - A Senate panel postponed Wednesday a vote on Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be defense secretary amid Republican demands for more information from President Barack Obama’s nominee about his paid speeches and business dealings.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, had hoped to vote on the nomination today during a separate hearing on Libya, but Levin issued a statement late Wednesday saying no vote would occur this week.

“The committee’s review of the nomination is not yet complete. I intend to schedule a vote on the nomination as soon as possible,” Levin said.

Hours earlier, committee Republicans said they were dissatisfied with information Hagel had provided the panel after his confirmation hearing last week and that no vote should occur. They focused on his speeches and affiliations with organizations such as the Atlantic Council, a nonpartisan public-interest group.

Hagel, a former two-term Republican senator from Nebraska, has faced strong opposition from his ex-GOP colleagues who have questioned his past statements and votes.

Jolting stop hurts

7 on cable car

SAN FRANCISCO - Seven people were injured Wednesday when a San Francisco cable car carrying about 50 passengers stopped suddenly in the city’s Nob Hill neighborhood, authorities said.

An elderly man fell and hit his head, and his injury was considered life-threatening, San Francisco fire spokesman Mindy Talmadge said.

Four other people were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

It appeared a 1.5-inch bolt stuck in the cable car’s track caused the sudden stop, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Director John Haley said.

Officials said they don’t think the bolt belongs to other cable cars that travel the route.

6th in GOP backs wider Medicaid

LANSING, Mich. - Gov. Rick Snyder on Wednesday became the sixth Republican governor to back the extension of Medicaid coverage under the Obama administration’s health-care overhaul.

His announcement sets the stage for a potential fight with members of his own party who control the Legislature.

“It’s a win for all,” Snyder said at a Lansing hospital the day before he was to propose his next state budget. Snyder was flanked by doctors, nurses and health officials who support the expansion of taxpayer-funded health insurance to about 470,000 Michigan residents.

Snyder said the chance to cover nearly half of the state’s uninsured is “huge,” adding that he is confident the health-care system can handle the extra caseload.

The federal health-care law gives states the option to accept the expansion, refuse it or postpone a decision.

But for states that choose to expand Medicaid, the federal government will pick up the entire cost in the first three years and 90 percent over the long haul.