It's Not An Option  —  Congress: It didn't take long to run into an “uh-oh” moment when reading the House's “health care for all Americans” bill.  Right there on Page 16 is a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal.  —  IBD Exclusive Series: Government-Run Healthcare: A Prescription For Failure

CBO Sees No Net Federal Cost Savings in Dem Health Plans  —  ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports:  —  Here's a blow to President Obama and Democrats pressing health care reform.  —  One of the main arguments made by the President and others for investing in health reform now is that it will save …

Sessions: GOP Won't Block Vote on Sotomayor Nomination  —  Witnesses Testify Following Nominee Questioning  —  Judge Sonia Sotomayor ended four days of testimony this afternoon with prospects of rapid confirmation to the Supreme Court improved, as a conservative Republican …

Video: Witness rips Boxer for racial condescension  —  Red meat by the slab, folks!  Barbara Boxer wound up getting reamed by Harry Alford, the chair of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, after attempting to challenge his testimony on energy policy.  When Boxer started waving position papers …

Romney Edges Palin, Huckabee in Early 2012 GOP Test  —  Palin's favorable rating stable after announcement of her resignation  —  PRINCETON, NJ — About one in four Republicans and Republican-leaning independents make Mitt Romney their top choice for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination …

Why We Endorsed Warrantless Wiretaps  —  The inspectors general report ignores history and plays politics with the law.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  It was instantly clear after Sept. 11, 2001, that our security agencies knew little about al Qaeda's inner workings …

The real price of Goldman's giganto-profits  —  Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein in Washington DC in November 2008 (Chip Somodevilla/Getty) … So what's wrong with Goldman posting $3.44 billion in second-quarter profits, what's wrong with the company so far earmarking $11.4 billion in compensation for its employees?

Up Next: Biden vs. Cantor  —  Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) landed a fresh blow in a tit-for-tat battle with Vice President Biden today after the latter accused the senior Republican lawmaker of smearing the administration's $787 billion stimulus package.  —  Cantor called an afternoon news conference …

Obama losing his cool?  —  It's been a tough week for President Obama's cool factor.  —  Not only is he weathering criticism of his policies, but the Cool One has also taken a few dings to his immaculate image in recent days.  —  It started on Monday.  Speaking at the White House …

DEM HEALTH RX A POI$ON PILL IN NY  —  TERRIFYING 57% TAX LOOMS FOR BIGGEST EARNERS  —  Congressional plans to fund a massive health-care overhaul could have a job-killing effect on New York, creating a tax rate of nearly 60 percent for the state's top earners and possibly pressuring small-business owners to shed workers.

The President Moves the Economic Goalposts  —  The stimulus isn't working as originally advertised.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  So what's a president to do when the promises he made about his economic stimulus program fail to materialize?  If you're Barack Obama …

Federal judge dismisses reservist's suit questioning Obama's presidency  —  A federal judge this morning dismissed the suit filed here by a U.S. Army reservist who says he shouldn't have to go to Afghanistan because he believes Barack Obama was never eligible to be president.

Boxer: But You're Black!  —  Boxer doesn't actually say that, she just implies it.  And the black male she's questioning takes great offense.  Chuck Devore is certainly going to have plenty of material to work with thanks to Boxer herself!  —  Update: Lifted from comments via Dan at GP with more - so true.

Change!  Obama Administration OKs Logging in Tongass National Forest, Alaska!  Takes Page From Palin Playbook; Dems' Radical Coalition Cracking?  —  From the leftist Mother Nature Network, “Obama Administration Green Lights Logging in Tongass National Forest”: … How do you like that Bruce Banner flourish?!!

BREAKING: AMA Endorses House Bill.  —  Via Health Care for America Now: The American Medical Association just sent a letter to House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, endorsing the health reform proposal put forward by three House committees.  —  This is unexpected.  Or, at least, I wasn't expecting it.

Ben Stein, predatory bait-and-switch merchant  —  How far has Ben Stein sunk?  Far enough that I feel compelled to resuscitate the Ben Stein Watch, just to share this unfunny and positively harmful TV ad which is now being aired:  —  “I went to freescore.com and found out my score for free” …

Hillary Clinton almost out of the red  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Hillary Clinton is almost debt free from her failed bid for the presidency.  —  According to reports filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission, Clinton's 2007-2008 campaign for the White House is now only $1.5 million in the red.

Wise Latina  —  Bama's Supreme nominee, a-nominee.  —  How'd you ever get so darn wise, Latina?  —  Giving O a victory, a-victory.  —  Tingle up Chris Matthews' fat thighs, Latina?  —  Never gonna stop, shut it up,  —  Such a motor mouth,  —  Always backing down when your

The Obsolete New York Model  —  Where a tax-eating majority votes itself a permanent income  —  It's worth recalling that when the Founding Fathers led the American colonists in revolt against British oppression, they weren't rebelling against torture on the rack or being chained in galleys …

A Publics Figure  —  Congress's First Elected Muslim Is Emblematic of Many Things, Depending on Group Needing a Symbol  —  Keith Ellison is what he is — the first Muslim elected to Congress, the first African American to represent Minnesota — while trying not to be too much of what he is.