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t. Charles, Missouri (CNN) — President Obama took his increasingly populist health care overhaul pitch to the political battleground state of Missouri Wednesday, turning up the heat on private health insurers in a speech.

“What we’re proposing is a common-sense approach to protecting you from insurance company abuses, and saving you money,” said Obama, his shirtsleeves rolled up in the 75-degree heat. “That’s the proposal and it’s paid for. I believe Congress owes the American people a final up-or-down vote on health care reform.”

He added, “The time for talk is over. It’s time to vote.”

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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama accused insurance companies of placing profits over people and said Republicans ignored long-festering problems when they held power as he sought to build support Monday for swift passage of legislation stalled in Congress.

“Let’s seize reform, the need is great,” Obama said at an appearance that had the feel of a campaign rally.

“How much higher do premiums have to rise before we do something about it?” said Obama, making the first in an expected string of out-of-town trips to pitch his plan to remake the health care system.

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AUSTIN, Texas – Gov. Rick Perry easily dispatched Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to win the Republican nomination for Texas governor on Tuesday in a heated primary that highlighted the growing anti-Washington mood among voters in this year’s midterm elections.

Hutchison was once seen as the candidate who could deliver Perry’s first election loss in a lifetime of public office. But the governor, a darling of the social conservatives, forcefully and successfully painted the senator as too entrenched in Washington politics.

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(CNN) – Former Democratic Rep. James Traficant, who in September was released from a federal prison after serving seven years on a bribery and racketeering conviction, told CNN Tuesday he will launch an independent bid to return to Congress.

“I will be running for congress…as an independent,” Traficant told CNN’s Kyra Philips. “I have been a Democrat all my life, and quite frankly I am disgusted with both parties. I hate to say this. My father is rolling over in his grave, a truck driver.”

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Washington (CNN) — President Obama met with fellow Nobel Prize winner the Dalai Lama at the White House on Thursday, amid concerns from China over the visit.

Because of the diplomatic sensitivities over the tension between China and the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, every aspect has been choreographed and worked out in advance. For one, the president met with the Dalai Lama in the Map Room, which is part of the residence at the White House, and not in the Oval Office.

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Washington (CNN) — Vice President Joe Biden and his predecessor Dick Cheney sparred Sunday over terrorism and the Iraq war, duking it out on the most prominent of platforms: the political TV talk show.

In separate appearances on different programs, Cheney called the Obama administration “dead wrong” about al Qaeda and Iraq, while Biden accused Cheney of trying to “rewrite history” and downplay Obama’s actions against terrorism.

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PHOENIX – Former congressman J.D. Hayworth is kicking off a campaign challenging John McCain for his Senate seat — setting up a showdown between well-known Republicans that promises to be McCain’s toughest re-election battle.

Hayworth, a conservative talk-radio host, is starting with a rally in Phoenix on Monday followed by a three-day statewide tour.

Conservatives in Arizona have long been skeptical of McCain, who carved out a niche as a maverick senator working with Democrats on key issues.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The mayor of Providence, R.I., and a former state Democratic Party official are running for Patrick Kennedy’s U.S. House seat.

Kennedy announced this week that he would not seek a ninth term.

Providence Mayor David Cicilline said Saturday he’s in the race. In 2002, the 48-year-old attorney became the first openly gay man elected mayor of Providence. He promised to clean up city government after a City Hall corruption scandal.

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WASHINGTON – Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s decision not to seek re-election will leave Washington without a Kennedy in political office for the first time in more than 60 years.

The Rhode Island Democrat said Friday that he wants to focus more on his personal life and plans to continue the work he has done in Congress helping people overcome substance abuse problems. He said he can do the most good for other people in the field of substance abuse recovery.

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Washington (CNN) — Republican Scott Brown was sworn in Thursday as the new U.S. senator from Massachusetts to fill the seat formerly held by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, and immediately signaled opposition to President Obama’s spending plans.

Brown’s new Senate colleagues applauded after the ceremony on the floor of the Senate chamber conducted by Vice President Joe Biden, in his capacity as president of the Senate. Democratic Sen. John Kerry, also of Massachusetts, and Brown’s wife, Gail Huff, accompanied Brown into the chamber.