AP - Some major health insurance companies will no longer issue certain types of policies for children, an unintended consequence of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law, state officials said Friday.

Reuters - The Obama administration warned on Friday the U.S. economy had encountered "strong headwinds" and the country's fiscal challenge remained grim, but it lowered an estimate for the budget deficit this year.

AP - Black farmers, due $1.2 billion for a legacy of discrimination by the Agriculture Department, suffered a new and disheartening setback this week, despite the national spotlight provided by the quickly disavowed firing of a black department worker.

AFP - President Barack Obama will visit Chrysler and General Motors plants next week, to defend the "tough decisions" he made last year to save the firms from going under, the White House said Friday.

AP - New estimates from the White House on Friday predict the budget deficit will reach a record $1.47 trillion this year. The government is borrowing 41 cents of every dollar it spends.

AP - The Obama administration said Friday it had selected a top staffer at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to head the agency on a temporary basis.

AP - After a take-it-or-leave-it vote by the Senate, House Democrats face little choice but to drop more than $20 billion in domestic spending from a must-pass bill funding President Barack Obama's troop surge in Afghanistan.

AP - Federal checks could begin flowing again as early as next week to millions of jobless people who lost up to seven weeks of unemployment benefits in a congressional standoff.

Reuters - Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc are among those Obama administration pay czar Kenneth Feinberg will cite for having made "ill-advised" payments, the Wall Street Journal reported on its web site on Thursday.

AP - Midterm politics are distorting economic decision-making as leaders of both parties spin rival views of the road ahead, offering visions based on questionable economics.

AP - Federal checks could begin flowing again as early as next week to millions of jobless people who lost up to seven weeks of unemployment benefits in a congressional standoff.

AP - Many Americans could be hit with a big tax increase in the next two or three years despite President Barack Obama's repeated promises to shield the middle class from higher rates.

The Upshot - Wanna know how unpopular the Obama administration's drilling moratorium is in oil-soaked Louisiana? Wednesday, a non-holiday weekday, an estimated 15,000 "drill, baby, drill"-chanting locals showed up for a rally to support offshore drilling in Lafayette, Louisiana. The event featured 12 …

AP - The Obama administration targeted key leaders of Afghanistan's Taliban with new financial sanctions Thursday in a move that could complicate relations with Pakistan and Afghan efforts to reconcile with insurgents.

CQPolitics.com - Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and other House leaders said Thursday they would take their lead from the Senate on the makeup and duration of an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts that expire at the end of the year.

Time.com - By proposing to let tax breaks expire for wealthy Americans, the congressional leaders hope to force Republicans into another politically uncomfortable position

Reuters - President Barack Obama signed into law on Wednesday the most comprehensive financial regulatory overhaul since the Great Depression, vowing to stop risky behavior on Wall Street that imperiled the U.S. economy.