Health Policy Now Carved Out at a More Centrist Table  —  WASHINGTON — On the agenda is the revamping of the American health care system, possibly the most complex legislation in modern history.  But on the table, in a conference room where the bill is being hashed out by six senators, the snacks are anything but healthy.

Bachmann blocks resolution declaring Hawaii to be Obama's birthplace.  —  Today, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) introduced a resolution commemorating the 50th anniversary of Hawaii's statehood.  The resolution also proclaims the state as President Obama's birthplace, a point …

Sotomayor clears committee  —  The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court on a sharp party-line vote, handing President Barack Obama a victory and putting the federal judge one step closer to becoming the nation's first Latina justice.

Shatner Does The Palin Farewell Speech  —  I haven't blogged on Sarah Palin's bizarre farewell speech, but Conan O'Brien's inspired idea to stage a dramatic reading by William Shatner has wakened me from my dogmatic slumbers:  —  Of course the definitive bizarre Shatner vocal performances can be found on his album The Transformed Man.

Frothy Diplomacy: What Beer Will Obama Pick?  —  The President Hopes to Ease Tensions by Drinking Beer with Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sgt. James Crowley  —  The easy part for President Obama might have been getting Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley and Harvard University scholar …

Why Won't Obama Talk to Israel?  —  IN his global tours and TV appearances, President Obama has spoken to Arabs, Muslims, Iranians, Western Europeans, Eastern Europeans, Russians and Africans.  His words have stirred emotions and been well received everywhere.  —  But he hasn't bothered to speak directly to Israelis.

Sen. McCaskill's Office Holds Town Hall— TEA PARTY BREAKS OUT  —  Senator Claire “ACORN” McCaskill's office agreed to hold a town hall meeting on Obamacare.  —  A massive Tea Party Protest broke out!  —  Check this out:  —  This tea party protester fired up the crowd:

Obama's Health-Care Reform Plan Is Not the Answer  —  For the 85 percent of Americans who already have health insurance, the Obama health plan is bad news.  It means higher taxes, less health care and no protection if they lose their current insurance because of unemployment or early retirement.

Sarah Palin's Gradual Descent Into Incoherency  —  Remember how Sarah Palin graduated from her fiftieth college with a degree in communications?  What the hell happened to addle this woman's mind so much that she can no longer form logical sentences?  We went to the tapes to investigate.

Liberals Forgetting Keynes  —  In a striking turn in the unedifying history of business-cycle economics, John Maynard Keynes's masterpiece, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936), was ignored by liberal and conservative macroeconomists alike until the collapse …

GOP's teachable moment on the risks of Obamacare  —  Pick your average member of the House of Representatives, one who has a lot of work to do but hasn't been deeply involved in crafting the massive health care makeover bill.  Who knows more about what's in that bill — Mr. Average Democrat, or Mr. Average Republican?

Born in the U.S.A.  —  Pres. Barack Obama has a birthday coming up, a week from Tuesday.  We hope he takes the day off—or even the whole week, the briefest of respites from his busy schedule of truncating our liberties while exhausting both the public coffers and our patience.

Bashing Goldman Sachs Is Simply a Game for Fools: Michael Lewis  —  From the moment I left Yale and started working for Goldman Sachs, I've felt uneasy interacting with those who don't.  —  It's not that I think less of Goldman outsiders than I did while I remained among you.

The Power of Posterity  —  Every day, I check a blog called Marginal Revolution, which is famous for its erudite authors, Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok, and its intelligent contributors.  Last week, one of those contributors asked a question that is fantastical but thought-provoking …

MEANWHILE, AT GUANTANAMO ...  These days, John C. Yoo, the author of the Justice Department torture memos, is traveling around the country and giving talks in order to defend his work for the Bush administration, as The Washington Post reports.  At the same time, prisoners at Guantanamo are waiting for news on their situation.

U.S. Effort to Modify Mortgages Falters  —  An Obama administration effort to reduce home foreclosures by lowering the mortgage payments of struggling borrowers before they fall behind is failing to help as many people as expected.  —  Among the problems: Some homeowners are being told …

Newsweek's Obama Correspondent Joins Administration  —  Daren Briscoe, a Newsweek correspondent who was embedded with Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, has taken a job with the Obama administration, according to an email sent to a listserv of his classmates at the Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

SOMEONE'S GOT A NEW NEW DEAL.  —  The Obama-as-the-new-Roosevelt talk died down when it became clear that the President doesn't want to be FDR the way you want him to be FDR.  But there's someone out there for those of us pining for 1930s-style social programs: Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen …

House Democrats Gather for Health Care 101  —  They held the tutorial in the Capitol basement starting at 4 in the afternoon Monday.  For the first two and a half hours, about 180 members of Congress had to do something for which they typically have limited affinity: Remain speechless.

FURTHER BLURRING THE LINES.... I continue to be fascinated by the shrinking differences between the nutty, right-wing fringe and the Republican establishment.  Lee Fang flagged this gem yesterday. … Gohmert was on quite a roll, insisting that health care reform will “absolutely kill senior citizens …