By John Gramlich, Stateline Staff Writer
States are anxiously watching Congress wrangle over a series of measures they are counting on to help pay for health care, education and unemployment benefits for millions of their residents. But the federal government’s well-documented financial problems — and the growing attention paid to them on the campaign trail — are threatening those measures. Critics say the government can’t afford them.
 

For the past year, President Barack Obama has invested a huge amount of his political capital to get the health care bill passed.