The bottom line? No significant reconciliation between the battling parties is evident yet. But there may be room for compromise on some issues.

Obama, forced to refocus his agenda in response to voter anger over the high jobless rate in an election year, opened a new search for common ground after spending his first year relying largely on Democrats to push his agenda forward.

With    .. more …

although President Barack Obama’s push for a health care overhaul has stalled, conservative lawmakers in about half the states are forging ahead with constitutional amendments to ban government health insurance mandates.

The proposals would assert a state-based right for people to pay medical bills from their own pocketbooks and prohibit penalties against those who refuse to carry health    .. more …