President Barack Obama said Tuesday he'll bring in high-tech bounty hunters to help root out health care fraud, grabbing a populist idea with bipartisan backing in his final push to overhaul the system.

President Barack Obama stood with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Tuesday and pledged that the United States would work with its ally, even as Greece's enormous debts sparked frenzied trading.

HarperCollins announced Tuesday that it will publish Brown's memoir, currently untitled, in early 2011.

Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), the acting chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said a House-Senate conference might be needed on the $138 billion tax extenders bill being debated in the Senate.

One reason would be differences between the House and Senate over how the legislation should be paid for, Levin said Tuesday.

The Senate bill is partially paid for, but uses offsets included in President Obama’s health care proposal. Since offsets can’t be used in two bills, that’s a problem.

Levin plans to meet with Ways and Means members Wednesday morning to discuss how to proceed with the Senate extender bill.

Levin has championed an offset that taxes investment compensation paid to hedge fund managers known as as ordinary income. “Carried interest” is nowtaxed as capital gains, which hovers around 15 percent. Levin’s proposal would subject carried interest to rates that go as high as 35 percent.

But key senators have opposed the change, and Levin said he would not hold up the tax package over the issue.

Aside from resuscitating $30 billion in tax breaks aimed at businesses and individuals, the Senate bill extends jobless benefits through 2010, prevents a cut in Medicare reimbursement rates to doctors and provides Medicare funding to states.

Like the president’s health proposal, the Senate bill rescinds the “black liquor” tax break abused by paper companies that claim undeserved alternative fuel tax credits. 

The original “black liquor” loophole expired in December, but late last year Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) expanded upon the original provision by restricting the paper industry from capitalizing on cellulosic biofuel tax credits, which past estimates say could raise $24 billion over 10 years.

Obama and Senate proposals also would codify what constitutes an abusive tax shelter, known as the “economic substance doctrine,” which could raise as much as $10 billion over 10 years.

Courts have used the doctrine to determine whether a tax shelter was created for legitimate business reasons or solely devised to avoid paying taxes.  But since the doctrine was not in law, courts had considerable leeway in determining the legality of a tax shelter.

Wednesday’s Ways and Means meeting will also examine a small business tax proposal that temporarily allows certain companies to no longer pay capital gains taxes. Similar efforts have begun in the Senate as well. Levin hopes to mark the bill up in his committee next week.

Congressional Democrats directly told White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel they don't appreciate being told when to finish their work on healthcare reform, according to a powerful committee chairman.

"He was certainly informed that we don't feel we want any deadlines assigned to us," House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said after a healthcare strategy meeting between House and Senate Democratic leaders and Emanuel.

Democratic leaders, struggling with a difficult political climate, having trouble whipping up a majority in the House and facing considerable procedural hurdles, have been rankled by statements from White House officials such as press secretary Robert Gibbs that President Barack Obama at least wants the House to complete its share of the work by March 18, when the president is scheduled to travel to Guam, Indonesia and Australia.

During the Tuesday afternoon meeting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) office, lawmakers made sure to raise their concerns with the president's top aide. "He said he'd pass it on," Waxman said.

Earlier Tuesday House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) pushed back on the proposed deadline, telling reporters, “None of us has mentioned the 18th other than Mr. Gibbs.” Gibbs lated acknowledged there is a "disconnect" between the White House and Capitol Hill about the deadline.

Congressional Democrats directly told White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel they don't appreciate being told when to finish their work on healthcare reform, according to a powerful committee chairman.

"He was certainly informed that we don't feel we want any deadlines assigned to us," House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said after a healthcare strategy meeting between House and Senate Democratic leaders and Emanuel.

Democratic leaders, struggling with a difficult political climate, having trouble whipping up a majority in the House and facing considerable procedural hurdles, have been rankled by statements from White House officials such as press secretary Robert Gibbs that President Barack Obama at least wants the House to complete its share of the work by March 18, when the president is scheduled to travel to Guam, Indonesia and Australia.

During the Tuesday afternoon meeting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) office, lawmakers made sure to raise their concerns with the president's top aide. "He said he'd pass it on," Waxman said.

Earlier Tuesday House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) pushed back on the proposed deadline, telling reporters, “None of us has mentioned the 18th other than Mr. Gibbs.” Gibbs lated acknowledged there is a "disconnect" between the White House and Capitol Hill about the deadline.