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Government health plan for middle America could unravel Obama bid for consensus on reform

The flashpoint is a proposal that would give Americans the option of buying medical coverage through a government plan. President Barack Obama and many Democrats have endorsed it, as one part of a broader health overhaul. On Saturday, Republicans laid down a challenge.

“I’m concerned that if the government steps in, it will eventually push out the private health care plans millions of Americans enjoy today,” Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said in the Republican weekly radio address.

Blunt, who will play a leading role in the debate, warned: “This could cause your employer to simply stop offering coverage, hoping the government will pick up the slack.” Read more

Coal plants fall as global warming campaign makes gains; construction boom grinds on

Beneath the frozen plains of eastern Montana and Wyoming lie the largest coal deposits in the world — enough to last the United States more than a century at the nation’s current burn rate.

The fuel literally spills from the ground where streambanks cut into the earth, hinting at reserves estimated at 180 billion tons. But even here lawsuits over global warming and the changing political landscape in Washington are pummeling an industry that has long been the backbone of America’s power supply.

In recent weeks, a group of rural Montana electric co-ops abandoned a partially built 250-megawatt coal plant, ending a four-year legal campaign by environmentalists to stop the project. The co-ops plan to instead get their electricity from a natural gas plant — more expensive for customers but also more likely to get built. Read more

British government takes controlling stake in Lloyds banking group

The British government has become the majority shareholder in Lloyds Banking Group PLC in exchange for insuring more than 260 billion pounds ($367 billion dollars) in toxic assets, the bank said Saturday.

The deal means the government’s stake in Britain’s third-largest bank will surge from 43.5 percent currently to at least 65 percent and possibly as high as 77 percent.

As a condition for the deal, Lloyds promised to increase lending — primarily to businesses — by 28 billion pounds ($39 billion) over the next two years.

Eric Daniels, the group’s chief executive, said in a statement that the deal “substantially reduces the risk profile of the group’s balance sheet. Our significantly enhanced capital position will ensure that the group can weather the severest of economic downturns and emerge strongly when the economy recovers.” Read more

Investors could get say at Madoff plea hearing

A person close to the case said Friday that Madoff is expected to plead guilty at a hearing next week to charges that he carried out the massive swindle. A federal judge issued an order inviting potential victims who wish to be heard at Thursday’s hearing to notify the court a day earlier.

Madoff, 70, is waiving his right to have a grand jury hear the government’s case against him, agreeing instead to be charged directly by prosecutors, a step defendants take when they are preparing to plead guilty in a case.

Madoff could enter a guilty or not guilty plea, depending on whether he has reached a plea deal with the government.

But a person close to the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plea has not yet occurred, said Madoff was expected to plead guilty. Read more

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