Republicans Seize Control of State Senate  —  ALBANY - Republicans seized control of the New York State Senate on Monday, in a stunning and sudden reversal of fortunes for the Democratic Party, which controlled the chamber for barely five months.  —  A raucous leadership fight erupted …

‘TOLD YA SO’  —  Sarah Palin hits FOXNEWS tonight for the big ‘Told Ya So’ interview, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.  —  As President Obama vows to spend the ‘stimulus’ faster, Governor Palin tells host Sean Hannity: ‘You gotta quit digging that hole!’  —  HANNITY: What do you make of - look at the state of the economy now...

GOP Leader Working Behind Scenes To Get Palin Reinvited To Big Fundraiser  —  In another sign of the sway that Sarah Palin and her supporters in Palin Nation hold over the GOP, NRCC chief Pete Sessions is working behind the scenes to get Palin reinvited to the big GOP fundraiser tonight, GOP sources say.

Sotomayor Breaks Her Ankle  —  The X-ray revealed a small fracture in her ankle.  She was released from the hospital after less than two hours and is now using crutches, said Ben LaBolt, an assistant press secretary at the White House.  —  “This morning, on the way to Washington, D.C., Judge Sotomayor tripped at LaGuardia Airport.

Ginsburg temporarily blocks Chrysler deal  —  Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg put a temporary hold Monday on the deal to sell Chrysler to save it from collapse.  Her order, however, simply gives her or the full Court more time to ponder whether to postpone the sale further, or allow it to go forward.

AMATEURS.... As disappointing as it was to see the National Review's Ed Whelan expose the identity of Obsidian Wings' publius over the weekend, there were at least one encouraging development of note: bloggers from the left and right who don't agree on much agree that Whelan crossed a line.

Obama Rated Highest as Person, Lowest on Deficit, Spending  —  Obama doing better than Bush and Clinton at similar points in their first year in office  —  PRINCETON, NJ — While 67% of Americans view President Barack Obama favorably, his overall job approval rating and his ratings on specific areas are less positive.

Scandal could derail Democratic dreams  —  The Republican Party's fall from dominance in 2002 to utter collapse in 2008 is mostly attributed to the GOP either being too conservative or not conservative enough.  —  But Republicans were mostly incoherent on domestic policy during their six-year ride to the bottom.

Supreme Court Turns Down 'Don't Ask' Challenge  —  The Supreme Court today declined to hear a constitutional challenge to the Pentagon's “don't ask, don't tell” policy banning openly gay people from serving in the U.S. military, a move that could effectively leave it to the Obama administration to resolve the long-controversial issue.

Obama's Health Cost Illusion  —  The President's main case for reform is rooted in false claims and little evidence.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The main White House argument for health-care reform goes something like this: If we spend now on a hugely expensive new insurance program …

Source: Booby-trapped horses used in failed terror attack  —  Article's topics: Gaza Strip, IDF, Palestinians  —  Under the cover of morning fog, a group of around 10 Palestinian gunmen armed with “huge amounts of explosives” launched a failed Gaza border assault at the Karni Crossing on Monday …

Understanding the Kennedy health care bill  —  Over the weekend a draft of Senator Kennedy's (D-MA) health care bill leaked.  After playing with Adobe Acrobat, here is the text of the draft Kennedy bill as a text file (173 K), and as a single Acrobat file (3.4 MB).  Update: I fixed the broken link to the PDF.

Obama's Top Targeter Bullish on Montana and Worried About Gingrich; Predicts Deeds Win Tomorrow  —  Ken Strasma, recognizable to many 538 readers as Barack Obama's national targeting director in 2008, is the first participant in a new series of interviews we will be conducting with consultants …

Republican Letter to Obama Opposes Public Health Plan  —  A group of Senate Republicans sent a letter to President Barack Obama declaring their opposition to including a government-run plan in a health-care overhaul, saying it would be a “federal government takeover” of the health system.

Trust on Issues  —  Voters Now Trust Republicans More than Democrats on Economic Issues  —  Voters now trust Republicans more than Democrats on six out of 10 key issues, including the top issue of the economy.  —  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% …

Hard Labor in North Korea  —  As you've no doubt heard, two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, have been arrested by the North Korean government and sentenced to twelve years hard labor.  I've been trying to Google around for more information on the DPRK's labor camps …

Obama's Economic Circle Keeps Tensions High  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama was getting his daily economic briefing one recent morning when a fly distracted him.  The president swatted and missed, just as the pest buzzed near the shoes of Lawrence H. Summers, the chief White House economic adviser.

EXCLUSIVE: Recently Released Gitmo Detainee Talks to ABC News  —  Held Seven Years, Former Aid Worker Tells ABC News He Was Tortured  —  For 7½ years, Lakhdar Boumediene was known simply by a number: “10005.”  —  These were the digits assigned to him when he arrived at the detention center …

The 15 Hottest Conservative Women In The New Media  —  After doing The 10 Hottest Liberal Women In Politics last week, I thought that in order to be fair, I should feature the women on the Right as well.  So, in the spirit of the Hill's 50 Most Beautiful lists, I present to you “The 15 Hottest Conservative Women In The New Media.”

In Iraq, Colbert Does His Shtick for the Troops  —  CAMP VICTORY, Iraq — It was Sunday night in Baghdad, and President Obama was ordering Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of the American troops here, to shave Stephen Colbert's head.  (Not to give everything away, but the general is not as brutal …

U.S. to Propose Wider Oversight of Compensation  —  The Obama administration plans to require banks and corporations that have received two rounds of federal bailouts to submit any major executive pay changes for approval by a new federal official who will monitor pay, according to two government officials.

Has The Obama Administration's Banking Plan Failed?  —  When Tim Geithner's Public-Private Investment Partnership (PPIP) plan was announced, it dominated commentary for a solid week.  It was big, complicated, controversial, and, it seemed, important.  It was the center of the administration's …

Your Ticking Time Bomb Scenario  —  So when do we get to start torturing this guy: … Since there is no doubt that we have a history of anti-abortion domestic terrorism, and since we know that evangelicals already support torture for everyone, when do we get to start waterboarding this guy?

Shuler: I'm not running for Senate  —  U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler shot down speculation today that he is still pondering a run for Senate.  —  “I am not running for Senate,” the second-term Democrat said after a ground-breaking ceremony for a new building at the Bent Creek Experimental Forest Station in Asheville.