Hobby Lobby Asks Supreme Court To Take Up Case Against Contraception Mandate

OKLAHOMA CITY -- OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Lawyers for Hobby Lobby asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to take up the company's lawsuit against the federal health care law's requirement that coverage include access to the morning-after pill.

Lawyers for the Oklahoma City-based craft store chain and its sister company, Mardel Christian bookstore, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case because of what they say are conflicting decisions by other courts regarding religious freedom.

"As the federal government embarks on an unprecedented foray into health care replete with multiple overlapping mandates, few issues are more important than the extent to which the government must recognize and accommodate the religious exercise of those it regulates ... Thus, Respondents agree with the government that this Court should grant the petition," lawyers wrote in the 51-page filing.

In July, U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton granted Hobby Lobby Mardel Christian bookstore a temporary exemption from a requirement that it provide insurance coverage for morning-after pills, similar emergency birth control methods and intrauterine devices. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in September filed a notice in federal court saying it would appeal that decision.

Heaton had initially rejected the request to block the birth-control mandate but reconsidered his decision after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the companies were likely to prevail in the case. Heaton ruled in June that the company would not be subject to fines of up to $1.3 million a day for not offering the birth control methods.

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JPMorgan Reaches Tentative $13 Billion Settlement With Justice Department: WSJ

News of the deal comes just a day after a JPMorgan was reported to have reached atentative $4 billion settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency over claims it sold bad mortgages to government agencies ahead of the financial crisis

At $13 billion, the potential settlement with the Justice Department exceeds estimates in September that JPMorgan would end up paying as much as $11 billion over the allegations. If finalized, the settlement would be the largest the U.S. government has ever made with a single company, according to WSJ.

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Obama Frustrated Over Health Care Website Issues

WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — Last week, President Barack Obama gathered some of his top advisers in the Oval Office to discuss the problem-plagued rollout of his health care legislation. He told his team the administration had to own up to the fact that there were no excuses for not having the health care website ready to operate on Day One.

The admonition from a frustrated president came amid the embarrassing start to sign-ups for the health care insurance exchanges. The president is expected to address the cascade of computer problems Monday during an event at the White House.

Administration officials say more than 476,000 health insurance applications have been filed through federal and state exchanges. The figures mark the most detailed measure yet of the problem-plagued rollout of the insurance market place.

However, the officials continue to refuse to say how many people have actually enrolled in the insurance markets. And without enrollment figures, it's unclear whether the program is on track to reach the 7 million people projected by the Congressional Budget Office to gain coverage during the six-month sign-up period.

The first three weeks of sign-ups have been marred by a cascade of computer problems, which the administration says it is working around the clock to correct. The rough rollout has been a black eye for Obama, who invested significant time and political capital in getting the law passed during his first term.

The officials said technology experts from inside and outside the government are being brought in to work on the glitches, though they did not say how many workers were being added.

Officials did say staffing has been increased at call centers by about 50 percent. As problems persist on the federally run website, the administration is encouraging more people to sign up for insurance over the phone.

The officials would not discuss the health insurance rollout by name and were granted anonymity.

Despite the widespread problems, the White House has yet to fully explain what went wrong with the online system consumers were supposed to use to sign up for coverage.

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Why Democrats Might Cave On Social Security Cuts

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday opened the door to Social Security cuts as part of a budget deal with congressional Republicans. But Durbin pushed back against GOP calls for entitlement cuts as the negotiating price to curb or extinguish the economically damaging sequester cuts.

"If this is the bargain that the Republicans are now pushing for, that we have to cut Medicare to avoid cuts at the Department of Defense, they need to take a step back," Durbin said on "Fox News Sunday."

Congress is currently negotiating a new budget, with a December deadline. The talks were mandated by last week's deal to raise the debt ceiling and end the government shutdown.

Also speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) explicitly offered up trading some of the short-term cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act, known as the sequester, for long-term Social Security and Medicare cuts. He argued that Republicans had the tactical advantage on such an exchange.

"If you're in a divided government and you're arguing against the law, you're at a disadvantage," Blunt said, noting the failed GOP effort to defund Obamacare that resulted in a government shutdown. "The Budget Control Act is the only thing we've found that actually controls spending."

