Each Saturday on the Politics Now blog, you'll find a list of stories that caught the eyes of The News' political reporters. Here's a sampling of what they were reading this week:
Medicare continues to be in the political spotlight, both nationally and in Western New York, where last year's special House election in NY-26 (now NY-27) proved that campaigning on the future of the health care program could be a winning strategy.
Politifact evaluates Democrats' latest claim that Republicans voted to "end Medicare as we know it." This, after the fact-checking site awarded Democrats their "lie of the year" honor to the party's claim that the GOP voted to "end Medicare." (Hence the addendum.)
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Medicare plan would have patients paying more, reports Jackie Calmes of the New York Times.
Janna Ryan was once on the opposite end of the political spectrum from her husband, Paul, and left a career on Capitol Hill to raise a family in Wisconsin, writes Susan Saulny and Christine Haughney of the Times.
The New Yorker's Jane Mayer looks at President Obama's impatience with big-money donors, likening his fundraising style to "speed dating."
Ta-Nehisi Coates calls Obama a "conservative revolutionary" in a lengthy Atlantic article about race.
And in state politics, another member of the state Legislature is in trouble. Assemblyman Vito Lopez of Brooklyn was stripped of his committee chairmanship following allegations of sexual harassment, Ken Lovett and Glenn Blain of the Daily News report. Lopez denies the allegations.
