The House passed a $44 billion spending bill Wednesday that awards the Homeland Security Department a 7 percent budget increase, with money for more border patrol agents and for anti-piracy efforts off the coast of Somalia.

President Barack Obama left the door open to a new tax on health care benefits Wednesday, and officials said top lawmakers and the White House were seeking $150 billion in concessions from the nation’s hospitals as they sought support for legislation struggling to emerge in Congress.

Oil prices fell slightly to near $68 a barrel Thursday in Asia amid mixed signals about crude demand from a weekly U.S. inventory report.

Support among House Democrats appeared to be growing Wednesday for a massive climate bill that for the first time would limit the pollution linked to global warming and redirect the nation toward greater use of clean energy.

California air regulators on Thursday will consider leveling the nation’s first statewide carbon fee on utilities, oil refineries and other industries as a way to pay for the state’s landmark greenhouse gas emissions law.

The Federal Reserve sought Wednesday to defuse fears that the trillions it’s spending to revive the economy could spark inflation later on. But Wall Street didn’t seem to buy it.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday stuck to its huge program of buying government and mortgage debt, which is designed to keep borrowing costs low and boost recovery, and said it saw signs that the deep U.S. recession was easing.

Latin American stocks were mixed on Wednesday as the U.S. Federal Reserve said the economic downturn in Latin America’s top trading partner is slowing.

The Federal Reserve gave investors little reason to keep buying Treasurys on Thursday. After three straight days of gains, government bonds lost ground after the Fed decided to keep rates within a range of zero to 0.25 percent.

The Dow fell for the fourth day and other indexes ended well off the day’s highs on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve reiterated concerns about the economic outlook at the end of its policy meeting.