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Washington (CNN) — The Obama administration raised the stakes in the health care debate Monday, releasing a new blueprint that seeks to bridge the gap between measures passed by the Senate and House of Representatives last year.

If enacted, the president’s sweeping compromise plan would constitute the biggest expansion of federal health care guarantees since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid more than four decades ago. The White House said it would extend coverage to 31 million Americans.

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(CNN) — President Obama recently encouraged Americans to “take about 10 minutes to answer 10 questions” and fill out their 2010 census form.

This year’s questionnaire is one of the shortest in history, but the results of the survey have long-term effects.

The census, taken every 10 years, is used to determine how to allocate more than $400 billion in federal funds and seats House of Representatives and determine the boundaries of representatives’ districts.

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Washington (CNN) — President Obama’s announcement Tuesday of loan guarantees for nuclear power plants may encourage new construction, but a problem still remains that has plagued atomic energy for decades: what to do with nuclear waste?

On the left, opponents of nuclear power say the president should not be using taxpayer money to help build more power plants that will produce even more radioactive material, so long as the government has not figured out where to put it all.

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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama wants $192 billion in war spending for the next year-and-a-half, a hefty sum aimed at escalating the war in Afghanistan despite its waning popularity.

The request reflects Obama’s recent decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan to blunt a growing insurgency there.

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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s proposed budget predicts the national deficit will crest at a record-breaking $1.6 trillion in the current fiscal year, then start to recede in 2011 to just below $1.3 trillion.

Still, the administration’s new budget proposal to be released Monday says deficits over the next decade will average 4.5 percent of the size of the economy, a level that economists say is dangerously high if not addressed.

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Washington (CNN) — President Obama announced Thursday that the federal government will spend $8 billion developing a nationwide high-speed train system — an investment the White House says is needed to help spur long-term economic growth.

The investment, to be made through a series of state grants, will be funded through the government’s $862 billion economic stimulus package.

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That growth rate is what drives federal spending on Medicare and other federal health programs.

And it’s what budget experts say will pummel the federal budget in future years if nothing is done to change it.

So how would the Senate bill fare in bending the cost curve from the perspective of the federal budget? The short answer is the ever-unsatisfying “it depends.”

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill could over time reduce the federal budget commitment to health care – that’s spending on programs like Medicare plus the amount of health-related federal tax breaks.

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Washington (CNN) – A new national poll suggests that Americans think the health care reform proposals moving through Congress would bring higher costs and a lower quality of care.

According to a ABC News/Washington Post survey released Tuesday evening, 53 percent of the public see higher costs for themselves if the proposed changes become law than if the current health care system stays the same. The poll also indicates that only 37 percent say the quality of their health care would be better under the proposed changes.

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Washington (CNN) — A deal negotiated by Senate Democrats to drop the controversial government-run public insurance option for a package of health care alternatives won praise Wednesday from President Obama, but opposition from key interest groups.

In remarks at a White House event, Obama said the agreement created “a new framework that I believe will help pave the way for final passage” of what he called historic health care reform legislation.

“I support this effort, especially since it’s aimed at increasing choice and competition and lowering cost,” Obama said.

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A plan to slash more than $500 billion from future Medicare spending — one of the biggest sources of funding for President Obama’s proposed overhaul of the nation’s health-care system — would sharply reduce benefits for some senior citizens and could jeopardize access to care for millions of others, according to a government evaluation released Saturday.

The report, requested by House Republicans, found that Medicare cuts contained in the health package approved by the House on Nov. 7 are likely to prove so costly to hospitals and nursing homes that they could stop taking Medicare altogether.

Congress could intervene to avoid such an outcome, but “so doing would likely result in significantly smaller actual savings” than is currently projected, according to the analysis by the chief actuary for the agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid. That would wipe out a big chunk of the financing for the health-care reform package, which is projected to cost $1.05 trillion over the next decade.