The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives has adopted a dramatic 2012 budget plan that would cut the country’s debt by revamping the decades-old system that guarantees medical insurance for Americans over 65 and to the poor and disabled.

American voters went to the polls today with Republicans poised to strip Democrats of their hold on power in Congress and reshape the political landscape nationwide.

US President Barack Obama’s Democrats are braced for an elections rout today, as a wave of 11th-hour polls showed Republicans on course for big gains in Congress amid deep voter anger at the sour economy.

THE outrage, the sense of being utterly betrayed and powerless in the face of economic collapse entitles most of us to consider taking a leaf from the French unions’ handbook of conflict resolution.

ONE of the mixed blessings travelling beyond our archipelago is that it’s hard to avoid American TV news. BBC World is frequently not available. Even when it is, their ‘cycle’ – the time it takes before they start repeating stories – is getting wearyingly short. Maybe it’s cutbacks.

Former presidential hopeful John McCain was set to swamp his far-right Republican challenger in Arizona’s primary vote today, putting him on track for a fifth Senate term after his bruising loss to Barack Obama in 2008.

DISENCHANTED voters in both parties turned against the establishment, choosing a conservative “Tea Party” newcomer over a handpicked Republican favourite and dumping veteran Democratic Senator Arlen Specter ahead of November’s midterm elections.