Washington (CNN) - It's known as the "greatest deliberative body in the world," and with health care reform on the docket, the Senate's debate on the contentious bill could last through Congress' Christmas recess.

The goal, President Obama recently said, is for the Senate to pass legislation by Christmas - though opposition from Republicans could derail the hope.

While the House has wrapped up much of its business for the year and has already passed its form of the reform bill, senators have been working around the clock and on weekends.

With the push to get a reform bill passed, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who controls the legislative body's calendar, could keep the Senate in session into at least part of the break, which is set when the Senate is done with its business.

One senator has already prepared for the possibility.

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Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Barbara Lee and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver wrote Obama to plead for help for minorities..

Washington (CNN) – Members of the Congressional Black Caucus called on President Obama Friday to address the skyrocketing unemployment rate facing minorities - especially African-Americans and Latinos - and greater economic conditions plaguing low-income communities.

"Our job is to make sure the legislation that gets to the president's desk responds to the degradation and the crisis in our community," said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, at a Friday news conference. "Our community is bleeding. And we are the worst hit."

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in November 2009 for blacks is at 15.6 percent - and 12.7 percent for Hispanics. In comparison, the rate for whites is 9.3 percent.

The latest job numbers show that a drop in the U.S. unemployment rate dropped from 10.2 percent to 10 percent in November.

"Our Nation has suffered substantial unemployment and underemployment over a prolonged period, which has imposed significant economic and social costs, particularly in communities of color," the December 9 letter, from Chairwoman Barbara Lee and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver to Obama, stated. "We appreciate your attention to these prescriptive measures and look forward to working with you."

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Protesters march through Washington at a Tea Party Express rally on September 12.

Washington (CNN) – It emerged in anger and it threatens to split in anger.

One major group in the Tea Party movement - named after the famous Boston Tea Party - is set to host its first convention in February, with former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin as its keynote speaker.

But there are fractures in the movement that threaten its future. And if history's any guide, such movements tend to flame out.

The Tea Party movement erupted on April 15 - tax day - over criticism of President Obama's economic policies and what organizers called big government out of control. The movement, made up of local, state and national groups, continues to protest what it considers fiscally unsound policies.

And the movement is well funded. Action groups like FreedomWorks - chaired by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey - helped organize and fund its April 15 rally in Washington.

Other groups, including Americans for Prosperity, Tea Party Nation and Tea Party Patriots, are also vying for the helm of the movement, and it's creating what some are calling "competitive chaos."

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(PHOTO CREDIT: AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Washington (CNN) - As President Obama prepares to announce that he's sending more troops to Afghanistan, comparisons to the war in Vietnam are often invoked.

But experts say while there are similarities between the two conflicts, there are more differences.

U.S. and coalition forces have been fighting in Afghanistan for more than eight years, initially rooting the Taliban from control after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks against the U.S. because of its support of al Qaeda terrorists who carried out the attacks.

But after the U.S. went to war with Iraq in 2003, the Taliban regrouped, and fighting with U.S. and coalition troops has escalated.

In March, Afghanistan will become America's longest war, surpassing the one in Vietnam, which cost more than 58,000 American lives.

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Sens. Jack Reed, left, Dick Durbin and Robert Menendez, right, hold a news conference about health care Friday at the Captiol.

Washington (CNN) – To debate or not to debate the Senate's health care reform bill; that is the question.

The legislative body on Saturday is expected to vote on whether to begin debate - also known as invoking cloture - on its version of the health care bill, which was introduced Wednesday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Reid says the 2,074-page bill would expand health insurance coverage to 30 million more Americans at an estimated cost of $849 billion over 10 years. A House bill was passed nearly two weeks ago.

Proceedings begin at 10 a.m. and will last through the early evening.

Around 8 p.m., the Senate will hold a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture.

Reid needs 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to overcome a certain GOP filibuster attempt and open the chamber's debate on the bill. It would take another 60 votes to close debate that could last for weeks, while final approval of the bill would require only a simple majority.

So how will the Democratic leadership get the magic number 60?

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Key players on health care include, from left, Sen. Max Baucus, Sen. John Rockefeller, Sen. Harry Reid and Sen. Chris Dodd.

Washington (CNN) – November and December tend to be a typically slow time for Congress as it wraps up business before a new session begins.

But not this year.

The Senate is expected to soon return to health care reform, the legislative lightning rod of 2009. Most analysts expect it to be an engaging debate.

But will Americans be paying attention as they carve the Thanksgiving turkey and shop for the holidays?

Analysts say yes - and that Americans are more tuned in than ever.

"I do think the audience for this debate will go beyond 'inside baseball,' though it won't extend beyond the already politically engaged electorate," says Frances Lee, a political scientist with the University of Maryland. "I would expect this debate to be equally engaging, though it will also be far longer."

Lee says the Senate debate is "sure to draw a big audience by the normal standards for such things."

It's a point with which Senate Historian Donald Ritchie agrees.

"I think what's been unusual about the health care debate is that the public has been following it from the very beginning," he says. "They've actually been watching it going through the committee systems, through the markup systems."

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The Senate has witnessed divisive debates over the course of history.

Washington (CNN) - The Senate is about to embark on what could be the showdown of the year as top Democrats work to push through sweeping health care legislation.

The legislative chamber, however, is no stranger to history-changing debate. Lawmakers need to look no further than their predecessors to see how it's done.

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Follow Ed Hornick on Twitter: @HornickCNN

Liberal groups have targeted Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska over his views on health care reform.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sixty. It's the magic number of votes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid needs to move his health care reform bill to the Senate floor and tamp down filibuster threats by Republicans.

And the 60th vote could well be Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska.

Nelson and other Democrats have spoken out against the costs of plans being discussed, and most recently the $1.1 trillion House bill, which passed last weekend.

Reid doesn't expect Republican support for the bill, so he'll need all of the 58 Democrats and the two independents who caucus with them.

Nelson, 68, recently said he would decide how to vote on whether to send the bill to the Senate floor once he sees the final version.

"I'm not going to make any kind of commitment until I see the bill," Nelson said, adding that he has not given Reid any assurance or "secret" acknowledgment of support.

"I can't decide about the procedural vote until I see the underlying bill," he told CNN.

