Politics

Obama Skirting Illinois in Campaign Visits as Democrats Confront Scandals President Barack Obama has campaigned for embattled Democrats this year in Massachusetts, Colorado and Nevada. There’s one trouble spot he’s so far stayed away from: his adopted home state of Illinois.

Army of Bankers Take Battle Against Consumer Agency Directly to Lawmakers About 800 bankers fanned out across Capitol Hill yesterday, pressing lawmakers to resist creation of a consumer-protection office, shield national banks from state laws and maintain Federal Reserve oversight of smaller lenders.

Health Bill Faces Delay as Democrats Struggle With Deficit-Cutting Targets Congressional Democrats, racing to finish work on an overhaul of the U.S. health system, are facing delays as they strive to meet deficit-cutting targets.

Charged Political Donor in Chicago Also Contributed to Obama's Campaigns A restaurateur charged with writing $1.8 million in bad checks from a troubled Chicago bank run by the family of U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias is also a political donor to President Barack Obama.

Kucinich to Switch Health-Care Bill Vote to `Yes' After Lobbying by Obama Representative Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat, said he will support legislation overhauling the U.S. health-care system after opposing a version that cleared the House last year, giving a boost to President Barack Obama’s top priority.

Tax Break for New Hires Cleared by U.S. Congress in $18 Billion Jobs Bill The U.S. Congress gave final approval to an $18 billion jobs bill offering companies a tax break for hiring the unemployed in the lawmakers’ initial effort this year to boost the economy before November elections.

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