In eight U.S. states and the capital, Washington, D.C., being beaten by your spouse or domestic partner can be deemed a “pre-existing condition” that a company can legally use as a reason to deny health insurance coverage. Valerie Jarrett, a top adviser to President Barack Obama, raised the issue in a web chat making the White House’s case for healthcare reform on Monday.

“In some states if you have been a victim of domestic violence, you can be considered as having a pre-existing condition,” Jarrett said as she hosted the chat on the White House website and on the Facebook social networking site, taking questions on an array of issues, many having to do with healthcare issues faced by members of minority groups.

Some of the participants in the webcast responded by posting outraged notes after she said it.

“We need your engagement, we need your involvement,” Jarrett said, urging chat participants to get involved in the reform push. “… It is extremely important that we have this passed and on the president’s desk this year.”

The National Women’s Law Center said eight states — Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho — and the U.S. capital city allow insurers to deem being a domestic violence survivor a “pre-existing condition.” The center also notes that the list of such conditions, for which women can be denied coverage, in some states also includes pregnancy or having had medical treatment following a sexual assault.

The White House has been staging events targeting a variety of audiences to make its pitch for an overhaul of  the massive U.S. healthcare system. On Thursday, for example, Obama addressed small business owners and officials from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce business group. Jarrett’s chat on Monday seemed to target a younger audience. And on Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills were to meet with small business owners in Washington in an event also to be streamed on the Internet.

Denial of coverage to people who are sick, or have been sick — i.e. those whom insurers deem to have pre-existing conditions — is one of many emotional issues in the healthcare debate and health insurance companies have been a favorite target for many advocates of reform.

A health insurance industry spokesman said the industry backs efforts to change the policy.

“No one should be denied coverage because they are a victim of domestic abuse. Health plans strongly support the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s model legislation that prohibits discrimination against victims of abuse and we are urging all states to promptly adopt it,” said Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for the America’s Health Insurance Plans industry group in Washington.

Photo credit: Valerie Jarrett, advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama, watches as he speaks about the need for health insurance reform this year, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, October 5, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Reed, and People protest against healthcare reform as the House Democrats’ healthcare plan is unveiled on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 29, 2009. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

President Barack Obama has sought to distance himself from Jimmy Carter’s recent comment that some of the anger directed at him over the summer is because he is a black man.

But he couldn’t avoid the issue when he appeared on the “Late Show with David Letterman” on Monday. His host put it to him straight, but with a healthy dose of good humor.

“Was Jimmy Carter onto something … was this unease or poor decorum rooted in racism, or is that just something to talk about?” Letterman asked.

“It’s important to realize that I was actually black before the election,” Obama answered.

“Really?” said Letterman.  “This is true,” Obama said.

“How long have you been a black man?,” Letterman asked.

        –  Pause for laughter from the audience  –

“So the American people, I think, gave me this extraordinary honor. That tells you a lot, I think, a lot about where the country is at,” Obama continued, before the interview moved on to serious issues: healthcare and Afghanistan.

Reuters photo by Kevin Lamarque.

After catching the national media off guard with Friday’s pre-holiday weekend bombshell that she was resigning as Alaska governor, Sarah Palin gave the television networks a chance to catch up with a round of stage-managed interviews for the morning news shows.

Television correspondents lined up to land a few minutes with Palin, decked out in overalls and wading in the surf at husband Todd’s family fishing operation. With children in tow on the fishing trip/photo op, she explained her decision to bail out of office more than a year early.

It had nothing to do with running for president in 2012, she said. She’s just unconventional. Once she had decided she was not running for re-election, she knew she could not “play the political game that most politicians do,” she told NBC.

“That is who we are as Alaskans and it’s certainly who I am,” she told CNN. “I’m not going to take that comfortable path. I’m going to take the right path for the state.”

To ABC: “I’m extremely happy. Politically speaking, if I die, I die. So be it.”