Nelson told ABC News on Tuesday that faced with a decision on whether to "move a bill that is bad, I won't vote to move it."

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - Democratic Rep. Edward Markey, chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, grilled witnesses Thursday on what he called "fraudulent letters" sent to Congress on energy and climate legislation before a crucial House vote on the issue.

The select committee said on it's Web site that its members and staff discovered more than a dozen fraudulent letters sent to members of Congress by the consulting company Bonner & Associates, on behalf of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), that claimed electricity rates would rise under a House bill. On its Web site, ACCCE describes itself as a partnership of industries involved in producing electricity from coal.

According to the select committee's Web site, the legislation would have "minimal costs" to consumers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "found the overall impact on the average household would be 22 to 30 cents per day ($80 to $111 per year) - or less than the cost of a postage stamp a day," the committee Web site says.

The legislation in question, co-sponsored by Markey, ultimately passed the House on June 26 - but in a close vote of 219 to 212. The legislation, which says it aims to "create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy," is now before the U.S. Senate.

At the hearing, Markey and Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Washington, focused their criticism on Steve Miller, president and CEO of ACCCE, and Bonner & Associates.

"It seems to me you were trying to kill the bill. That's what translates to these letters," Markey said to Miller. "These letters don't reflect a desire to communicate with voters."

Miller conceded that he was "profoundly disappointed" that members of Congress weren't notified that they had received misinformation.

But his group, Miller added, is now implementing a new ethics code requiring that "anything we can't verify in 24 hours will require [us] to notify the member." He also stated that the letters talked about an increased cost to consumers in the bill, but it didn't quantify how much.

"I'd also add that those letters don't urge opposition to the bill," he said.

Inslee later examined the use of telephone calls made to constituents by Bonner & Associates workers that referenced the rise in electric rates. A memo sent to those employees, Inslee said, instructed "them to tell them (citizens) that electrical rates could double due to pending legislation in Congress."

But Miller argued the document cited by Inslee was an early training document that he believed was dropped from the language used in the calls.

Miller also told the committee that he would be happy to send a letter to each organization that Bonner & Associates reached out to on the issue "as a follow-up to this hearing to say to them that if in fact that someone on behalf of Bonner and Associates said that their electricity rates would double here … that that is not a position that has ever been taken."

Asked if ACCCE would reach out to senators now debating a climate-change bill about the misleading information, Miller said he was uncertain he could reach out to all 100 members.

"But I will tell you and other members of the committee that we will be extremely responsible in any assertions we make to cost, that we will share with members of the United States Senate … that there is a clear range of belief on what these price increase may be," Miller said.

Washington (CNN) - Standing behind the president during a bill signing is a shining moment for any policy activist.

For Paul Rieckhoff, it came last week when President Obama signed the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act into law.

Having served in the Army for six years and as an infantry platoon leader in Iraq, Rieckhoff knows something about the challenges active-duty soldiers face overseas and later when they come home.

Watch: Rieckhoff discusses his experience in Iraq and Washington

Rieckhoff's experience inspired the 30-something executive director and founding member of the nonpartisan Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America to challenge the way the country supports veterans.

"We can say we really got something significant done," he said on a warm fall day near Capitol Hill. "We used all the tools in our arsenal, ranging from our e-mail list to Facebook to Twitter to folks on the ground, to push forward a really transformative piece of legislation that's going to help a lot of vets."

The IAVA notes the new law will provide "timely, predictable funding for veterans' health care by requiring Congress to approve a health care budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) at least one year in advance."

Rieckhoff has come a long way from combat in Iraq. Tailored suits and policy papers now replace his military uniform and M-16.

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(CNN) - There is a well-known saying in Afghanistan: "You can rent an Afghan, but you can't buy him."

Some experts on the region believe a U.S. program to pay Taliban fighters to quit the organization is buying temporary loyalty.

President Obama on Wednesday signed a $680 billion defense appropriations bill, which will pay for military operations in the 2010 fiscal year. The bill includes a Taliban reintegration provision under the Commander's Emergency Response Program, which is now receiving $1.3 billion. CERP funding also is intended for humanitarian relief and reconstruction projects at commanders' discretion.

The buyout idea, according to the Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is to separate local Taliban from their leaders, replicating a program used to neutralize the insurgency against Americans in Iraq.

"Afghan leaders and our military say that local Taliban fighters are motivated largely by the need for a job or loyalty to the local leader who pays them and not by ideology or religious zeal," Levin said in a Senate floor speech on September 11. "They believe an effort to attract these fighters to the government's side could succeed, if they are offered security for themselves and their families, and if there is no penalty for previous activity against us."

But Nicholas Schmidle, an expert on the Afghanistan-Pakistan region for the non-partisan New America Foundation, said that while the plan has a "reasonable chance for some success," the old Afghan saying will eventually be borne out.

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President Obama chats with students at a Silver Spring, Maryland, elementary school this week.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Creating and saving jobs while boosting investment in the future are among the top goals of the Obama administration's $787 billion economic stimulus plan.

And according to a preliminary report on stimulus funding for schools by the Department of Education and the Domestic Policy Council, the stimulus plan has created jobs.

State governments have created and saved at least 250,000 education jobs - and restored nearly all their projected education budget shortfalls for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 - according to preliminary findings released Monday by the White House.

But some states that used the funds to fill existing budget gaps could face a crisis when the money runs out after 2010. And the Department of Education has chastised certain states for their stimulus funding programs and warned them that they risk their chances at getting other DOE grants down the road.

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President Obama's term in office so far is relatively on message, a Democratic strategist said.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – During the 2008 presidential campaign, analysts noted that then-Sen. Barack Obama ran a relatively tight ship - complete with a near lock-step message strategy and a loyal political team.

But since Obama has become president, some say his administration is failing to reflect the tight-knit campaign that helped lead the Illinois Democrat to victory.

One reason: Size matters.

That is, the vast size of the federal government, bureaucratic red tape and the scale of his top advisers' egos, according to an influential political observer.

"When you're running the country, it's a whole different ball game," said Stuart Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report. "Not only is the number of people exponentially larger in terms of the number of people involved, but you have bigger personalities; you have egos; you have people of accomplishment who are accustomed to speaking their mind."

