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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

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%) …

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.

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” …

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.

‘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 …

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 …

In Obama's Inner Circle, Debate Over Memos' Release Was Intense  —  Some Feared That a Partisan Outcry Could Obstruct Larger Agenda  —  As President Obama met with top advisers on the evening of April 15, he faced one of the sharpest policy divides of his young administration.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MEANINGLESS AMENDMENTS.  —  In response to the Great Amendment Hunt of Ought-Nine, commenter Badger asked, “These are pretty silly, but isn't the House going to make mincemeat out of these things once it goes to conference/reconciliation/de- crazifying committee?”  —  Probably.

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.

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.