But in all the interviews, which included plenty of footage of Palin looking like the fisherwoman next door, she refused to close the door on a presidential run.

“I can’t predict what the next fish run is going to look like, much less the next few years,” she told NBC. To CNN: “All options are going to keep on being on the table.”

But she sounded like she had read some of the critical stories about her vice presidential run last year. Using a word critics sometimes use to describe her, she told NBC that having the kids work at the fishing operation “teaches these kids to work extremely hard and to not be divas.”

Palin’s round of interviews managed to top the round done by President Barack Obama, who has been talking non-stop during his visit to Moscow. In several interviews, Obama took pains to correct Vice President Joe Biden’s comment that the administration “misread” the economy.

 ”I would actually, rather than say misread — we had incomplete information,” Obama said on NBC. “In some ways you’re seeing the economic engine turn, but what we always knew was that a) this recession was going to be deep and b) it was going to last a while.”

 ”There’s nothing that we would have done differently,” he told ABC.

Obama even commented on Palin, saying he respected her comment the decision was a family matter. “She has a fairly loyal constituency in the Republican Party and the conservative movement,” he said on NBC.

As for the topic that dominated the morning news shows, singer Michael Jackson’s funeral, Obama had this to say about Jackson: “What I do believe is that black sports figures and black entertainers helped to create a comfort level with African-Americans that had an impact historically.”

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Photo credits: REUTERS/Tami Chappell (Palin waves to crowd at rally in Georgia in December); REUTERS/Jim Young (Obama delivers remarks at Moscow)

Declaring “it’s good to be back in Vegas,” President Barack Obama used his political star power on Tuesday to help Senate majority leader Harry Reid fill his campaign war chest against Republican efforts to unseat the veteran lawmaker next year.  
 
“Make sure that Harry Reid continues to be our majority leader. As long as I’m president I want him to be my majority leader,” Obama told a Las Vegas crowd who paid $2,400 per person to attend a reception at Caesars Palace with the president and Reid. 
 
Although Reid’s control over the Senate makes him one of the most powerful men in Washington, a recent poll shows he is not that popular in his home state. 
 
Forty-five percent of Nevada voters said in a survey last week they’d vote to kick Reid out of office and another 17 percent said they could support another candidate.
 
Hours after nominating Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court, Obama said he needed Reid’s help with an ambitious agenda that includes reforming the health care system and approving energy legislation to wean the United States off foreign oil.
 
Obama also spoke at a second event for Reid, where singers Sheryl Crow and Bette Midler entertained for ticket-holders who paid between $50 and $250 a seat.
 
Reid aides said they expected the evening to bring in close to $2 million, which the senator and the Nevada Democratic Party will split. Reid hopes to raise $25 million for his race, an amount which could keep many Republican challengers at bay.
 
Obama annoyed local leaders earlier this year when he criticized financial companies for holding lavish retreats in Las Vegas after accepting taxpayer bailout funds. But he glossed over that controversy on Tuesday night.
 
“It’s good to be back in Vegas. I thought I had good room, but now that I’m president they upgraded me,” he said to laughter. “They’ve been stashing away a really nice room. It’s like one of those high roller rooms. And now I have it because I’m president.”

-Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Obama and Reid hug in Las Vegas)

Nearly five months after the 2008 election, there’s no sign that either Norm Coleman or Al Franken will definitively be declared the winner in the race for one of Minnesota’s U.S. Senate seats, allowing him to spend the next six years in Washington.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told Reuters in an interview that it could be many months before all legal challenges are exhausted. “I don’t think we’re going to see the end to this matter any time soon,” McConnell said.

For those who have forgotten about this cliff-hanger: Coleman, the Democrat-turned-Republican first-term senator running for reelection, lagged behind Democratic comedian-author-Franken by only 225 votes after a recount of nearly 2.4 million ballots cast for the two.

Legal challenges followed and the two candidates are awaiting a ruling any day now by a three-judge panel in Minnesota.