A second reason: Frustration.

Several Democratic Party members are frustrated by the president's lack of progress on big issues. Liberal Democrats are frustrated for his not forcefully pushing the government-sponsored public option idea for health care reform.

Activists also are worried about the president's inaction on repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell' policy, which effectively bars openly gay people from serving in the military.

But a former top Obama campaign aide said gay Americans have every right to be impatient and continue to pressure the president and Congress.

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Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, is a member of the Senate Finance Committee.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - They're angry and fighting back with full force.

The White House, Democrats and health care experts are blasting a new insurance industry trade report that finds that health insurance premiums for the typical American family would increase by $4,000 by 2019 under a key Senate overhaul plan.

The analysis by America's Health Insurance Plans indicates that under the Senate Finance Committee plan - spearheaded by Democratic Chairman Max Baucus - the costs of private health insurance would rise by 111 percent over the next decade.

Under the current system, costs would rise by 79 percent, the report said, and premiums for individuals could rise by an extra $1,500 if the Baucus plan is implemented. The report was conducted by the firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The committee passed the long-awaited $829 billion health care bill by a 14-9 vote Tuesday.

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The Obama administration is working on a strategic review of improving conditions in Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Determining the amount of troops necessary to win a war is never an easy decision for a commander in chief and his military commanders if history is any guide.

And it's a dilemma President Obama facesas pressure mounts on him to decide what strategy will improve conditions in Afghanistan.

The president and his top military, national security and foreign policy advisers are conducting an intensive strategic review of the U.S. military presence in the war-torn nation.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is calling for a counterinsurgency strategy that would add as many as 40,000 troops.

But others in the administration want a different approach.

Vice President Joe Biden has called for a counterterrorism strategy, which would focus on using special forces and technology to reduce the number of al Qaeda insurgents on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

If the president should listen to McChrystal and adopt a troop "surge," the question remains: How many is enough?

One expert said such a large number is needed to reduce violence throughout the country - the 40,000 troops would allow the U.S. military to "reverse the momentum of the insurgency, which has been on the rise," said Kimberly Kagan of the Institute for the Study of War, who has advised McChrystal on Afghanistan.

That number, Kagan said, would help fill in gaps around Kandahar in the southern part of the country where Taliban forces have amassed. But she warned that eventually, troops would also be needed to tamp down the insurgency in other parts of the country.

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President Obama is weighing whether to send an additional 40,000 troops to Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - A day after meeting with congressional leaders from both parties, President Obama sat down Wednesday afternoon with his national security team, the third of five meetings on U.S. strategy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Rising violence and the resurgence of Taliban and al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan have put the Obama administration on defense as the war enters its ninth year.

The war has claimed the lives of 865 Americans and 570 allied troops, and U.S. public support for the conflict has slipped sharply in the past two years. There are 68,000 troops in the country now.

The White House has been working with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, who is expected to call for 40,000 more troops to carry out a counterinsurgency strategy.

It's a proposal that top Republicans and some moderate-to-conservative Democrats who attended the meeting agree with. Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Missouri, said Obama should approve the proposal.

"I really think that the president's going to have to listen to Gen. McChrystal. He's his man. He's his pick," Skelton said. "This is a matter of national security."

Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Michigan, said Wednesday that whatever the president decides, he must lead "boldly in a mission that needs to be successful, outline his case to the American people and then align all of our resources ... to execute the strategy that he selects."

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CNN obtained this photo of a U.S. helicopter above Forward Operating Base Keating in the Nuristan province

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Mountainous terrain and harsh weather in remote parts of Afghanistan have proven a deadly combination for the U.S. military in its push to reduce mounting violence in the country.

On Saturday, Taliban militants attacked American and Afghan troops in the Nuristan province in eastern Afghanistan. Eight American troops and two members of the Afghan national security forces were killed, according to the Pentagon.

It was the largest number of Americans killed by hostile action in a single day since July 13, 2008, when nine troops died, according to CNN records.

The fighting was so fierce that at one point U.S. forces "had to collapse in on themselves," a U.S. military official with knowledge of the latest intelligence reports on the incident told CNN. These revelations about the battle that engulfed Forward Operating Base Keating are a further indication of how pinned down and outmanned the troops were.

The base was scheduled to be closed in the next few days, CNN has learned. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, wanted to cede remote outposts and consolidate troops in more populated areas to better protect Afghan civilians.

It's a point he reiterated over the summer.

"Practically speaking, there are areas that are controlled by Taliban forces," he told the Los Angeles Times in late July. Over time, McChrystal said, the command would "reduce" those areas, but the first priority will be to make sure populated areas are free of insurgent influence.

The deadly attack over the weekend and the July 2008 attack in Wanat, just 20 miles away, serve to underscore, some say, that the reduction isn't happening.

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Hadley says he believes advisers will help Obama feel 'comfortable making the decision ... only he can make.'

WASHINGTON (CNN) - A meeting between President Obama and his national security team Wednesday could be a turning point in the war in Afghanistan, says someone who's been in similar meetings.

Stephen Hadley, a former national security adviser in the Bush administration, said the meeting would be a "vigorous debate" in which "views will change ... may be some emerging consensus."

"And one of the purposes of the kind of process that they're going through now is to take people with the range of views, express their views to the president and see in an interactive process," Hadley said.

"Again, the fact that the president is interacting directly with his national security principles and hopefully with his diplomats and military officers in the field, allows for a process in some sense that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts," he said.

But in the end, the decision rests solely with the commander in chief, who Hadley said sets the tone and direction of the negotiations with his advisers. "What we know and what we're told about this president is that he's very deliberate and that he wants to hear from everyone in the room. ... I think they [Obama's advisers] will speak freely ... and it will put him in a position where he feels comfortable making the decision that, really, only he can make."

But the president faces varying opinions from within his administration, including recent reports that his vice president is urging a counterterrorism strategy that would focus on targeting al Qaeda and Taliban forces.

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President Obama is under increasing pressure to decide whether the United States will commit more troops and resources to the conflict in Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Obama is under increasing pressure to decide whether the United States will commit more troops and resources to the conflict in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, the head of NATO met with the president and endorsed Obama's plan to fine-tune the strategy for Afghanistan before deciding on whether to deploy more troops.

