NEW YORK (Reuters) - The race for New York governor heated up on Friday when a local Democratic official joined the campaign and switched parties, saying his views mesh best with Republicans and whose primary election is seen easier to win. Steve Levy, chief executive of Suffolk County, said he was becoming a Republican based on his political views but experts ...

Congressional budget scorekeepers say a Medicare fix that Democrats included in earlier versions of their health care bill would push it into the red. The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that rolling back a programmed cut in Medicare fees to doctors would cost $208 billion over 10 years. If added back to the health care overhaul bill, it would wipe ...

President Barack Obama said Friday Democrats were poised to make history after a century struggling for health care reform, as party leaders claimed momentum ahead of a vital weekend vote. Obama will intensify his vote-whipping operation on Capitol Hill on Saturday, meeting House of Representatives Democrats, a day before they are expected to vote on the most sweeping social reform ...

An unusual public split between U.S. Roman Catholic bishops, nuns and hospitals over abortion in the health care overhaul could undermine the church hierarchy's influence on the debate and give anti-abortion Democrats the political cover they need to vote for the bill. The president of ...