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 …

Document: Military Agency Called Harsh Methods ‘Torture,’ Questioned Their Effectiveness  —  The military agency that helped to devise harsh interrogation techniques for use against terrorism suspects referred to the application of extreme duress as “torture” in a July 2002 document sent …

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.

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 …

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.

Gore, Gingrich and Greenhouse Gases  —  Former Vice President Al Gore and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich returned to the Capitol on Friday to lecture their onetime colleagues on legislation that would impose limits on the gases blamed for the cooking of the planet.

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 …

FBI Arrests Oklahoma Teabagger For Twitter Threats  —  An Oklahoma City man who announced on Twitter that he would turn an April 15 tax protest into a bloodbath was hit with a federal charge of making interstate threats last week, in what appears to be first criminal prosecution to stem from posts on the microblogging site.

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” …

Piper alert: Obama relocated in caution  —  It happens every once in a while.  —  A small airplane strays into the restricted air space over Washington, D.C., and the Capitol and White House lock down — people evacuated from the halls of Congress on Capitol Hill, and automatic weaponry coming out of the bags on White House grounds.

In Reversal, Army Ends Delay on Lightweight Armor  —  WASHINGTON — The Army has ordered that $3 million in new, lighter combat gear be sent immediately to two battalions preparing for duty in Afghanistan, officials disclosed on Friday.  —  The decision lifts a hold on the experimental effort …

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%) …

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 …

Bachmann: CO2 ‘is a natural byproduct of nature.’  —  On the House floor on Earth Day, April 22, 2009, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) argued that threat of manmade global warming doesn't make any sense because “carbon dioxide is a natural byproduct of nature”: … Watch it:

A Dubious C.I.A. Shortcut  —  GOOD intelligence can sometimes be gained by tormenting captives beyond endurance.  It is an old, old technique, refined during the 20th century by science — and pseudo-science.  By 1949 George Orwell could envision the shrewdly calibrated torments that induced …

Emmanuel Saez Wins John Bates Clark Medal  —  The John Bates Clark medal goes out to a promising young economist who often later finds himself burdened with a Nobel Prize.  This year's winner is Emmanuel Saez which is exciting for policy-oriented progressive bloggers since his specialty is inequality.

McCain: I don't always see eye-to-eye with Meghan  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. John McCain told CNN Friday he doesn't always see eye-to-eye with his outspoken daughter.  —  Meghan McCain, the 24-year-old daughter of the former Republican presidential nominee, has grabbed the media spotlight this year …