But McConnell said that won’t be the end of it. He said Coleman is likely to employ a Bush v. Gore argument and try to convince the courts that there needs to be a uniform standard of counting ballots throughout the state.

It “will be litigated out not only in state court but potentially in federal court as well,” McConnell predicted.

Asked whether he was concerned that Minnesota is going so long without a full team in the U.S. Senate, McConnell replied, “Yeah, it’s a shame.”

In the meantime, Democrats are two votes short of a filibuster proof majority in the U.S. Senate that’s needed to advance most major legislation, instead of the one vote short they would be if Franken was declared the winner based on his narrow margin.

Senator Dick Durbin, the number-two Democrat in the Senate, is getting impatient.

“There reaches a point where Minnesota is entitled to two senators and if it keeps coming up Al Franken the winner, Al Franken the winner,  I think it’s time for the national Republican Party to move on.” Asked whether he and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid might just try to seat Franken at some point soon, Durbin replied,  ”I’m not ready to say that.”

Click here for more Reuters political coverage.

- Photo credit: Reuters/Mitch Dumke (Franken and Reid meeting in January.)

Republican U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, 79, of Pennsylvania appears to face a tough run next year for reelection to a sixth term.
    
And he can blame his problems largely on his decision last month to break ranks with fellow Republicans and vote for President Barack Obama’s $787 economic stimulus package.
    
Those are the findings of a Quinnipiac University poll of about 1,000 Pennsylvania voters released on Wednesday.
 
The Connecticut-based university found that Specter, viewed as a moderate, trails former conservative congressman Pat Toomey, his likely Republican primary challenger, by a margin of 41 percent to 27 percent. Specter narrowly defeated Toomey in a 2004 primary battle.
 
Another and somewhat smaller poll by Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania was a mixed bag for Specter.
 
While the survey showed Specter leading Toomey 33 percent to 18 percent, it found that 49 percent of respondents were undecided or favored others.
    
That survey of 662 people also found that less than half — 40 percent — believe Specter deserves another term, with 46 percent saying it is “time for a change.”
    
The Quinnipiac survey showed Democrats and independents backed Specter’s support of Obama’s stimulus package. But Republicans opposed it — 70 percent to 25 percent.
 
Both surveys were conducted in recent days and had a margin of error between plus or minus of three to four percentage points.
 
“Pennsylvania Republicans are so unhappy with Sen. Specter’s vote for President Barack Obama’s stimulus package and so-called pork barrel spending that they are voting for a former congressman they hardly know,” said Clay Richards, assistant director of Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
 
Richards added, however, if Specter survives the primary, he would have a lot going for him in the general election since there currently seems to be no strong Democratic contender.
 
But Specter faces other problems.
 
He stepped into a political hornet’s nest on Tuesday when he opposed a bill to make it easier for workers to unionize, a top legislative goal of organized labor but anathema to many in the business community and his own party.
 
So if Specter wins the Republican primary, he can expect to be opposed by energized union supporters in the general election. 
 
Click here for more Reuters political coverage

Photo by Johathan Ernst (Specter and other senators speak about President Obama’s stimulus package with reporters in Washington in February)

In another first for the new First Family, President Barack Obama and his brood left the White House on Saturday for a helicopter trip to Camp David, the presidential retreat outside Washington.

Dressed casually and looking relaxed, Obama left the executive mansion with his wife Michelle, daughters Malia and Sasha, mother-in-law Marian Robinson and an unidentified friend of the girls.

They boarded the awaiting helicopter and took off over the White House grounds. Spectators gathered outside the gates to watch.

The president and his family planned to stay at the retreat in Maryland until Sunday afternoon.

Camp David, in Catoctin Mountain Park, has been used as a relaxation spot for presidents since the era of Franklin Roosevelt and also hosts foreign leaders for visits and summits.

Obama has indicated he feels cooped up a bit in the White House, which the family has lived in for just over two weeks.

If he misses the travel of the presidential campaign, next week will feel familiar. Obama embarks on a roadshow of sorts on Monday to advocate for his economic stimulus package, with stops planned in Indiana and Florida.

