Senate Democrats on Sunday sparred with each other over how to fix the nation’s troubled health care system, the moderates threatening to scuttle legislation if their demands weren’t met and the more liberal members warning their party leaders not to bend.

It’s hard to recall an issue that has sparked as much heated debate as the current effort to reform the American health care system. Emotion has ruled much of the discussion. That’s no surprise. We are, after all, talking about making enormous changes to a system that not only accounts for one-sixth of the U.S economy, but also deals daily with matters of life and death. Both sides have too frequently resorted to exaggeration, misinformation, and wishful thinking.

House Democrats are scrambling to secure enough support to pass President Barack Obama’s historic health overhaul initiative, working to soothe last-minute concerns from rank-and-file Democrats ahead of a make-or-break vote.

Internal investigations into the conduct of several House members have been exposed in an extraordinary, Internet-era breach of security involving the secretive process by which Congress polices lawmaker ethics.

The Senate yesterday approved a bill basically to freeze spending on energy and water projects next year after pouring tens of billions of dollars into them as part of last winter’s economic-stimulus plan. The 80-17 vote on the compromise House-Senate plan cleared the measure for President Barack Obama’s signature. The bill is just the third of 12 annual spending bills to clear Congress for the budget year that began Oct. 1.

A second Republican senator signaled Wednesday she’s open to voting for sweeping health care legislation this year, putting President Barack Obama closer to a historic achievement that has eluded generations of Democratic leaders.

The Senate’s top Democrat on Thursday accused Republicans of a strategy of “distortion, distractions and deception” on health care as he announced a pivotal committee will vote next week on a comprehensive bill. Republicans said the legislation still costs too much and expands the reach of government.

Trying to understand some perplexing political issues, I recently imagined a school civics lesson administered by two members of Congress. None of these events actually occurred, but I challenge anyone to explain to me how this is otherwise inaccurate.

. . . “Boys and girls,“ a beaming young teacher called out. “In preparation for your school election this week, we are fortunate to have two distinguished members of the United States House of Representatives here to talk to you about how the political process works!“

Charlie Diradour had a rocky start in his quest to unseat the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, Eric I. Cantor, R-7th. In the course of his first day on the campaign, the Richmond business owner acknowledged that he doesn’t live in the district—which is not required—and amended details of his criticism about Cantor’s conduct during President Barack Obama’s health-care speech to a joint session of Congress.

Fall is right around the corner. Early last week she sent a calling card, delivered by chilly nights and blankets, to remind us of her inevitable arrival. In a few days, roads and streets will be filled with yellow buses busily transporting their cargo. Please remember to watch for schoolchildren. Our two daughters are ready for the academic year to start. They’ve got their clothes, they’ve got their backpacks, and they’ve got their schedules.

The banking industry is under attack these days and unjustly so. Traditional banking has long been the backbone of communities all over this country and the driver of economic growth. Since the beginning of the modern banking era—which I define as dating back to the creation of the FDIC in 1933—banks have been through a roller coaster of regulatory cycles.

With so much bad legislation snaking through Washington these days, it’s tough to keep track of it all. It’s almost as if the president and the Democratic Congress want to pass bills before anyone else knows what’s knows what’s in them. Aided by a supine press corps, this tactic worked for the stimulus package, and it allowed the House to pass—by a polar bear’s whisker—cap-and-tax legislation.

People are flooding members of Congress with so many e-mails that they are overloading the House of Representatives’ primary Web site, http://www.house.gov.

A proposed government plan to use National Guard troops to help stem Mexican drug violence along the southern border is stymied by disagreements over who will pay for the soldiers and how they would be used.

Democrats narrowly pushed sweeping health care legislation through a key congressional committee last night and cleared the way for a September showdown in the House. The 31-28 vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, along party lines, was weeks later than either the President Barack Obama or Democratic leaders had hoped.