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• The case being argued at the high court Tuesday is a test of the Roberts court's readiness to take its most aggressive swipe at campaign finance laws since its Citizens United decision in 2010 took the lid off independent spending by corporations and labor unions.
• Supporters of campaign finance laws say the case poses a threat to the contribution limits that Congress first enacted in 1974, in the wake of Watergate abuses.
• Republican activist Shaun McCutcheon of Hoover, Ala., the national Republican Party and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky want the court to overturn the overall limits on what contributors may give in a two-year federal election cycle. The total is $123,200, including a separate $48,600 cap on contributions to candidates, for 2013 and 2014.
• The limit on individual contributions to any candidate for Congress in any given election, currently $2,600, is not at issue in this case.
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Insurers, others say there's still time to fix online glitches in 'Obamacare'
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal government's biggest foray into online commerce has left millions of tech-savvy Americans thoroughly bewildered.
• But the insurance industry and others experienced with rolling out new programs say there's still enough time to fix the glitches with President Barack Obama's health care law before uninsured people start getting coverage on Jan. 1.
• The online enrollment system at healthcare.gov was down again for upgrades in the wee hours Tuesday. It made its debut just a week ago and technical experts already have been called in to fix problems several times.
• Consumers in different parts of the country Monday continued to report delays, as well as problems setting up security questions for their accounts. However, the administration says the site's crowded electronic "waiting room" is thinning out.
• Despite the confusion, the insurance industry has held off public criticism. Alarmed that only a trickle of customers got through initially, insurers now say enrollments are starting to come in and they expect things to improve.
• ___
American adults out-performed by many global peers on workplace skills assessment test
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's long been known that America's school kids haven't (Continued on page 40)
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