Tedisco concedes to Murphy  —  Republican state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco conceded the New York special election this afternoon to Democratic businessman Scott Murphy, giving the Democrats a key off-year victory in a race that both parties aggressively contested.

Reconciliation Now Has a Date: October 15  —  It's been in the works for a while and now, according to senior Captiol Hill staffers, it's a done deal: The final budget resolution will include a “reconciliation instruction” for health care.  That means the Democrats can pass health care reform …

Key Dem Senator Likely To Vote Against Top Obama Legal Nominee  —  Uh oh.  This could signal real trouble for a key Obama nominee under assault by the right: Office of Legal Counsel chief Dawn Johnsen, a fierce Bush critic who would be at the center of the war over whether Obama …

Blackburn challenges Gore's motives  —  Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) challenged Al Gore's motives for supporting climate change legislation when the former VP appeared before a House panel today.  —  Blackburn noted Gore's role as partner in Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers …

Election 2010: Pennsylvania Republican Senate Primary  —  Pennsylvania Senate Primary: Toomey 51% Specter 30%  —  Incumbent Senator Arlen Specter trails former Congressman Pat Toomey by 21 points in an early look at Pennsylvania's 2010 Republican Primary.  Fifty-one percent (51%) …

Video: Frank in 2005 — Bubble?  What bubble?  —  Barney Frank argued this week that he had always warned about the excesses of pushing home ownership and had advocated for rentals instead.  Our friends at Verum Serum couldn't believe their ears, because Frank has long been one of the loudest …

Obtained: Cheney's Request Form Detailing The Two CIA Torture Docs He Wants  —  I've just obtained from the National Archives the actual request form that Dick Cheney submitted for CIA documents he claims will prove that torture worked.  —  Cheney requested all of two CIA documents, a total of 21 pages.

‘A person who can actually be trusted’  —  OK, I promise to get off the Armenian genocide story soon, as it's obviously not the most important issue of the moment.  —  But the reason it's a worth noting is captured in this campaign video from Samantha Power, which made a big impression …

Yes, National Review, We Did Execute Japanese for Waterboarding  —  In a CNN debate with Ari Fleischer, I said the United States executed Japanese war criminals for waterboarding.  My point was that it is disingenuous for Bush Republicans to argue that waterboarding is not torture and thus illegal.

Minnesotans won't know second Senator until at least June  —  The state Supreme Court set the schedule today for the legal showdown between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman over the Senate seat that has been vacant since January.  —  Minnesotans won't know who will be their second U.S. Senator until at least June.

Ambushing Bill O'Reilly's Ambusher  —  Gawker has some questions for Jesse B. Watters, the Fox News producer that Bill O'Reilly likes to send out to ambush his enemies.  So we're outside his building in Long Island.  Right now.  (Hi, Jesse!)  —  This apartment building is the last known address …

Regulators Disclose Criteria for Bank ‘Stress Tests’  —  Federal regulators released the criteria they used to assess the financial health of the nation's 19 biggest banks on Friday, but provided little new information for investors to distinguish the industry's weak players from the strong.

Why Don't We All Focus On “Looking Forward”  —  There's a bar in the East Village that offers five shots of anything for ten bucks.  I'm going there tonight, and taking 10 shots of anything the crowd reccommends.  Then I'm going to stand on the street soliciting random women for sex.

Obama ‘wrapped around the axle’  —  The Bush administration “kept the country safe” with its tactics in the interrogation of suspected terrorists, says Dana Perino, the former press secretary for ex-President George W. Bush.  —  And the Obama administration has “made a mess of the whole thing” …

Taliban Spokesman Blames American Women  —  Update |  1:25 p.m. Britain's Channel 4 News aired a video report on Thursday night showing Taliban forces on the streets of the strategically important Pakistani town of Buner, just 70 miles from the country's capital, Islamabad.

Reclaiming America's Soul  —  “Nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past.”  So declared President Obama, after his commendable decision to release the legal memos that his predecessor used to justify torture.  Some people in the political and media establishments have echoed his position.