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Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in Politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

**President Obama continues health care push with primetime news conference.

**The Senate to vote on concealed weapons amendment.

HEALTH CARE: President Obama readies for his 8:00pmET news conference where health care will be topic number one as he continues his campaign-style blitz pushing for Congress to finish initial work on a reform package.

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Updated 1:03 p.m. ET

President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have won a standoff over funding the creation of new F-22 fighters.

The Senate voted 58-40 Tuesday to take out $1.75 billion from the 2010 defense appropriations bill that would have gone toward building seven new F-22s.

Mr. Obama immediately hailed the decision, saying it will "better protect our troops."

"I reject the notion that we have to waste billions of taxpayer dollars on outdated and unnecessary defense projects to keep this nation secure," he said. "…And that's why I'm grateful that the Senate just voted against an additional $1.75 billion to buy F-22 fighter jets that military experts and members of both parties say we do not need."

"At a time when we're fighting two wars and facing a serious deficit, this would have been an inexcusable waste of money," the president added. "Every dollar of waste in our defense budget is a dollar we can't spend to support our troops or prepare for future threats or protect the American people."

The president and defense secretary have strongly opposed the creation of new F-22s, $140 million fighter jets which have not performed a single mission in the conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan. The military already has 187 F-22s at its disposal.

Before the vote, the president said he would veto the $680 billion defense bill if the final version included the F-22 funding, stating flatly, "we do not need these planes."

Gates has pushed for the military to spend money on tools better suited to fight the unconventional wars in which the U.S. is now engaged. He calls the F-22 "a niche, silver-bullet solution required for a limited number of scenarios."

But members of Congress, led by Republicans Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson of Georgia, have been pushing to keep the $1.75 billion for the planes in the bill. They have argued that more F-22s are needed and that many jobs depend on them being built.

President Obama's reiterated Wednesday that he is prepared to veto the 2010 defense appropriations bill if the version that crosses his desk authorizes $1.75 billion in funding to continue building F-22 Stealth Fighters, also known as Raptors.

With the cost of building one new F-22 coming in at just under a quarter billion dollars, that's enough for seven more planes.

As the White House notes in a statement, "the collective judgment of the Service Chiefs and Secretaries of the military departments determined that a final program of record of 187 F-22s is sufficient to meet operational requirements."

Though some Air Force leaders have suggested that more F-22s are needed, the White House's point seems difficult to argue: As Secretary of Defense Robert Gates noted in February, "the reality is we are fighting two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the F-22 has not performed a single mission in either theater."

On Monday, the president wrote a letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee stating flatly, "we do not need these planes."

"To continue to procure additional F-22s would be to waste valuable resources that should be more usefully employed to provide our troops with weapons that they actually do need," he wrote.

Gates, who would prefer to build F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, has been pushing for a shift in focus of military spending toward counterinsurgency preparedness. He calls the F-22 "a niche, silver-bullet solution required for a limited number of scenarios."

Yet members of both parties in Congress are pushing through funding for the F-22s. The reason? Jobs. Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the plane, says 95,000 jobs would be lost in a variety of states if F-22s stop being built. The company has spent millions lobbying to keep the airplane in production, according to National Public Radio.

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Congress is moving forward with plans to fund the construction of additional Lockheed Martin F-22 fighter jets, even though the Obama administration has said the president would veto such a move.

A Senate panel on Thursday approved $1.75 billion to build seven more F-22s and the House of Representatives voted in favor of a Defense Department funding bill that would allocate more funds for the planes, the New York Times reported. Both chambers are also asking for a report from the administration on possibly exporting the planes to Japan and other allies.

On Wednesday, the Obama administration made it clear it opposes the extra funding. The Office of Management and Budget said the funding for more F-22 fighters runs counter to the "collective judgment" of the military's top leaders. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said production of the jets should stop after 187 have been built. Last week, he called the funding boost a "big problem." He said the jet does not fit well into 21st century warfare.

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