First Word: President Obama pushing his health-care law…again

Because the Republican party remains adamantly opposed to President Obama’s health-care law after voting yesterday in the House to delay the individual mandate, the president is delivering a speech Thursday to the law’s implementation. His political group Organizing for Action has already aired TV ads to promote the law.

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• Obama will argue that his Affordable Care Act is holding insurance companies accountable and putting money back into the pockets of consumers

• Obama administration has added roughly $33 million to a contract with a PR firm to help promote health-care law

• House Republicans voted on Wednesday to delay core provisions of President Obama’s health care law

• A meeting of Senate Republicans grew tense as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told them they could have gotten a better deal on nominations

• Politico runs five questions for the inspector general

• Treasury Department inspector general who produced the original report at Darrell Issa’s request, is going back for Issa’s committee hearing

• President Obama could scrap one-on-one talks with Vladimir Putin next month in Moscow if Edward Snowden is granted asylum in Russia

• Liz Cheney called Sen. Mike Enzi “confused”

• Gov. Rick Perry signs anti-abortion bill into law

• Terry McAuliffe leading Ken Cuccinelli in newest poll

• Majority favor same-sex marriage in Virginia

• Bernanke to Congress: Please don’t screw the economy up

• A strong majority of Americans, 59 percent, said they would like to see the House either pass the Senate’s immigration bill

• Sen. John McCain has told Democratic leaders he wants a prominent role in debt talks this fall, alarming conservatives

• At least 12 Republican senators are regularly meeting with Obama’s top aides to figure out the looming fiscal challenges this fall

• Jim DeMint and Heritage’s role behind the scenes in fighting Republicans

• Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito quintupled his net worth last year

• Rebels are still losing in Syria

• A drone crashed on a Florida highway

• The USOC and John Boehner disagree with Lindsey Graham that the U.S. should consider boycotting the Winter Olympics

• Joe Biden says he could “die a happy man” never being president

• “House of Cards” makes Emmy history

• Happy 95th birthday, Nelson Mandela!