Why does a joint replacement cost 40 times as much at one hospital as at another across the country? It's a mystery, federal health officials say.

Efforts to save the nation from going over a year-end "fiscal cliff" were in disarray as lawmakers fled the Capitol for their Christmas break. "God only knows" how a deal can be reached now, House Speaker John Boehner declared.

Voters who feel the economic outlook brightening after years of misery and believe Barack Obama better understands people like themselves propelled the president to a second term, exit polls show. Mitt Romney suffered from being labeled a champion of the wealthy over the common man.

The every-four-years ritual of a national "town hall" style debate began as a nerve-racking experiment in live television. Moderator Carole Simpson was so nervous about turning over the microphone to regular folks and their questions that she spent days mapping out the presidential candidates and their issues on "a zillion...

Just which 47 percent of Americans was Mitt Romney talking about? It's hard to say. He lumped together three different ways of sorting people in what he's called less-than-elegant remarks.

Republicans have been building their case against the "failed presidency" of Barack Obama for nearly four years and this week's convention is prime time for making the charges stick.

Who gets thumped by higher taxes in President Barack Obama's health care law?

They're young, healthy and flat broke and now the government says they have to buy thousands of dollars' worth of medical insurance. What should tapped-out twentysomethings do?