"I agree with President Obama in his approach: strategy first, then resources," Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after meeting with Obama at the White House.

The meeting comes a day before Obama is scheduled to discuss Afghanistan strategy with his national security team.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs backed up Rasmussen's assessment.

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Controversy is surrounding Obama's campaign to secure the Olympics in Chicago.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Obama's decision to head to Copenhagen, Denmark, later this week to make a push to bring the 2016 Olympic Games to Chicago is not without political controversy.

Critics say Obama is making a risky move, since key issues - ranging from Iran's nuclear ambitions and health care reform in Congress to deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan - are pressing on the administration.

"I think it's baffling that the president has time to travel to Copenhagen," said Sen. Kit Bond, R-Missouri. "[Obama's] got a lot of responsibilities. His number one responsibility is to keep our country safe."

Chicago is vying for the Summer Games against Madrid, Spain; Tokyo, Japan; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Leaders from Brazil, Spain and Japan are expected to also make in-person pitches. The International Olympic Committee will vote on the host city Friday in Copenhagen.

It will be the first time an American president attends an IOC vote.

Obama will leave Thursday night, attend meetings on Friday morning, and return Friday afternoon, the White House said. First lady Michelle Obama will leave ahead of her husband, on Tuesday night.

Bond said that the issue of Afghanistan and whether to send more troops there should take precedence over the Olympic bid.

Dave Zirin, a contributor to The Nation magazine, said that while the Obamas should be standing with their city, it was unlikely the first couple would be making the trip if Chicago wasn't being considered.

"Amid a roiling national debate on health care, President Obama will be there to join [the first lady]. Would he be risking presidential prestige if Chicago wasn't going to get its place at the Olympic trough? Not very likely," Zirin recently wrote on the liberal blog, The Huffington Post.

But senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, who also heads to Copenhagen this week, rejected the notion that the president is risking political capital.

"Absolutely not. The president is a competitive spirit. He's very interested in promoting Chicago. ... He's not thinking about the political calculus," she said. "He's thinking what's best for the American people."

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said winning the games for Chicago would help the U.S. economy.

"Obviously any Olympics showcases the country that those Olympics are in and there's a tangible economic benefit to those games being here. And the president wants to help out America's bid."

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, a Democrat, believes the benefits to Chicago's economy from hosting the 2016 Olympic games "will be great and the risk to taxpayers low."

When asked if her husband was risking political capital if their bid should fail, the first lady said that it's the country's bid - not her husband's.

While Bond and other Obama foes criticized the president's trip to Copenhagen, the president got support from an unlikely ally.

On Monday, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told the Washington Times that Obama's personal appearance is "likely to ensure the city lands the games."

"I think his presence makes it almost certain that Chicago will win the bid," he added.

Romney is no stranger to Olympic negotiations. In 2002, Romney was in charge of the Salt Lake City, Utah, Winter Olympics.

Romney said he believes that while the president may risk some political capital, the trip is in the country's best interest.

The lobbying effort to bring the games to Chicago, meanwhile, isn't coming just from the president.

Michelle Obama vowed Monday to "take no prisoners" as she and her husband work to promote Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid, comparing the intense lobbying effort to the 2008 presidential campaign.

"It's a battle - we're going to win - take no prisoners," she said, noting that in the campaign a lot of voters made their decision in the final days, and members of the IOC may do the same.

"And our view is, we're not taking a chance," she said. "We're just not going to assume that the bids - that the decisions are made, and so that no matter what the outcome is, we'll feel as a country, as a team, that we've done everything that we can to bring it home."

Jarrett said the Obamas will be a powerful one-two punch.

"What a dynamic duo they will be. I think it will be high impact," she said. "I think their presentation will be both very personal, given that they know and love Chicago so well, and I also think it will talk about the Olympic spirit and the Olympic movement and why we think that Chicago really is the prefect place to host the Olympic and Paralympic games."

– CNN's Ed Henry and Dan Lothian contributed to this report.

Democratic leaders in the House meet this week to hammer over health care reform issues.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Two members of the Senate Finance Committee plan to put their Democratic colleagues on the spot on Tuesday by offering amendments on whether to give uninsured Americans the opportunity to join a government insurance program.

While health care reform legislation in the House and an alternate plan in the Senate have included a so-called "public option," the Finance Committee's version, which Republicans haven't rejected completely, has not included a government-sponsored provision.

Sens. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Chuck Schumer of New York planned to offer the amendments last week before the action was delayed.

It's not clear whether the two Democrats have the votes on the committee to get their amendments passed. But it is clear that the debate could be contentious, if last week's discussion was any indication, with Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona banging his fist on the table in an effort to be heard.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said House Democrats need further negotiations before bringing a final version of a health care bill to debate.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday House Democrats need further negotiations before bringing a final version of a health care bill to debate before the full chamber.

At her weekly news conference, the California Democrat said she expects a final version soon that would have the support of the full Democratic caucus, which holds a majority in the House.

"We're on course to be ready soon" to put out a bill to the full House, she told reporters after meeting with the House Democratic caucus.

Three House committees have passed their versions of a Democratic proposal, and Democratic leaders are now trying to merge the three into one proposal for floor debate.

The discussions are in large part to inform members about the decisions under consideration and the impact on the health care debate, Pelosi said.

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President Obama delivered a speech to the Muslim world this summer in Egypt

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Obama, facing daunting domestic challenges, may have another tough battle on his hands: maintaining the United States' growing popularity throughout the world.

And the spotlight will focus on global issues this week.

On Tuesday, Obama meets with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders separately and then jointly. He will also meet late that day with Chinese President Hu Jintao and speak to the Clinton Global Initiative meeting.

The president meets Wednesday with Japan's new prime minister and addresses the U.N. General Assembly. Later, he will meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev - their first face to face meeting since Obama's decision to scale back U.S. missile defense plans in the Czech Republic. Later Friday, Obama will take part in two G-20 meetings in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, focused on the global economy.

Coming up with a plan to deal with the worldwide recession, experts have said, will be a key challenge for Obama.

