Media

The Oklahoman - Editorial Board

NO, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole isn’t bored and simply looking for a challenge. Instead Cole, R-Moore, says his decision to try to come up with a way to keep Social Security afloat is based on a firm belief that it can be done.

“The problem is it’s easily fixed,” Cole said in an interview last week. “It’s the politics that’s hard.”

With the March 31 deadline for initial negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 just days away, I am very concerned by the president’s failure to consult Congress and his lack of stated intention to do so. Concern over what the new framework could include for Iran’s nuclear program is not a partisan issue. In fact, members on both sides of the aisle have told the president to err on the side of caution and remember the history of our relationship with Iran.

The Oklahoman - Chris Casteel

In an extraordinary display of bipartisanship, the House voted Thursday to remake a troublesome system for paying the doctors who treat Medicare patients.

Primarily aimed at giving physicians some financial certainty each year, the legislation also will end the frequent last-minute congressional patches to a law that has caused problems for many years. The bill passed 392 to 37 and now goes to the Senate.

The Hill - Tim Devaney

The National Labor Relations Board is still grappling with the fallout from last year’s defeat at the Supreme Court, the board chairman told lawmakers Tuesday.

In a case known as NLRB v. Noel Canning, the high court last June overturned a set of President Obama’s recess appointments to the labor board, concluding he overstepped in exerting his authority to fill vacancies while the Senate was technically in session.