Protesters amassed for a second night on Tuesday in Moscow to denounce the results of last weekend's parliamentary elections, which are widely believed to have been rigged. Chanting "Russia without Putin," several hundred demonstrators gathered in the same square where over 5,000 people protested the alleged electoral fraud on Monday. Riot police officers arrested 250 people, bringing the total number of arrests from both protests to around 600, and pro-government activists attempted to drown out the protesters' cries.

As many as 5,000 protesters flooded into central Moscow on Monday night, furious over voting irregularities in Sunday's parliamentary elections. Chanting slogans like "Putin is a thief," protesters accused the prime minister's United Russia party of rigging the election. Monitors say they observed blatant fraud, including ballot box-stuffing. Two prominent opposition figures were jailed, along with 300 other protesters.

President Obama has called for a health care summit at the White House, where republicans can offer up their own ideas on how to reduce costs, and the two parties can try again to find some common ground.

The President made a rare visit to Capitol Hill this Sunday to urge Democratic lawmakers to "finish the job" of hammering out the details in the health care reform bill currently on the Senate floor.  The Democrats need a 'supermajority' of 60 Senators to keep the bill moving in the face of determined opposition from Senate Republicans. Divisive issues within the majority party leaving the future of the bill uncertain.  This morning, the Senate is scheduled to vote on an amendment which will determine whether or not taxpayer money goes to paying for abortion procedures.  The New York Times' David Herszenhorn joins us to explain exactly how this morning's vote could prove a tipping point for national health care reform as a whole.

As the health care reform bill drafted by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) makes its way out of the finance committee, many people still have questions about what is in the bill and how it will change health care. David Herszenhorn, congressional correspondent for the New York Times, answers our listeners' questions.

The Senate Finance Committee finally approved their version of health care reform legislation yesterday. That’s only the next step in a long sequence aiming to pass just one of the five bills from various committees in Congress. We step back from the legislative process to look at what people want most out of an overhaul of the nation's health care system. We asked for questions from listeners, and this morning we try to get answers with Henry Aaron, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and David Herszenhorn, congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

The Congressional Budget Office signed off on the math in the Senate Finance Committee's health care overhaul bill, saying the legislation will reduce the deficit and save taxpayer money overall. But not so fast: The insurance industry did its own calculations and says consumers will be hit with a whopper of a pricetag. So who do consumers believe? And how do you figure out the cost of health care ten years from now? As the Senate Finance Committee prepares to vote on its bill today, we look at the science and politics of calculating the cost, with former CBO director Alice Rivlin and New York Times reporter David Herszenhorn.

Feeling wonky? Read the CBO's analysis of the Finance Committee's bill and compare it to the analysis from America's Health Insurance Plans, which says the Senate Finance bill will rack up extra costs for consumers. [PDF, 592k]

Last night in front of a rare joint session of Congress, President Obama addressed the issue that has been on everyone's minds: health care reform. His speech was to-the-point, tackling issues such as insurance reforms, pre-existing conditions, malpractice insurance reform, and calling to task members of Congress for their failure to move more quickly. The president seemed to endorse much of the latest draft of a health care reform bill, one being circulated by Sen. Max Baucus, but hinted that he may be willing to pass the bill without bi-partisan support. For more we talk to our Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich as well as David Herszenhorn, the congressional correspondent for the New York Times, who was live blogging the speech.

In case you missed the presidential address, here it is in its entirety:

A large part of the health care debate is about the numbers. How much will health care legislation cost the federal government? Will you be paying more or less? To help figure out what health care would cost for both the average citizen and the U.S. government, The Takeaway talks to David Herzenhorn, congressional reporter for The New York Times.

Hospitals are the latest front of President Obama's drive to reform health care. Vice President Joe Biden is expected to announce today that hospitals have agreed to spend $150 billion dollars over the next ten years to care for some of the uninsured. What does that mean for hospitals—and patients? The Takeaway talks to Dr. Herbert Pardes, President and CEO of New York Presbyterian Hospital and to New York Times reporter David Herszenhorn.

For more, read David Herszenhorn's and Sheryl Gay Stolberg's article, Health Deals Could Harbor Hidden Costs, in The New York Times.

The Obama administration appears to be headed for a tough battle with the private student loan industry and its supporters in Congress. The Congressional Budget Office wants to forgo subsidized loans for direct government lending, a move that the loan industry says may cost them billions. President Obama wants to end a subsidized loan program and redirect billions of dollars in bank profits to scholarships for needy students. For more on this looming battle, The Takeaway talks to David Herszenhorn from our partner The New York Times. For more on the looming budget battle, read David Herszenhorn's article, Plan to Change Student Lending Sets Up a Fight, in today's New York Times.

After hours of negotiations between the House and Senate, an economic stimulus bill emerged from committee. It is expected to be voted on by the House and Senate this week and signed into law by President Obama on Monday. We are now joined by New York Times writer David Herszenhorn who can provide the details of the plan as well as Jeff Zeleny, also of the New York Times, who can tell us the background of the bill.

For more, read David Herszenhorn's article, Deal Reached in Congress on $789 Billion Stimulus Plan in today's New York Times.

The economic stimulus bill faces its key test vote in the Senate today. If the vote goes according to the Democrats' plan, the bill will be finalized tomorrow. But, the vote in and of itself is not a stimulus plan and the road to passage has been bitterly partisan. Here with a road map for the negotiations ahead are David Herszenhorn of the New York Times and Jay Newton-Small, Washington Correspondent for Time Magazine.

President Barack Obama is newly-ensconced in office and he is rolling up his sleeves to get down to business. He has said he wants to work closely with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to address America's current economic problems. How is this likely to play out as lawmakers grapple with healing the economy? For answers we look to the New York Times' David Herszenhorn for his take on the relationship between the executive and legislative branches in the new administration.

Yesterday, House Democrats released an $825 billion economic stimulus bill designed to create and preserve jobs and get people spending again. At the same time, the Senate released the remaining bailout funds to prop up the flailing financial institutions. The New York Times' David Herszenhorn joins The Takeaway with an analysis.

For more, read David Herszenhorn's article, Senate Releases Second Portion of Bailout Fund, in today's New York Times.

Senate confirmation hearings begin next week with Ted Kennedy returning to the Senate to take the lead. We’re taking a look ahead to what we should be keeping our eyes on as Hillary Rodham Clinton, Tom Daschle, Eric Holder and others face their friends (and sometimes enemies) the United States Senators. The Takeaway is joined by New York Times writer David Herszenhorn.

In the last few days before the election, House and Senate Republicans, have been pushing hard to help incumbents facing tough re-election races keep their seats in Congress. The Senate GOP poured new resources into states like Minnesota, North Carolina and Georgia, while House Republicans focused on Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky. New York Times reporter David Herszenhorn talks with John Hockenberry about whether this last push for Congressional republicans has legs.