"When it comes to the global economic crisis, publics around the world tend to see the U.S. as having a negative impact on their own economies right now," said Richard Wike, associate director for the Pew Global Attitudes Project.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – She stood by her husband throughout the contentious 2008 presidential campaign and during heated health care reform debates during his presidency.

Now, as the reform debate is reaching a fever pitch, first lady Michelle Obama is weighing in on the issue by focusing on how health care can affect families.

"What she's doing is putting a personal and human face on the issue ... there's nothing more crucial," said Washington Post columnist Sally Quinn. "Everybody gets sick, and everybody has someone in the family that gets sick."

"I think if you can humanize it and personalize it, it suddenly brings it home to people - especially those who are screaming and yelling about the government taking over," Quinn said.

On Friday, the first lady, a former hospital administrator, spoke about the issue to a crowd at the White House, highlighting her own family's experience with health care.

In one touching moment, Obama recalled when daughter Sasha exhibited signs of potentially deadly meningitis when she was 4 months old.

"We didn't know what, but he [the doctor] told us she could have meningitis, so we were terrified. He said get to the emergency room right away," she said. "Fortunately, things worked out."

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One Republican member of Congress holds up a sign during President Obama's speech to Congress Wednesday night

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Shouting from the audience. Holding up signs blasting the health care reform bill before Congress. Frequent hissing and booing.

hough it sounds like behavior at one of the health care town hall meetings last month, it was how some Republicans reacted to President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night.

But Norm Ornstein, a longtime observer of Congress and an expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said the tone and behavior from members of Congress are not necessarily new.

"A lot of what went on [Wednesday] night has become fairly typical of what we've seen in the State of the Union messages over the last 10 or 12 years, where it's one side jumping up wildly and the other side sitting on their hands in stony silence."

The most memorable moment came from Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, who shouted "You lie" after the president said that a Democratic-sponsored health care bill would not cover illegal immigrants.

Ornstein said that in addition to being beyond the bounds of what is typical, Wilson's comment is "just sort of stunning in the level of disrespect for not just the president but the presidency."

During several moments in Obama's speech, members of the GOP hissed and yelled at the president as he laid out his plan for reform. One Republican wore a sign around his neck saying, "What bill?"

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, was seen several times typing on his phone during the speech.

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President Obama will lay out health care reform specifics in a speech before Congress on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (CNN) - After months of criticism that he has failed to outline a specific health care reform plan, President Obama will address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night in a speech aides say will be to the point.

At stake for the president: getting Democratic factions on board with his plan and convincing Americans of the need for health care reform.

CNN Senior Political Analyst Gloria Borger said Obama will likely take on a tone seen during the 2008 campaign.

"He's going into full campaign mode" with this speech, said Gloria Borger, CNN senior political analyst.

Some have even deemed it one of the key legislative speeches of his presidency to date.

"Wednesday night's health care speech may be one of the toughest he has faced," said CNN contributor David Gergen.

Obama, for the most part, has issued broad reform ideas, but he has left most of the specific legislative details to leaders in Congress, who have faced sometimes contentious negotiations.

GOP strategist and CNN contributor Ed Rollins said that Obama must be "clear and very honest" with Americans on the specifics.

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While health care reform will soon be the main topic of Congress, other key issues are looming

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Congress returns Tuesday from a monthlong recess to tackle a list of pressing issues, and health care reform isn't the only item at the top of the list.

Efforts to revamp the nation's health care system will undoubtedly be front and center as pressure mounts from the White House to get something done.

That pressure is likely to be placed on the Senate, where the influential Senate Finance Committee has yet to sign off on the proposed bill.

The Obama administration has also begun to ramp up efforts to push its agenda with force, beginning with an address before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday detailing what he wants in health care reform legislation.

But the Obama-backed bill is only one of the things on Congress' to-do list.

The Senate must pass spending bills before money runs out at the end of the fiscal year: in September. The House passed its spending measures before the August recess.

A contentious battle likely will ensue over the costs, as much of the GOP opposition to Democratic bills this year has focused on money.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - As one so-called White House czar resigned over the weekend, President Obama announced the appointment of another one Monday, much to the frustration of Republican critics.

By some accounts, Obama has nearly 30 czars, who are officially called special advisers. The czars cover issues from AIDS and health care to Middle East peace.

Czars are nothing new. They date back to early presidents, including Franklin Roosevelt. Republicans also had czars: Richard Nixon had an energy czar, and George H.W. Bush appointed the first drug czar.

But the positions are not subject to congressional oversight or Senate confirmation, which rankles critics of the administration.

"What you see with President Obama is this reliance on czars," GOP strategist Kevin Madden said. "And I think there are probably even some corridors of power within the administration that probably didn't like the idea that you have czars that are encroaching on their policy portfolios."

David Gergen, a CNN contributor and former aide to past presidents, said the czar controversy has given Republicans an opening to question the administration's decisions.

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Sen. Olympia Snowe is an influential Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe has shown throughout her career that when it comes to voting, it's her principles and constituents that guide her, not her party.

Those principles, analysts note, are guiding her to find a compromise on health care reform currently stalemated in Congress.

Jennifer Duffy, who follows the Senate for the Cook Political Report, said Snowe's independent streak is "not new behavior for her."

"I think they [Republicans] also realize that the only reason that the state of Maine has two Republican senators at all is the fact that they are very independent-minded and they vote their state," she said, referring to Snowe and Sen. Susan Collins.

In fact, some estimates place Snowe as having voted with her party only 57 percent of the time in the current Congress.

While her moderate views are at odds with GOP opposition to several of President Obama's economic plans this year, the senator's constituents seem to agree with her.

In 2006, she won re-election with 74 percent of the vote, compared to her Democratic opponent's 21 percent. In 2000, Snowe received 69 percent of the vote.

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U.S. soldiers patrol an area of Afghanistan in July. The U.S. now has about 62,000 troops in the country

WASHINGTON (CNN) - While support for the war in Afghanistan has been falling, most experts think Americans will give President Obama the benefit of the doubt - at least for another year.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Tuesday showed that opposition to the war increased 11 percentage points since April to 57 percent.

Last month was the deadliest for U.S. troops since the war started as retaliation for the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. And the military strategy is still a work in progress, with top commanders using words like "dire" to sum up the current status of the war.