Blunt said that if Democrats aren't willing to negotiate over "entitlement savings versus some additional spending," to ease the sequester, then Democrats will have to live with the sequester cuts.

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President calls for new approach after shutdown

Washington (CNN) -- The way business is done in Washington has to change to make a positive difference in the economy, President Barack Obama said Thursday as the federal government reopened for business and discussions began in Congress to reach a longer-term budget deal.

The partial government shutdown and standoff over the debt ceiling ended late Wednesday night when Congress voted on a temporary funding bill that also raised the nation's borrowing limit.

The standoff "inflicted completely unnecessary damage (to) our economy," Obama said Thursday morning at the White House. He said it slowed the economy's growth and set back employers' plans to hire. "Just the threat of default ... increased our borrowing costs, which adds to our deficit," he said.

We'll bounce back from this," he said of what he called the damage to the economy that the impasse caused. "America is the bedrock of the global economy for a reason ... because we keep our word and we (meet) our obligations."

He then called on Congress to pass a budget, approve changes to the nation's immigration laws and pass a farm bill.

Before Obama spoke, federal employees returned to work early Thursday to mini coffee cakes from the Vice President, hugs from colleagues, along with eye-rolls about their "vacation" due to the partial government shutdown.

The workers streamed into government offices in Washington, turned on lights and opened national landmarks such as St. Louis' Gateway Arch that had been closed during the 16-day shutdown.

The protracted brinksmanship flirted with a possible U.S. default before ending when Republicans caved to the insistence of Obama and Democrats that legislation funding the government and raising the federal borrowing limit should be free -- or at least mostly free -- from partisan issues and tactics.

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As U.S. approaches debt ceiling, fears of global recession increase

SEOUL — For global leaders, the political crisis that has shut down Washington represents the most vexing kind of problem, one that they have virtually no means to stem but that could soon wreak economic havoc on their own shores.

If a divided Congress does not raise the federal debt ceiling in the coming weeks, the U.S. government — the world’s largest borrower — would suddenly be unable to pay its bills, a failure that would stagger markets from Tokyo to London and potentially drive the global economy into recession.Some in Europe and Asia say they are stunned at the quixotic partisan fervor shaking global economic pillar.

U.S. decision to cut aid comes three months after military coup to oust democratically elected president.

Secretary apologizes for Obama’s absence at ASEAN’s annual session, meets with Chinese premier.

That default scenario is bringing increasingly urgent pleas from foreign leaders, some who describe their grave concern, others who chide the United States about the risks of political brinksmanship, beg its leaders to act responsibly and wonder whether the world’s superpower is showing some cracks.

“This is highly important for all of us,” Russian President Vladi­mir Putin said this week. “I am hopeful that all the political forces in the United States will be able to resolve this crisis as quickly as possible.”

Although the mood from afar hasn’t turned to panic, some in Europe and Asia say they are utterly stunned by the quixotic partisan fervor shaking the pillar of the global economy.

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GOP dropping Obamacare in shutdown debate?

Washington (CNN) -- Forgive President Barack Obama and Democrats if they are getting confused by the tactics of House Speaker John Boehner and his Republican caucus.

After prompting a partial government shutdown by trying to undermine Obama's signature health care reforms, GOP leaders now are focused on spending cuts elsewhere in their demands for agreeing to fund the government and raise the federal borrowing limit.

Boehner, who earlier this year told his GOP colleagues that he was finished negotiating one-on-one with the president, now pleads for Obama to sit down for what he calls a "conversation" on how to reopen the government and prevent what would be the first-ever U.S. default as soon as next week.

But when Obama invited the entire House Republican caucus to the White House as part of a series of meetings with legislators, Boehner's office responded that only the GOP leadership and committee chairmen would attend the Thursday gathering.

"It is our hope that this will be a constructive meeting and that the president finally recognizes Americans expect their leaders to be able to sit down and resolve their differences," said a statement by a Boehner aide.

Obama's invitation was intended to demonstrate outreach to Republicans on the ninth day of the partial shutdown and just eight days from when the Treasury says Congress must increase the federal debt ceiling or risk default.

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