Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Checking the Facts
It appears President Obama got it wrong when he talked about a man who supposedly died because his insurance company canceled his coverage. The president told the story during his speech to a Joint Session of Congress last week: "One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn't reported gallstones — that he didn't even know about — they delayed his treatment, and he died because of it."
But The Wall Street Journal reports Otto Raddatz did not die because of delays. His insurance policy was reinstated within three weeks and he later received a stem-cell transplant.
Raddatz died this year, nearly four years after the initial problems with his insurer. His sister, Peggy Raddatz, told the House Energy and Commerce Oversight Committee on June 16 that her brother received treatment that, "extended his life approximately three years."
But aides to the president insist he got the story essentially correct, because Raddatz did lose his insurance before the transplant.
Wrong Turn?
The Senate has voted to keep spending millions of your tax dollars on road signs, telling motorists where billions in stimulus money is being spent.
New Hampshire Republican Senator Judd Gregg says quote: "They're so that lawmakers can pat themselves on the back. But these signs cost... a lot of money." Gregg tells The Washington Times, the signs cost up to $3,000 a piece. Officials in some states say they would rather spend that money on more projects.
But California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer says: "Why on earth would you want to hide from the American people the fact that the recovery package we passed is putting people to work?"
Church and School
Dozens of lawmakers are lining up in support of two Florida school officials on trial for praying in the presence of students.
Pace High School principal Frank Lay and athletic director Robert Freeman are charged with contempt of court for allegedly violating the conditions of a lawsuit settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union.
The Washington Times reports 60 members of Congress have signed a letter of support for the men. One of those, Florida Republican Jeff Miller, says: "the Founding Fathers would be appalled... a federal judge has gone well outside the bounds of the Constitution to declare that prayer offered among adults is illegal."
Virginia Republican Randy Forbes says it is: "One of the first times we've literally had the potential for the criminalization of prayer in the United States of America."
An official with the ACLU calls the lawmakers' letter political grandstanding.
— FOX News Channel's Zachary Kenworthy contributed to this report.