EDITOR'S NOTE — An occasional look at how behind-the-scenes influence is exercised in Washington. By CHARLES BABINGTON Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Insurance companies, unions and other special interest groups pushed back hard Wednesday against health care legislation that could cost their members billions of dollars. If they succeed in shifting the proposed taxes away from them, then Congress and ...

Organized labor has always been one of the Democratic Partys most powerful and reliable allies, bankrolling candidates and turning out votes even, at times, at the expense of the union agenda. But after nearly emptying their treasuries last year in pursuit of the White House and Congress, unions are pushing ...