But national security experts think it will still be a while before a clamor arises for a pullout.

Michael O'Hanlon, national security expert at the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan think tank, said he believes Americans will make a serious assessment at the end of 2010 as to whether a pullout is necessary.

"If we can't show progress by that point, then I think people's patience will start to run out," he said. "It's already running out, but I think people will swallow their doubts and give this strategy time if they are convincingly told why more time is needed and why it would make a difference."

Polls, another expert said, are not an accurate gauge for how long Americans - including politicians - will still support involvement in Afghanistan.

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Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy was a staunch advocate of health care reform.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – As Congress prepares to come back from its August recess and tackle health care reform, the question arises whether lawmakers will do something in honor of the "Lion of the Senate" - or should Congress simply start over?

Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy, who died last week, was a staunch advocate of health care reform.

Following his burial over the weekend, Democratic lawmakers said they hoped Kennedy's memory will inspire legislators to start looking for compromise on stalled reform plans.

One of Kennedy's best friends in the Senate, Chris Dodd of Connecticut, urged legislators to bring civility to health care negotiations.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – For writer John Aravosis, Edward "Ted" Kennedy's early support for gay rights was very important to a community that has faced a history steeped in discrimination.

"On gay rights, he was absurdly helpful for a straight senator back before gay rights were popular," he said.

Aravosis, who runs AmericaBlog - a political site that often focuses on gay rights issues - said it was Kennedy who sparked his interest in the movement.

"For me it was particularly personal since he gave me my start in gay rights," he said. "I started doing volunteer work in his office in 1993 when I was still working for a Republican senator."

Unabashedly liberal, Kennedy had a long track record in support of gay rights.

Former Massachusetts state Sen. Jarrett Barrios - and incoming President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation praised the Democratic senator's work.

"In those early years, his support may have turned heads but [that] didn't dampen his support - and eventually helped change hearts and minds about LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] equality in the Senate and around the country," he said in a statement.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - They're angry and not going to take it anymore. And now they are doing something about it – again.

On Friday, the "Tea Party Express" group will travel cross-country on a bus tour starting in Sacramento, California and winding down in Washington, D.C. on September 12.

It's at that point, the group notes, that a three-day march on the nation's capitol will take place to protest the country's rising deficit and fear over taxes being raised.

The tea party movement gained momentum this year as several parties were held across the country this summer to protest President Obama and the Democrats' economic stimulus plans, among other things.

On July 4, nearly 2,000 advocates - toting signs and chanting slogans - rallied outside Congress. Activists said the TEA Party Day - an acronym for "Taxed Enough Already" - was in response to what they called runaway government spending.

But now, the focus is namely on health care reform – a key issue that has created the spark for a bigger, wide-encompassing debate throughout the country and in Congress.

"What brought everything together was the Obama-care idea, which contains every odiferous objection," Tea Party Express organizer Mark Williams said Friday. "Is it health care? [Ted] Kennedy care?"

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - Filling Edward "Ted" Kennedy's shoes in the Senate will be nearly impossible as Congress tackles health care reform legislation - an issue close to Kennedy's heart.

Kennedy, who passed away Tuesday, was a fixture in the Senate for nearly 50 years. Deemed the "Lion of the Senate," his larger-than-life presence not only resonated in the halls of Congress and in Massachusetts, but around the world.

That clout and popularity extended across party lines during negotiations on major issues. A self-described liberal, he was known for having a knack for bridging the divide between left and right.

"He was a rare politician who knew when to cut a deal. He knew when to compromise. He knew how to work with George Bush," said Gloria Borger, CNN senior political analyst.

"He understood the power of personal relationships," she said.

But deals are few in the 111th Congress, which has seen strict party-line votes this year on major domestic legislation, including the economic stimulus plan and the 2010 budget.

With Kennedy's death, a power vacuum has developed in the Senate.

"I think one of the things that the Senate now lacks is just that power ... somebody that people would coalesce around," said Candy Crowley, CNN senior political correspondent. "I just don't see anyone there right now that can step up to that plate."

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Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy meets with President Obama in March 2009

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The young senator inspired a new generation of voters with his message of change and extended America's hand to the global community in an effort to promote a different kind of diplomacy.

One magazine characterized him as having a "quick charm, the patience to listen, a sure social touch, an interest in knowledge and a greed for facts."

A biographer recalled that he "had to touch the secret fears and ambivalent longings of the American heart, divine and speak to the desires of a swiftly changing nation - his message grounded on his own intuition of some vague and spreading desire for national renewal."

Those words could have been written about Barack Obama's rise to the presidency last year but actually come from coverage about the ascendancy of John F. Kennedy to the White House.

Kennedy's presidency is remembered as "Camelot," for the Broadway show about an idealized King Arthur's Court that opened the month after Kennedy won the presidency in November 1960.

After JFK's assassination in 1963, the Camelot legacy was handed down to younger brother Robert Kennedy, who served as John Kennedy's attorney general and was later elected to the Senate from New York. Ted Kennedy assumed the mantle after Robert Kennedy was assassinated during his run for the presidency in 1968.

And with the death of the youngest Kennedy brother, the question arises: Has Obama become the Kennedy family's heir apparent?

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Edward 'Ted' Kennedy of Massachusetts served in the U.S. Senate for 47 years.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - After a losing presidential campaign, it became clear to Edward "Ted" Kennedy that his true calling was to help shape the country's political future from the U.S. Senate.

The turning point came in 1980 when Kennedy unsuccessfully challenged President Carter in the Democratic primaries.

But Kennedy's loss was not necessarily such a bad thing, a top political historian notes.

"I think partly it related to that time when he, after 1980, he realized that he was not going to be president of the United States ... and that being a United States senator was a pretty important and powerful job in which he could do good," said Stephen Hess, author of "America's Political Dynasties."

Kennedy, 77, had represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate since his 1962 election when he was chosen to finish the unexpired Senate term of his brother, John F. Kennedy, who was elected president in 1960. The Massachusetts governor appointed Democrat Benjamin A. Smith to the seat following John Kennedy's presidential win.

Political observers have said that Smith was a mere seat warmer until Ted Kennedy turned 30 - the required age to become a U.S. senator.

