HOUSE PASSES $96.7 BILLION WAR SPENDING MEASURE

Despite Democrats' rising anxiety about Afghanistan, the House on Thursday easily passed, 368 to 60, a $96.7 billion measure filling President Obama's request for war spending and foreign aid efforts there and in Iraq.

Fifty-one Democrats, including Minnesota's Keith Ellison and Jim Oberstar, broke with Obama. The rest of the Minnesota delegation backed the measure.

The dissenting Democrats included an amalgam of lawmakers who have voted against the Iraq war, critics who believe Obama's strategy in Afghanistan is too vague and others who did not want to spend so much abroad in a recession.

Meanwhile, all but a handful of Republicans supported the measure, which would boost total funding provided by Congress for the wars above $900 billion.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a companion $91.3 billion bill that includes $50 million to begin the promised closure of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The House measure includes a promise that detainees will not be released on U.S. soil. A new provision, however, anticipates some of the 241 detainees will stand trial or serve their sentences in the United States.

The full Senate is expected to take up the measure next week.

The Obama administration will announce today that it will continue to use military commissions to prosecute some terrorism suspects, current and former officials said -- reversing a campaign promise to abolish the controversial tribunals started under President George W. Bush.

The administration intends to try some of the detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in federal courts, as President Obama has pledged. But officials have concluded that some can only be tried in military tribunals, an official said.

The White House will announce major changes to the tribunal system. The revisions will ban the use of any evidence obtained through coercion and restrict the use of hearsay evidence. The rule changes also will give detainees more latitude in choosing lawyers to represent them, the official said.

But those changes are seen as cosmetic by critics. For example, under the Military Commissions Act, the law enacted by Congress in 2006 to alter and legally sanction the system, there were strict rules against coerced evidence. In practice, military judges have refused to allow any testimony about coerced evidence.

Although suspects have a right to confront their accusers in federal courts, military commissions allow for indirect, hearsay evidence. Under Bush administration rules, the defense had to show why such evidence should be prohibited. Under Obama's changes, the burden of proving the hearsay evidence will fall on the prosecution.

House Democrats are crafting a plan that would require all Americans to carry health insurance and would help families making less than $88,000 pay the premiums. Employers, too, would have to help foot the bill.

Obama told a town hall-style meeting in New Mexico that he expects a plan from Congress that will be a "vast improvement" over the current system. Democratic leaders are trying to meet a July 31 deadline for passing their version of the legislation.

The plan by the House Energy and Commerce Committee would require individuals to get coverage, either through an employer or government plan, or on their own. Employers would be required to provide coverage or pay the government a percentage of payroll.

Individual subsidies for health insurance would be offered on a sliding scale to those earning up to four times the federal poverty level, or $88,200 for a family of four, according to an early look at negotiations.

The House plan does include a government insurance program to compete with private companies. It would be financed by premium payments, not taxpayer dollars.

The Obama administration expanded its $50 billion mortgage aid program on Thursday, announcing new measures that would help homeowners avoid a foreclosure if they don't qualify for other assistance.

Since the program, called Making Home Affordable, was launched in March, mortgage companies have made more than 55,000 offers to modify borrowers' loans. Officials estimate as many as 4 million borrowers will get their loans modified, but some housing experts expect the number will be less than half of that.

And while the number of success stories is growing, it pales compared with the rate of new foreclosures, and many housing counselors say the program has been slow getting off the ground.

The new initiatives are aimed at home-owners who were ineligible for loan modifications. For borrowers who are unemployed or owe significantly more than their homes are worth, there are generally two options to avoid foreclosure.

The homeowner can sign the property title over to the lender in what is known as a deed in lieu of foreclosure. Or, with the lender's permission, the homeowner can sell the property for less than the value of the loan a so-called "short sale." Mortgage companies would get up to $1,000 and borrowers would get up to $1,500 in relocation costs.

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Pfizer Inc. said it will give away more than 70 of its most widely prescribed drugs, including Lipitor, Celebrex and Viagra, for up to a year to people who have lost jobs since Jan. 1 and have been taking the drug for three months or more. It comes as the unemployment rate topped 8.9 percent in April.

Pfizer stands to benefit, too -- by keeping its customers, and with a tax write-off that will cover much of the cost of the donations. The move also buys the world's largest drugmaker some goodwill as Washington looks to overhaul the health care system.

"Everybody knows now a neighbor, a relative who has lost their job and is losing their insurance. People are definitely hurting out there," said Dr. Jorge Puente, Pfizer's head of pharmaceuticals outside the U.S. and Europe. "Our aim is to help people bridge this point."

Patients can call a toll-free number, 1-866-706-2400, to sign up. Those whose drugs are not included in the program will be referred to other company aid programs.

Starting July 1, patients can also apply at www.PfizerHelpfulAnswers.com, which has information about the other aid programs.