Doctors and insurance companies will be exchanging angry TV spots this holiday weekend. At stake are 10% cuts in Medicare payments that could affect 52 million Americans. Neither Republicans nor Democrats want the cuts to go through. Why couldn't they be stopped? What's the role of the Bush White House? Is it all about trying to privatize a popular public program? Also, Ingrid Betancourt and 13 other hostages are freed in a daring rescue in Colombia, and different ways of celebrating Independence Day, starting with George Washington.
French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt (C) next to her mother Yolanda Pulecio smiles at her husband Juan Carlos Lecompte (R) upon her arrival at the Catam air base in Bogota. Photo: Rodrigo Arangua/AFP/Getty Images