Tom Howell Jr.

State Obamacare numbers trickle in; Congress is bulk of D.C. small-biz enrollees

State-run health exchanges began Tuesday to share their final Obamacare numbers, with the nation's capital reporting that more than 20 percent of its individual and family enrollments came in the last week alone before Monday's deadline.

April 1, 2014

Pharrell: Hillary Clinton will be ‘Happy’ in 2016

Williams, who is promoting his new album "G I R L," explained it as a matter of unity in a world where women are playing a more predominant role.

April 1, 2014

Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Most Americans will pay less under Obamacare

The chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee said she does not think most Americans will pay more for their insurance under Obamacare.

April 1, 2014

Rep. Tim Murphy: GM and safety officials have some explaining to do over deadly car flaw

Rep. Tim Murphy said Tuesday that both General Motors and the nation's highway safety body "messed up pretty bad" in failing to recall cars with an ignition-switch problem linked to more than a dozen deaths.

April 1, 2014

RNC: We can use the color blue if we want to; Dems can be the party of ‘red tape’

The Republican National Committee says they're no longer going to be cornered into a one-color scheme — so they're adding a little blue.

April 1, 2014

HealthCare.gov closes, but offers an opening for latecomers

All is not lost for procrastinators: HealthCare.gov encourages users to see if they can still get coverage in other ways, or if they qualify for a controversial extension that lets them attest they tried to sign up by Monday to finish up.

April 1, 2014

Obamacare sign-ups guru puts his final estimate at 7.08 million enrollees

Charles Gaba, a Michigan web developer who burst into the spotlight this month with a website that tracks Obamacare enrollment, has updated his estimate of final enrollment to more than 7 million people — a high-profile target the administration embraced then abandoned during the law's rollout.

April 1, 2014

Party ID is No. 1 factor in how Americans view Obamacare: Gallup poll

Party affiliation remains the "foremost predictor" of whether a person will disapprove of the new health care law, Gallup said.

April 1, 2014

Obamacare website glitch hampers enrollment on deadline day

The federal Obamacare website began the final day of open enrollment Monday the same way the website launched in October — with a glitch that prevented consumers from enrolling.

March 31, 2014

Sen. Lindsey Graham: Dems will rethink Obamacare ‘when they lose elections’

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday that Democrats will change their tune about repealing and replacing Obamacare "when they lose elections."

March 31, 2014

Quirky new Toronto ad campaign promises bad behavior, just not ‘Rob Ford’ bad

A group attempting to unseat Toronto Mayor Rob Mayor after a year marked by his outlandish behavior and confessions of crack use has launched a novel ad campaign pitting kinda-bad behavior against the current mayor's.

March 31, 2014

More gaining insurance than losing it under Obamacare: report

At least 9 million previously uninsured Americans have gained health coverage through Obamacare through a mix of private enrollment, Medicaid and a part of the law that allows young people to stay on their parents' plans, according to the Los Angeles Times.

March 31, 2014

White House strikes upbeat tone amid worries about Obamacare’s future

A top White House aide said Monday he is optimistic about how Obamacare will turn out in its first year, despite a disastrous debut last fall, questions about sliding deadlines and worries that premiums could rise in the coming year.

March 31, 2014

Hispanic voters disillusioned with political climate; trend could harm Democrats

Immigrant-rights advocates are reporting a spike in disillusionment with both parties among Hispanics, a vital and growing voting bloc that's boosted Democrats' advantages at the ballot box in recent years, The New York Times said Sunday.

March 31, 2014

Error messages mar last day of Obamacare enrollment

Some users of the main Obamacare portal, HealthCare.gov, encountered error messages on the website Monday morning — the last day to sign up for policies before the health care law begins to penalize Americans for lacking health insurance.

March 31, 2014

Va. voters support medical marijuana by wide margin, divided over personal use: poll

Virginia voters support medical marijuana by an overwhelming margin, 84-13 percent, but they're divided on whether the drug should be legalized for recreational use, said the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

March 31, 2014

Lawmakers aim for diplomacy in Russian dealings

Secretary of State John Kerry met with Russian officials Sunday to discuss a diplomatic solution to tensions along Ukraine's borders, as American lawmakers expressed concerns that Vladimir Putin has designs on more territory in the region.

March 30, 2014

Sen. Wyden: U.S. intelligen​ce community needs to be more transparen​t; reforms will help

A top Democratic senator says President Obama's decision to slow down the U.S. government's bulk collection of phone records, placing more faith in private companies, is a step in the right direction.

March 30, 2014

N.J. Democrat: Much too early to say what Gov. Chris Christie knew about Bridgegate

A top Democrat in New Jersey's Legislature said Sunday it is "far too early" to conclude whether Gov. Chris Christie knew about toll-lane closings that caused massive traffic problems near the George Washington Bridge and sparked a political scandal that could roil the 2016 presidential race.

March 30, 2014

On cusp of deadline, parties offer competing visions of Obamacare’​s success

President Obama and his supporters are encouraging Americans to "get covered" in the final hours of the health care law's enrollment period, a six-month trial that courted disaster and criticism but could end with the White House claiming victory on its own terms.

March 30, 2014