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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

FILE - In this Jan 4, 2016 file photo, Republican Presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, campaigns at Penny's Diner in Missouri Valley, Iowa. Tea party flame-thrower Ted Cruz is showing voters his softer side during his presidential campaign in Iowa, whether through his joke-laced stump speech or one-on-one interactions. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

Sen. Ted Cruz opposes Donald Trump’s “police state” plan on deportations

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Sunday he will win the presidency by "painting in bold colors, not pale pastels," and that his passion for repealing Obamacare, establishing a flat tax and enforcing immigration law will be a contrast to the "mushy middle" that doomed GOP nominees in 1996, 2000 and 2012.

January 10, 2016
White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Thursday mocked Congress' Obamacare repeal bill, saying in 60 efforts to overturn the law, this was the first one to make it to President Obama's desk. (Associated Press)

White House mocks Obamacare repeal

The administration mocked the Obamacare repeal bill sent to the White House Thursday, saying Congress had accomplished "nothing" and boasting that the health law is doing even better than expected.

January 7, 2016
In this Oct. 6, 2015, file photo, the HealthCare.gov website, where people can buy health insurance, is displayed on a laptop screen in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

HHS: 11.3 million Obamacare signups nationwide

Roughly 11.3 million people have selected private plans on Obamacare's exchanges, according to a government update released Thursday that for the first time includes 2016 signup data from all of the states.

January 7, 2016
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., smiles as he departs the chamber just after the Repubican-controlled House of Representatives voted to eliminate key parts of President Barack Obama's health care law and to stop taxpayer funds from going to Planned Parenthood, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Paul Ryan says House will go ‘on offense’ in 2016

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday his chamber will be "going on offense on ideas" in 2016, offering voters a clear idea of what a Republican Congress could do with an ally in the White House.

January 7, 2016
"The people deserve a truly patient-centered health care system — and ultimately, this is going to require a Republican president," said House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican. "That's why our top priority in 2016 is going to be offering the country a clear choice with a bold pro-growth agenda." (Associated Press)

Obamacare repeal sent to president’s desk for first time

Six years after President Obama rammed Obamacare through a Democrat-run Congress, Republicans used their own majority to take a "monumental" step toward scrapping the overhaul Wednesday, approving a bill to ax the onerous mandates that penalize Americans who refuse to comply with the health care law's demands.

January 6, 2016
President Obama stands with House Speaker Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, in Emancipation Hall on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 9, 2015, during an event to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the 13th amendment that abolished slavery. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Congress set to send Obamacare repeal to president

Congress is poised to dispatch an Obamacare repeal bill to President Obama's desk Wednesday, fulfilling a long-standing but elusive goal for Republicans who seized the House in 2011 and reaffirmed their vow after taking control of the Senate last year.

January 6, 2016
"This bill will stop taxpayer dollars from going to abortion providers, like Planned Parenthood ...," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said. (Associated Press)

House Republicans to vote to strip Planned Parenthood funding

Four years after GOP Senate candidates stumbled over reproductive rights, the thorny issue is once again front and center as Congress kicks off 2016 with a vote to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood in retaliation for its abortion practices.

January 5, 2016
In this Dec. 17, 2015, photo, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. speaks during an end-of-the-year news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

2016 House session opens with vote to repeal Obamacare law

Congressional Republicans will kick off 2016 with a vote to repeal Obamacare, but they are still struggling to figure out the next steps in replacing President Obama's health insurance overhaul, which, while suffering growing pains, now provides coverage to millions of Americans.

January 4, 2016
FILE - In this June 25, 2015, file photo, students cheer as they hold up signs, outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, supporting the Affordable Care Act after the Supreme Court decided that the ACA may provide nationwide tax subsidies. Republican foes of President Barack Obama’s health care law may be able to get more by chipping away at it than trying to take the whole thing down at once. That’s the lesson of the budget deal passed by Congress and signed by the president on Dec. 18. It delayed a widely-criticized tax on high-cost employer health insurance plans that hasn’t taken effect yet. And it temporarily suspended two taxes on industry already being collected, which are also part of the health law. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

HHS: 3 in 5 Obamacare customers shopped around for 2016 plan

A greater share of Obamacare customers logged back onto HealthCare.gov to shop around and select a new plan for 2016 than in last year's renewal period, the administration said Wednesday, casting it is as a sign that more people are heeding its advice to seek out the best deal in the federal marketplace.

December 30, 2015
A kit with naloxone, also known by its brand name Narcan, is displayed at the South Jersey AIDS Alliance in Atlantic City, N.J., on Feb. 19, 2014. An overdose of opiates essentially makes the body forget to breathe. Naloxone works by blocking the brain receptors that opiates latch onto and helping the body "remember" to take in air. (Associated Press) **FILE**

9 in 10 prescribed opioids even after overdose: Study

More than 9 out of every 10 patients who survive a prescription-opioid overdose are able to get the drugs again, usually from the same prescriber, according to a study published Tuesday that underscores the uphill battle that state and federal leaders face in fighting a national drug epidemic.

December 29, 2015