Citizen Cartwright

Health care summit: No compromise (no surprise)

So Democrats say the next step may be the use of reconciliation procedures, allowing them to pass their legislation with 51 Senate votes.

But the politics would be anything but pretty.

"It would poison the water for any kind of bipartisanship at all on subsequent legislation this year," says G. William Hoagland, a former Republican Senate staffer. "On things they might want to do on financial reforms or energy or cap and trade, anything. I just think Republicans will say, 'OK, you can shut this place down and we'll come back in November'" after the election.

California's pushback against health insurers

In the face of proposed rate hikes as high as 39 percent, the state's attorney general and a state Assembly committee have subpoenaed documents from the insurers on the rates and other issues.

Optimism about financial regulations

Sen. Richard Shelby, Ala., ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, says he and Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., “agree on probably 90 percent” of “just about everything” in overhaul legislation.

And banking industry representatives say they've agreed on the need to get a bill passed this year.

Fed eyes Goldman Sachs' role in the Greek crisis

Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday that "We are looking into a number of questions related to Goldman Sachs and other companies and their derivatives arrangements with Greece."

He was responding to a question from Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., about whether there should be limits on the use of credit default swaps to avoid "runs against governments."

Dire words from the Greek leadership

"Our worst fears" were confirmed, Prime Minister George Papandreou told the parliament on Friday, as he announced that the previous government had understated by half the country's budget deficit.

"There is only one dilemma: Will we let the country go bankrupt or will we react? Will we let the speculators strangle us, or will we take our fate in our own hands?" he said.

Also in the news

31 Turkish military officers are charged over coup plot BBC News

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi loses bid to end house arrest The Guardian (U.K.)

Wal-Mart wants its suppliers to cut their greenhouse gas emissions USA Today 

Amid scandal, Democrats urge N.Y. governor not to run Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) 

Ethics panel admonishes Rangel The New York Times

Health care summit: Drama, but what else?

The big political event in Washington Thursday is, of course, the bipartisan health care summit, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time and will be widely televised as well as streamed live on the White House Web site.

But not much is expected, with Democrats saying they won't start over on the legislation and Republicans insisting on it.

If no agreement is reached, Americans say, they oppose 49 percent to 42 percent passage of a bill similar to the one proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats, according to a Gallup poll. And they oppose 52 percent to 39 percent using reconciliation to sidestep a Republican filibuster in the Senate and pass a bill by a simple majority vote.

Could swaps that brought down Lehman now bring down Greece?

In an article titled "Banks bet Greece defaults on debt they helped hide," The New York Times says the little-known company Markit Group — which is backed by big banks including Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase — is enabling banks and hedge funds to bet that Greece will default on its debt.

Which ends up making Greek default more likely.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde says credit default swaps need more regulation. French banks are the biggest holders of Greek debt.

Financial regulation

The Obama administration is willing to soften provisions for a consumer protection agency in order to get a financial regulation bill, media are reporting.

And some financial lobbyists say the industry is open to legislation to avoid potentially stricter administration action.

Vermont Senate says no to nuke plant

A week after President Obama backed a nuclear power renaissance, the Vermont Senate voted 26-4 against renewing the license of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.

On top of safety concerns were accusations that the energy company misled state officials.

"Don't do business with someone you can't trust," said Vermont Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin.