Lieberman Stepped Up Role As Talks Ebbed  —  Sen. Ben Nelson spent the last two weeks either surrounded by reporters or huddled with centrist members of both parties, hashing out a deal to move the president's stimulus through the chamber.  —  On the way to the most critical of those meetings …

Recount trial: Coleman dealt blow, but no knockout  —  In a blow to Coleman, recount trial judges ruled out most rejected absentee votes.  —  Dealing a blow but not a knockout to Republican Norm Coleman's hopes, the judges in the U.S. Senate election trial on Friday tossed out most of the 19 categories …

NOW THAT IT'S PASSED, REPUBLICANS LIKE THE SPENDING.... As you may have heard, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) rushed back to Capitol Hill last night, giving the economic stimulus bill its 60th vote, and sending the package to the White House.  The final vote on the $787 billion measure broke down exactly as expected.

Here's What $800 Billion Buys Today  —  The final version of the stimulus bill is ready to be voted on by the House and the Senate.  —  Here's the good news: The $246 million tax credit to Hollywood that made its way to the initial House bill and was removed in the Senate version didn't make it to the final bill.

A Smaller, Faster Stimulus Plan, but Still With a Lot of Money  —  On its way to becoming law, two crucial things happened to President Obama's economic recovery plan: It got smaller and faster.  —  Smaller in that it was cut to $787 billion from more than $800 billion in early versions in the House and Senate.

Bipartisanship Isn't So Easy, Obama Discovers  —  WASHINGTON — On the day before the big vote, President Obama took a freshman Republican member of Congress aboard Air Force One to visit Illinois.  Before an audience in Representative Aaron Schock's district, Mr. Obama praised him as …

Public still sky-high on Obama ‘brand’  —  With Barack Obama's victory in passing a massive stimulus package marred by days of bad press—as not a single House Republican backed the bill, his Health Czar went down in flames and his second pick for Commerce Secretary walked away …

Borders Bookstore in Dallas Praises Saint Obama  —  A reader sent me this picture taken at a Borders Bookstore in Dallas.  He says the picture was taken in the Kids section.  I guess Borders understands that it's never too early to indoctrinate the younguns.  —  Welcome to the Obamanation.

Afghan President Karzai hopes Obama will “settle down,” show “better judgment”  —  President Barack Obama is moving up in the world in terms of picking fights.  Or walking into them.  —  First came a disagreement over the impact of the administration's economic stimulus package in East Peoria …

Justice Dept. Lawyers in Contempt for Withholding Stevens Documents  —  An angry federal judge held Justice Department lawyers in contempt yesterday for failing to deliver documents to former senator Ted Stevens's legal team, as he had ordered.  —  U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan called it …

New York: Founder and CEO of Muslim TV channel beheads wife  —  Founded TV network to combat negative perceptions of Muslims  —  Bridges TV founder and Chief Executive Muzzammil Hassan founded the TV network in 2004.  According to a Reuters story at that time, “his wife came up with the idea …