Sen. Reid: We've got votes on stimulus  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters Thursday that he has enough votes to pass a more than $900 billion stimulus bill out of the Senate.  —  Reid said he believes at least two Republicans of “good will” would support the Democratic-crafted package.

Husband of Rep. Solis, Labor nominee, settles tax liens  —  WASHINGTON — The husband of President Obama's Labor secretary nominee paid about $6,400 Wednesday to settle tax liens that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years against his business, the Obama administration told USA TODAY this afternoon.

The Action Americans Need  —  By now, it's clear to everyone that we have inherited an economic crisis as deep and dire as any since the days of the Great Depression.  Millions of jobs that Americans relied on just a year ago are gone; millions more of the nest eggs families worked so hard to build have vanished.

Raccoons Invade White House Grounds  —  A small band of masked intruders has broken into the secure White House grounds and has evaded capture by agents of the new Obama administration, officials said today.  —  The National Park Service is in pursuit of one very large raccoon …

Ginsburg is hospitalized with pancreatic cancer … WASHINGTON (AP) - Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had surgery Thursday after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the court said.  —  Ginsburg, 75, had the surgery at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Nelson Backing Off Proposed Stimulus Cuts  —  Sen. Ben Nelson, a centrist Democrat from Nebraska, is backing off of cuts he recently proposed to the economic stimulus package.  —  A discussion draft prepared by Nelson's staff has been circulating and became public Thursday.

Sessions: GOP Insurgency “May Be Required”  —  Frustrated by a lack of bipartisan outreach from House Democratic leaders, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said House Republicans — who voted unanimously last week against the economic plan pushed …

'There's no reason only poor people should get malaria': The moment Bill Gates released jar of mosquitoes at packed conference … It was a show-stopping move by any standards.  —  Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft and a renowned philanthropist, let loose a swarm of mosquitoes …

White House to Bypass Commerce on Census  —  The director of the Census Bureau will report directly to the White House and not the secretary of Commerce, according to a senior White House official.  —  The decision came after black and Hispanic leaders raised questions about Commerce Secretary …

Fla. doctor investigated in badly botched abortion  —  Eighteen and pregnant, Sycloria Williams went to an abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique to terminate her 23-week pregnancy.  —  Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair …

It's All Part of My Stimulus Fantasy  —  This amendment to the economic stimulus bill passed by the House and now being considered by the Senate, submitted by conservative icon-in-the-making Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), was breathtakingly bold.  The gist, from Sen. DeMint's Website:

Sen. Stabenow wants hearings on radio ‘accountability’; talks fairness doctrine  —  This morning, radio host Bill Press brought up the recent closing of liberal station Obama 1260 when speaking with Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, and talked about whether there needs to be a balance to right-wing talk on the radio dial.

Sunni electoral disaster, part 2: Baghdad  —  Preliminary results from the Baghdad provincial council election have begun to filter out into the Iraqi press.  The lead story will probably be that Maliki's Rule of Law list won more than half the seats.  But the more important story …

Rep. Maloney weighing primary challenge to Gillibrand  —  Rep. Carolyn McCarthy isn't the only New York Democrat named Carolyn to consider a primary challenge to newly crowned Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.  —  NBC New York is reporting that Rep. Carolyn Maloney is also weighing a campaign, and Maloney isn't disputing it.

“A False Premise”  —  E.D. Kain sums up neoconservatism: … But not in Egypt or Saudi Arabia or Gaza (where an actual free election that gave Hamas power was rewarded by a blockade!).  And then we patiently listened as neocons told us that the Palestinians are too dysfunctional a people ever …

Obama Stimulus Speech: “Time For Action Is Now” (VIDEO) … He also launched a shot at critics while talking about energy, questioning, “are these folks serious?” … During his speech Obama also issued a strong critique of the GOP's economic policies, even though he didn't utter the party's name.

Volcker Chafes at Obama Panel Delay, Strains With Summers Rise  —  Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) — Paul Volcker has grown increasingly frustrated over delays in setting up the economic advisory group President Barack Obama picked the former Federal Reserve chairman to lead, people familiar with the matter said.

Time to Play Hardball  —  The irony of President Obama's Blue Tuesday is that the wall-to-wall television interviews he granted were designed not to apologize for Tom Daschle's fall from grace but to fight back against the Republicans' success in tarnishing his stimulus package.

DEA continues pot raids Obama opposes  —  President vowed to end policy  —  Drug Enforcement Administration agents this week raided four medical marijuana shops in California, contrary to President Obama's campaign promises to stop the raids.  —  The White House said it expects those kinds …