Obama says insurance companies holding U.S. hostage...U.S. President Barack Obama, pushing for health care reform during a trip to conservative Montana, said on Friday the country was "held hostage" by insurance companies that deny coverage to sick people.

• Judge dismisses suit against bankrupt Brooke Corp.... federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing bankrupt Brooke Corp. and its financing arm of racketeering and fraud, ...

• Secrets of Advertising - Part 1...What do national advertisers know that you don't?  And how can you learn and use?

• Florida Acts Against 3 Health Insurance Firms...Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty says he has ordered 3 brokers to stop selling health insurance policies in the state.

• Judge must explain Countrywide trial decision...Florida became involved in 1997 because its Department of Insurance took over an insolvent Florida insurance company, United Southern Assurance, ...

• Direct General pays $54000 following Virginia market conduct exam...By Bob Graham A market conduct examination of Direct General Insurance Co., which operates seven offices in Virginia, by regulators in the commonwealth ...

• Insurance agents boosted by clunker sales...Dewey Beckner, an agent with Allstate Insurance Co., said it's impossible to know how much the average Cash for Clunkers customer increased their car ...

• Can State Farm Stop Riling Up Insurance Commissioners?...Blame it on hurricanes if you want, but State Farm can't seem to stop riling up southern insurance commissioners. In the latest duel, Mississippi Insurance ...

• TOYOTA developing anti-drunk driving gadget... The system features a hand-held breathalyser, equipped with a digital camera, that detects alcohol consumption and photographs the driver's face for identification, a company statement said.

• Life Insurance Sales Post Biggest Drop Since 1942...Philadelphia-based Lincoln has dropped 51 percent and Genworth of Richmond, Virginia, has declined 35 percent. Sales of so-called term life policies, ...

• California homeowners facing insurance rate hikes...Late last year, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner approved a 6.9% increase in homeowner insurance for the state's biggest insurer, ...

• Insurers prepare to handle Calif wildfire claims...Because wildfires are common in Southern California, industry executives said the companies were prepared. "Insurance is there for these type of disasters ...

• Insurance broker buys Tennesseel firm's benefits unit...According to his firm's Web site, Roussel began building the employee benefits business in the 1980s after getting into the insurance sales business the ...

Impact of Alabama insurance tax break will show up later...... NFIB/Alabama, says it is too early to tell how much money small businesses will save under a new state tax break on employer-paid health insurance ...

• Dog friendly insurance companies - the battle against breed ...Man's best friend could mean increased insurance premiums for you. ... Kemper, United Services Automobile Association, Fireman's Fund and the Chubb Group. ...

• FEMA Red Tape Keeps Mississippi Families in Trailers...At the height of the recovery, 143000 families in Louisiana and Mississippi found refuge from the storm in such trailers. Now two years after FEMA began ...

• Conseco To Build Capital By Merging 3 Insurance Companies...Conseco expects to complete the merger in the fourth quarter of 2009, subject to the approval of insurance regulators in Arizona, California and Illinois. ...

• Six US insurance firms targeted in 'purging' probe...“We are now looking into the practice of health insurance companies terminating the coverage of small businesses when their employees become

• AIG's new CEO reaches out to Greenberg... AIG to Hank: All is forgiven, we need your help! That is the message from Robert Benmosche, the new chief executive officer of American International Group Inc.

• Raft of Deals for Failed Banks Puts U.S. on Hook for Billions...Alabama's Colonial Bank collapsed, felled by bad commercial-real-estate lending. The FDIC, assuming its traditional role, brokered a sale of the bank's ...

• White House: Obama has not yet read Afghan assessment... Robert Gibbs said Monday that the report is making it's way "up the chain of command." Gen. Stanley McChrystal's report was delivered to NATO allies and the Pentagon earlier Monday.

• FLASHBACK: White House: 'War on terrorism' is over... President Obama's top homeland security and counterterrorism official took all three terms off the table of acceptable words inside the White House during a speech Thursday

• Voight: Is Obama creating a civil war in America?..."We are witnessing a slow, steady takeover of our true freedoms. We are becoming a socialist nation, and whoever can't see this is probably hoping it isn't true. If we permit Mr. Obama to take over all our industries, if we permit him to raise our taxes to support unconstitutional causes, then we will be in default.

• POLL: 57% Would Vote to Replace Entire Congress... If they could vote to keep or replace the entire Congress, just 25% of voters nationwide would keep the current batch of legislators

• India Ends Mission to Moon After Losing Contact With Unmanned Spacecraft... India’s space agency ended an $82 million mission to map the surface of the moon after failing to restore contact with its unmanned Chandrayaan I craft.

Obama climate czar has socialist ties...Until last week, Carol M. Browner, President-elect Barack Obama's pick as global warming czar, was listed as one of 14 leaders of a socialist group's Commission for a Sustainable ...

• Health Care Reform Anger Has Deeper Roots...Recent uproars suggests trouble for the president and his party, and fears of losses in next year's midterm election are likely to shape the Democrats' fall agenda.

• Help Stop Congress' Tax Break for Trial Lawyers...The proposal would allow attorneys to deduct fees and expenses up-front for filing contingency-fee lawsuits. The proposal amounts to about a $1.6 billion tax break for plaintiffs' attorneys, estimates indicate.

• SLIP SLIDING AWAY: OBAMA APPROVAL AT 45%... Most voters now expect that the situation in Afghanistan will get worse over the next six months. That’s up fourteen points over the past month. At the same time, the number worried about a terrorist attack in the United States has declined.