Across the Washington area last week, young workers from Europe arrived in droves, heading for jobs at community swimming pools. Lugging duffel bags, they filled out forms, picked up safety gear and chatted in a variety of Slavic languages, eager to plunge into a summer experience of new friends, skills and culture. Read full article > >

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Foreign students enjoy new summer job protections — but what about Americans?

The House is expected to vote Thursday on a Republican plan that would spare the Pentagon from the deep across-the-board spending cuts envisioned as part of last summer’s debt-ceiling agreement, reviving what has been an emotional debate in Washington about the best ways to reduce the federal budget deficit. Read full article > >

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House to vote on GOP plan that would forestall Pentagon cuts

The Washington of conventional wisdom and the real Washington are two entirely different places. The Washington of conventional wisdom is overrun by well-paid insiders — lobbyists, lawyers, publicists — who systematically manipulate government policies to benefit corporations and the rich, defying the “will of the people.” The real Washington has government paid for by the rich and well-to-do. Benefits go mainly to the poor and middle class, while politicians of both parties live in fear that they might offend the “will of the people” — voters. Read full article > >

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Here’s what Washington really does

The severe fiscal problems that crippled state budgets and sparked brutal political battles in the wake of the recession are easing, as state tax revenue rose substantially last year, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. Read full article > >

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States’ tax revenue rose 8.9 percent in last fiscal year

The great moral debate of the 2012 campaign is turning out to be as inspiring as drunks arguing over a bar tab. The basic argument is this: “Who’s not paying their fair share?” Democrats have pointed the finger at millionaires, and this week, President Obama is pushing, again, for the “Buffett Rule” — which would require those who make more than $1 million per year to pay a bigger portion of the country’s taxes. Read full article > >

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‘Buffett Rule’ vs. Ryan plan: Who should chip in more?

The Republicans have a problem: Their budget promises don’t add up. They’ve committed to new tax cuts. They’ve proposed spending more on defense. They’ve promised they won’t change retirement programs for the current generation of seniors. But they’ve also promised to cut the deficit, and fast. Read full article > >

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No free lunch in Republican budget

Is there a “war on women” going on? That is a matter of dispute between the parties these days. But one thing is certain: There is a battle raging over them. If that wasn’t clear after weeks of argument over contraceptive coverage, it became so Thursday, when caterpillars and country clubs got dragged into the fray. Read full article > >

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A ‘war on women’ or a battle for their votes?

A fierce two-day debate over a Republican budget plan portrayed as either a path to prosperity or a road to ruin ended on Thursday.

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House Passes Budget Blueprint

ON THE THIRD and last day of oral arguments on President Obama’s landmark health-care law, the Supreme Court will grapple with a couple more issues, including whether the law’s expansion of Medicaid unlawfully coerces states to participate. Read full article > >

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Editorial Board: The Supreme Court takes on Medicaid

Twenty-six states have questioned whether Congress can force them to make a huge expansion of Medicaid.

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Far-Reaching Implications in States’ Health Care Law Challenge

“Stimulus was supposed to be quick. In fact, they never intended to spend it and will not completely have effectively spent it until after the president’s re-elect. Always looking at how do you get the maximum hit when the president was up for re-elect.” Read full article > >

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Did Obama delay stimulus spending to aid his reelection?

Local governments in New York are finding themselves in the middle of a financial crisis, with problems spreading as they face a toxic mix of soaring pension and retiree health costs.

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Deficits Push Municipalities to Desperation

Republicans and religious organizations fighting President Obama’s new birth-control-coverage rule are focusing their hopes on what could prove the next front in the battle : the courts. Since November, at least eight lawsuits have been filed in federal district courts across the country challenging the constitutionality of the rule, which requires employers, including church-affiliated organizations that object to contraception on religious grounds, to cover birth control in workers’ health plans with no out-of-pocket charges. (Groups that are exclusively religious, such as churches, are exempt). Read full article > >

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New front in birth control rule battle: the courts

View full graphic There is a simple reason health care in the United States costs more than it does anywhere else: The prices are higher. That may sound obvious. But it is, in fact, key to understanding one of the most pressing problems facing our economy. In 2009, Americans spent $7,960 per person on health care. Our neighbors in Canada spent $4,808. The Germans spent $4,218. The French, $3,978. If we had the per-person costs of any of those countries, America’s deficits would vanish. Workers would have much more money in their pockets. Our economy would grow more quickly, as our exports would be more competitive. Read full article > >

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Why an MRI costs $1,080 in America and $280 in France

The fiscal crises that ignited pitched partisan battles in states across the country in the recession’s wake are beginning to ease, leaving Republican governors in several crucial swing states struggling to overcome the political damage caused by past efforts to repair their budgets. Read full article > >

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Who’d believe it? Some governors face fallout from an improving economy.