"It's quite remarkable for a person who got there in 1962 at age 30 with no greater qualification for the office than his brother was president of the United States and the voters of Massachusetts respected that name," Hess said.

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Several of President Obama's Cabinet secretary picks dropped out because of the nomination process

WASHINGTON (CNN) – More than seven months into office, President Obama still has a number of top posts to fill, which one expert said could be hurting the nation's security.

An analysis by the White House Transition Project - a nonprofit organization tracking administrations - showed that 210 days into his administration, Obama had nominated candidates for 243 of the 385 jobs requiring Senate confirmation.

The Senate has confirmed 193 but still has a backlog of candidates needing to be examined.

Some of the top jobs open include assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation, and the directors of the Agency for International Development, Customs and Border Protection, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

David Lewis, a professor at Vanderbilt University, said the vacancies in key posts might be hurting the nation's security.

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President Obama may face a backlash from liberals if a public option is stripped from a final health care bill

WASHINGTON (CNN) - With health care negotiations stalled until Congress comes back from August recess, a top Democratic strategist says President Obama and his party need to seize control of the debate.

"We need message discipline on the Democratic side," Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Donna Brazile said. "I can't speak for Republicans, but I can tell you, without message discipline, this has been a very difficult, uphill battle for the president."

Obama has spent the past week trying to put out fires sparked after his administration appeared to hedge on support for a government-run public option. Some of the greatest criticism is coming from liberals who are now threatening to vote against any bill that does not include such an option.

At a town hall meeting over the weekend, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, implored the president not to drop the public option plan and said his efforts to be bipartisan are futile.

"Yes, we know that you are a nice man, that you want to work with the opposite side of the aisle. But there comes a time when you need to drop that and move forward," she said. "We're saying to you, Mr. President, 'Be tough. Use everything that you've got. Do what you have to do. And we have your back.' "

At town hall meetings held by members of Congress in the past few weeks, angry voters have voiced concerns about government involvement in health care. Some have even resorted to violence and vocal anger. Watch more on the public option debate »

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, a liberal economist and Nobel Prize winner, said Monday that the debate over the public option is "dismaying in some ways."

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Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad, of North Dakota, says a public option plan might not make it through Congress.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - While a government-run public health care option irks conservatives, and even some fiscally minded Democrats, the idea of health care cooperatives has emerged as an option in the reform debate.

Small health care cooperatives have worked in a couple of markets. But whether the idea can be applied on a national scale is debatable.

Sen. Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, is pushing the co-op idea as an alternative to a government-sponsored insurance program that would compete with private insurers. He doesn't think a government option will pass in the Senate.

Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, told CNN's "American Morning" on Tuesday that his model could attract 12 million members and "be the third-largest insurer in the country and be a very effective competitor [with private insurance companies]."

Related: Doctors, patients praise co-ops

"If you believe competition helps drive down costs, then they would certainly contribute to holding down costs," Conrad said.

But Tim Jost, a professor at Washington and Lee University, said that Conrad is not offering concrete statistics on how the plan will help reform health care.

"I have not seen anything, other than Sen. Conrad's statements to the press, explaining how this is going to work," he said. "He put out a couple of one-pagers early on, but he is talking about this actuarial data. Let's make it public, let's find out who the actuaries are."

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(CNN) - Rep. Steve Rothman, D-New Jersey, said at a meeting in Secaucus that the aim of health care reform is not to make America's system mimic Great Britain's or Canada's.

"I, for one, don't want a system like Great Britain's. I don't want a system like Canada's. I don't want national health care, and I don't want socialized medicine," he said.

Rothman said that any health care bill coming out of Congress has to "fix what needs to be fixed" but not "destroy what's good about the existing private health insurance system."

Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, who is also a doctor, held a town hall meeting Thursday.

(CNN) – Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, at a town hall meeting Thursday in Muskogee, said he predicts much of the responsibility in controlling health care costs will fall upon patients.

Coburn, one of two doctors in the Senate, is against the current draft legislation in the House.

"If you want reform for reform's sake and it doesn't control the costs, what you are going to do is cut everybody's wages in this country because any dollar that goes into health care is a dollar that doesn't go into your pocket," he said.

He also called for "a true competitive market with transparency and access for everybody," adding: "There is a disconnect between the purchase of health care and the payment of health care, whether it's Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance."

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Members of Congress will come back from their summer break in September to a plate full of health care reform - that's if they survive the latest rancorous and sometimes violent town hall meetings.

Senators are getting an earful on the subject from constituents. House members, who began their recess a week earlier, also got a head start on hearing from residents in their districts, facing sometimes contentious comments.

But when Congress returns, members will be hard-pressed to continue negotiations and get something done fast.

At the same time, the Senate must pass spending bills before money runs out at the end of the fiscal year: the end of September. The House passed its spending measures before leaving town.

"I think they're going to have a very full plate," said Stuart Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report. "And we know they're going to start with health care, but they're going to have to do appropriations, climate change. ... You can bet there will be a lot of other things are left to be done."

Rothenberg warns that If the economy takes another dip, there will be some pressure for more action in terms of a second stimulus or changes in tax policy.

But he said it's likely that those other issues will be put on the back burner until a health care compromise is in order.

Bipartisanship has long been lost during this 111th Congress, and that could make the negotiations last even longer.

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Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, says her goal is to have a 'civil' debate at town hall meetings.

(CNN) – Senators, like many in the House, continue to face grilling from constituents concerned about proposed health care legislation before Congress.

Although some meetings have been "civil," as one senator pointed out Monday, at least one lawmaker has received a threat from those angry about a plan being devised by Democrats.

Three House committees are working have been working on a plan. On the Senate side, two committees are working on a proposal - before negotiations begin between top members of both chambers.

And the negotiations are heating up. On Thursday, Obama met privately at the White House with the "Gang of Six," three Democrats and three Republicans working to find middle ground on the issue.

Not all town hall meetings have been raucous. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, held a town hall meeting Monday morning in Kennett, Missouri, to help clarify what she says is some of the misinformation that is being circulated.

Meanwhile, for one member of Congress, the anger over health care has become dangerous.

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President Obama has said he will not raise taxes on those making $250,000 or less.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - "Read my lips: No new taxes."