And next weekend? Obama plans to go home to Chicago.

For more Reuters political news, click here.

Religion's role in U.S. politics was on full display on Thursday as President Barack Obama spoke and prayed at the annual National Prayer Breakfast.

Obama, an adult convert to Christianity, used the occasion to announce that he will be establishing a White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. This will replace or be an extension of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives established by former President George W. Bush, who was strongly supported by conservative Christians.

Some of Obama's remarks about the new office are sure to raise eyebrows in those conservative Christian circles. For example:

"The goal of this office will not be to favor one religious group over another – or even religious groups over secular groups.  It will simply be to work on behalf of those organizations that want to work on behalf of our communities, and to do so without blurring the line that our founders wisely drew between church and state."

For many conservative U.S. Christians, it is an article of faith that the founding fathers in the late 18th century did not erect a wall to separate church and state.  Many religious and secular liberals contest that view, making it one of America's never-ending culture war battles.

Obama also let it be known that while he is a Christian he is not about to favor one religious group over another. In his prepared remarks, he said:

"Jesus told us to 'love thy neighbor as thyself.' The Torah commands, 'That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.'  In Islam, there is a hadith that reads 'None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.'  And the same is true for Buddhists and Hindus; for followers of Confucius and for humanists.  It is, of course, the Golden Rule – the call to love one another; to understand one another; to treat with dignity and respect those with whom we share a brief moment on this Earth."

Americans may debate the walls between their church and state; but there is little doubt that religion and U.S. politics are often joined at the hip.

Photo Credit: REUTERS/Larry Downing (President Obama speaks at National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., Feb 5, 2009)

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama can body-surf with the best of them.

But can he golf?
 
Obama, who freely admits not being very good,  sent great chunks of grass flying as he warmed up on the driving range at a private golf club on the Hawaiian island of Oahu before hitting the course  on Christmas Eve.
 
Several wincing observers also accused him of shanking, which golfers define as striking the ball badly by smacking it with the heel of the club.
 
Later, as he practiced his putting, a little boy watching him from the clubhouse was heard defending him after he missed several attempts to sink the ball.
 
“He’s just practicing,” the boy said. Onlookers debated whether the president-elect was being put off his stride by all the people watching him.

Mid-way through the game, Obama greeted a group of onlookers who asked him how the golf was going. “I’m terrible,” he replied to one person. “Got any tips?” he asked someone else. 

It was Obama’s second golf excursion in four days since jetting into Oahu on Saturday for a two-week vacation with his family.

He was playing with aide Eugene Kang, close Chicago friend Eric Whitaker, who is spending Christmas with the Obamas, and one other friend.

For more Reuters political news, click here.

Reuters photo by Hugh Gentry (Obama warms up on the driving range at Mid Pacific Country Club, Hawaii, Dec. 24)

President-elect Barack Obama is seeking peace at his inauguration, but gay and lesbians see his choice of pastor as a nakedly political continuation of war.

“It is important for America to come together, even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues,” the prez-elect said, defending his choice of Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren — a same-sex marriage opponent. Obama said he personally would continue be a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans.

Equality California chief Geoff Kors said the decision amounted to choosing someone who ‘declared war on one minority community’.

Warren’s evangelical ministry is known more for its focus on social issues than many other evangelical pastors seen as strong political conservatives.

He calls his grand plan PEACE: Promote reconciliation, Equip leaders, Assist the poor, Care for the sick, Educate the next generation.

So is it war or peace?

Obama says the expression of diverse views was the spirit of his campaign that he hopes to carry over to his administration, starting on Jan 20 with his inauguration, where others who disagree with Pastor Warren will also speak.

“And that’s how it should be, because that’s what America is about,” Obama told reporters. “That’s part of the magic of this country – that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated.” 

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Photo credit: Reuters/Chip East (Pastor Rick Warren speaks at Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Sept. 26, 2008)