U.S. Senate passes a slightly altered health care bill

The Senate passed a slightly different health care bill Thursday afternoon after forcing two minor provisions to be eliminated according to CNN.com. 

The provisions involved student loan funding be removed from the bill.  According to the Senate Republican Budget Committee the changes dealt with Pell grant spending that would not immediately affect the federal budget.  Under reconciliation rules this made the provision ineligible.

Republicans have used a number of tools to amend the health care bill, which was passed by the House on Sunday. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats will be able to pass the bill later Thursday and will send the bill to President Obama before a two-week congressional recess. 

Rally in Columbus Circle for Cayuga Nation Treaty Rights 

Members of the Iroquois Confederacy rallied in support of the Cayuga Nation today according to Syracuse.com. 

The members of the Iroquois nation gathered in Columbus Circle with drums and signs this morning while the New York State Court of Appeals met inside the Onondaga County Courthouse. 

This will be the first time the highest state court has visited Syracuse since before the Civil War.

Demonstrators showed their support for Cayuga Nation treaties. 

New York State is considering whether or not the state could take untaxed cigarettes from Cayuga Nation convenience stores.

The Cayuga Nation says that they are not violating any tax laws, but in 2008 untaxed cigarettes were taken from convenience stores owned by the Nation. 

Earlier this year the Fourth Department Appellate Division overturned a ban on selling tax-free cigarettes on Cayuga Nation land.  The counties appealed that decision today. 

Sarah Palin on TLC 

Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will be showing off her home state of Alaska in an eight-part documentary series on the TLC network according to CNN.com.

The former Alaska governor will likely earn $1 million per episode for the show titled “Sarah Palin’s Alaska.”  Palin will tell the story of Alaska as it has never been filmed according to TLC’s parent company Discovery Communications. 

The show will be produced by Mark Burnett, who previously worked as executive producer of Survivor and the Apprentice. 

A date for the series premiere has not yet been released.