With no margin for rebellion, Senate Democrats pushed toward a crucial weekend test vote on their sweeping health care bill Friday, and wavering moderates appeared to be falling in line on President Barack Obama's signature issue.

Congressional budget crunchers said  the Democrats' latest health care plan would hold down federal red ink for at least 20 years, an assessment that gave supporters hope as the Senate moved gingerly toward  debate.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the cost of a sweeping U.S. Senate health care overhaul at $849 billion over 10 years, a senior Senate aide said on Wednesday.

A senior House Democrat says the government didn't force Bank of America to take over Merrill Lynch, but a bank board member said much pressure was applied and Republicans charged that a committee inquiry was covering up the role of an Obama administration official.

House Democrats cleared the way Wednesday for a pivotal floor vote on health care overhaul as early as the weekend, after tweaking their 1,900-page bill to crack down harder on insurance companies.

The health care overhaul bill produced by House Democrats would impose an array of new taxes, fees and government mandates on major players in the health industry, including insurers, doctors and drugs and medical devices makers.

The House health care bill released Thursday raises most revenue by taxing individuals making $500,000 or more, but also tightens rules for corporate accounting and takes aim at foreign companies working in tax havens.

The stock market may be up, U.S. service industries may be recovering, banks may be lending again and housing prices holding. But one major piece of the recovery puzzle is still missing: a brighter employment picture.

Democrats are breathing a sigh of relief after a positive cost report on health care overhaul gave them a chance to rally around a Senate plan that significantly expands coverage while trimming the federal deficit.

Barack Obama has pushed closer than any president in generations to creating a basic health care safety net, yet the fate of legislation is far from certain.

Tougher financial rules have been stymied by industry lobbying, government turf battles and a stabilizing banking system. Some analysts fear another crisis is inevitable.

Yukio Hatoyama, who led Japan's opposition party to a stunning election victory, is coming to power amid questions about how he will pursue his desire for a more independent relationship with the United States.

Japan's opposition swept to a historic victory in elections Sunday, crushing the ruling conservative party that has run the country for most of the postwar era.

Former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, a leading figure in the liberal wing of his party, said Monday he doubts there can be meaningful health care reform without a direct government role.

President Obama said Sunday he's confident his drive to overhaul health care will succeed. The president writes in Sunday's New York Times about "health insurance reform" and says his attempt to overhaul the system is closer to reality "than we have ever been."