The new budget deal in Congress drew support and criticism today.Party leaders on both sides generally backed the agreement.But Tea Party conservatives said there's still too much spending.And Democrats grumbled there's no help for the long-term unemployed.We will report the details and hear much more reaction right after the news summary.The government's latest enrollment numbers for health care coverage showed signs of improvement today and the Cabinet officer overseeing the effort urged the public to give it another try.To those who have been frustrated with the experience so far, we are asking you to come back.Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius went before a House committee this morning with an appeal for those who've tried unsuccessfully to shop for a plan on HealthCare.gov.I don't think there's any question that the flawed launch of the Web site put a damper on people's enthusiasm about early sign-up.We have been inviting them back to use a newly improved site, and we're seeing some very, very positive trends in that direction.Those trends include an HHS report today that more than 364,000 people signed up for private coverage as of November 30.That's more than three times the number who had enrolled by the end of October.But it's still far below the 1.2 million that the administration projected for the first two months.And time is growing short. Individuals must sign up by December 23 and pay premiums by December 31 to receive coverage by January 1.