That famous phrase from George H.W. Bush came as he accepted his party's presidential nomination at the Republican National Committee convention in 1988.

At the time, it was exactly the red meat Republicans were looking for. But campaigning and governing are two very different things.

Bush was elected as the nation was slipping into a recession. When confronted with a growing national deficit, he had to find a source of revenue.

That revenue came in the way of raising taxes, a move that especially rankled members of the GOP and became an issue for Democrats to run on in 1992. Democrat Bill Clinton was swept into the White House.

Pushing forward to 2009, another president may have trekked onto the same territory.

On Monday, the White House sought to shoot down concerns that middle-class families may face a tax increase in order to combat rising deficits and a struggling economy after its two top money men floated the idea that tax increases to fund the nation's economic recovery could extend beyond the wealthiest Americans.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – The White House shot down concerns Monday that middle-class families may face a tax increase in order to combat rising deficits and a struggling economy.

"The president was clear during the campaign about his commitment on not raising taxes on middle-class families," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday afternoon. "I don't think any economist would believe that, in the environment that we're in, that raising taxes on middle-class families would make any sense."

The concern came after the Obama administration's two top money men floated the idea that tax increases to fund the nation's economic recovery could extend beyond the wealthiest Americans.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council, said Sunday they could no longer guarantee the middle class will be spared a tax increase.

"We have to do what's necessary," Geithner said on ABC's "This Week." "The critical thing is people understand that when we have recovery established - led by the private sector - and we have to bring these deficits down very dramatically ... we have to bring them down to a level where the amount we're borrowing from the world is stable and at a reasonable level."

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Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, says his party may have enough votes to stall Democratic health care reform.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - As Democrats continue to splinter over President Obama's proposed health care reform plan, Republicans are taking the opportunity to home in on a key argument: A good bill deserves more time and deliberation.

Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Georgia, said Friday that Obama's rush to put a bill together is "totally irresponsible."

"Most of us believe that the decision as to major reform of how Americans get their health care in this country deserves at least as much time and deliberation as it would take to select a puppy to live in the White House," he said. "It took the president six months to decide how long and which puppy he was going to have. ... To expect Congress to do something on major health care reform in six days is totally irresponsible."

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, speaking on conservative Hugh Hewitt's radio show recently, was asked about whether his party had enough votes to block health care from going forward. His answer: "I think so. I really do."

"If he is unsuccessful, which I anticipate and will predict he is, on getting a vote prior to the August recess, then I would say there's no way in the world they're going to get this done this year," he added.

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In 1993, President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton listen to a man's story about health care problems.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - In 1994, universal health care was a key policy plan for then-President Bill Clinton. It eventually failed.

Now, 15 years later, another Democratic president is taking on the challenge, but facing an uphill battle from not only from Republicans, but from members of his own party.

Will failing to reform health care have the same consequences for Obama's administration as it did for Clinton's?

Like Obama, Clinton came into office with reforming the nation's health care system as one of his top priorities. Then-first lady Hillary Clinton, who headed the administration's task force on reforming the system, delivered a 1,000-page plan that was dubbed "Hillary Care," which required Americans and permanent resident aliens to enroll in a health plan. Other provisions included Americans below a certain income level paying nothing for care.

Republicans decried the plan as overcomplicated and used it to tag the administration as big government-loving, tax-and-spend liberals.

The plan's failure emboldened Republicans and led to huge Democratic losses in the 1994 midterm elections, allowing the GOP to take control of Congress and stymie other Clinton initiatives.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – The United States military has been relatively mum on the recent capture of Army Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl. So has his family in Idaho.

And with good reason.

"The family members just don't want to do or risk doing anything to inflame the situation," said Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling. "And you can see how easily that can happen ... We're going to respect that."

Experts think his captors have a different purpose in releasing the video.

Related: Videos of POWs a staple of war propaganda

Tom Fuentes, a former FBI associate director of international operations and a CNN contributor, said the 28-minute Web video released by the Taliban showing Berghdal is an effective method of humanizing and tugging at the hearts of Americans - and the U.S. government.

"Showing him in the video does make the soldier more valuable and makes the insurgents more difficult to deal with in trying to get him back," Fuentes said. "The face of an unknown soldier, like in the past, is one thing but when they put the person on TV it definitely adds to the pressure [on the government]."

President Obama is tackling a large domestic agenda at the same time as a new CIA controversy begins to brew.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - As President Obama tries pressing ahead with his domestic agenda focused on health care and energy reform, several potential investigations threaten to steal the focus in Washington.

The most recent controversy: The revelation that Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta told House and Senate intelligence committees that former Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the spy agency to keep Congress in the dark for eight years about a still-secret counterterrorism program.

The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who confirmed she learned of the former vice president's order during a recent closed-door briefing by Panetta, expressed outrage.

"That's something that should never, ever happen again," Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-California, said on Fox News Sunday. "I think this is a problem, obviously."

A knowledgeable source familiar with the matter said the counterterrorism program in question was initiated shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. The program, the source notes, was on-again, off-again and was never fully operational. Panetta has since put an end to the program, according to the source.

Efforts to contact Cheney for reaction were unsuccessful. CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano has declined to comment on the report.

David Gergen, CNN senior political analyst, says that while this is the last thing the Obama administration wants to deal with, it's "starting to mushroom into a life form of its own."

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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to step down in late July has rankled both Republicans and Democrats.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin caught the political world by surprise when she announced that she will resign at the end of July.

Her decision has not only rankled political pundits and observers in Alaska and across the country, it has, oddly enough, united Democrats and Republicans in confusion.

But the 45-year-old governor's future could be aimed at being the ultimate GOP superstar, whether it's giving million-dollar speeches, traveling the lower 48 states on a book tour or even getting her own TV show.

Read More: Virginia and NJ Republicans non-committal on Palin

John Ridley of National Public Radio says she has the potential to be a Republican "kingmaker."

"She was never going to be president of the United States. But who's got all the sway in the Republican Party right now? It's the political pundits; it's the talk show hosts; it's the people who are not responsible to an electorate," Ridley told CNN's Campbell Brown. "I would not be surprised if around 2011 people are circling around Sarah Palin, saying, 'please, anoint us for the road to the White House.' She's never going to be president but possibly a kingmaker."

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