In Beer Summit “Spoof” Milbank Suggests Hillary Drink “Mad Bitch” Beer  —  If I were on the board of directors of the Kaplan test prep company, and discovered that the people running a money-losing Kaplan subsidiary affiliate (better known as the Washington Post) had greenlighted a feature called …

House panel approves healthcare reform bill  —  The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday night approved the Democrats' healthcare reform bill, setting up a floor vote this fall.  —  The passage of the legislation came after days of intense negotiations between Energy …

Voices From Above Silence a Cable TV Feud  —  It was a media cage fight, televised every weeknight at 8 p.m. But the match was halted when the blood started to spray executives in the high-priced seats.  —  For years Keith Olbermann of MSNBC had savaged his prime-time nemesis Bill O'Reilly …

McCain to filibuster “Cash for Clunkers” bill; Trouble for Reid with Dems, too  —  When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, tries to take up the House-passed “Cash for Clunkers” bill next week, he will hit a series of bipartisan road blocks.  —  Fox has learned that Sen. John McCain …

Obama's revealing body language (updated and expanded))  —  This picture truly is worth at least a thousand words.  —  I am stunned that the official White House Blog published this picture and that it is in the public domain.  The body language is most revealing.

Franken feuds with T. Boone Pickens  —  Five years after he put his money behind the Swift Boat ads that helped tank John Kerry's presidential campaign, Senate Democrats gave T. Boone Pickens a warm welcome at their weekly policy lunch Thursday.  —  Or at least most of them did.

Pulling No Punches  —  The maverick on Obamanomics, Sarah Palin, and the media.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  John McCain is red in the face and hopping mad.  I'm sitting in his office in the Senate Russell Office Building, and he's just rushed in after delivering a speech on the Senate floor …

Dealers Race to Get Their Clunkers Crushed  —  The White House and Congress may be giving the “cash for clunkers” program a reprieve, but one can't help wondering how many dealers and customers will have the confidence to go forward at this point.  Things sound like a total mess in the showrooms.

Alabama Area Reeling in Face of Fiscal Crisis  —  BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — It is hardly unusual these days for a government building to forgo a fresh paint job or regular lawn care to cut costs.  But last week, the director of the Jefferson County public nursing home was told that the county could no longer afford to bury indigent patients.

Right-Wing Harassment Strategy Against Dems Detailed In Memo: ‘Yell,’ ‘Stand Up And Shout Out,’ ‘Rattle Him’  —  This morning, Politico reported that Democratic members of Congress are increasingly being harassed by “angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior” at local town halls.

Media Matters Running Ads Attacking Lou Dobbs' Birther Obsession — On CNN!  —  Okay, this is an intriguing new frontier in political media criticism.  Media Matters, which has been attacking CNN for not reining in Lou Dobbs' birther obsession, has now purchased air time to run a TV ad attacking …

Gates sends flowers to woman who called the police  —  Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. has sent a bouquet of flowers and a note to the woman whose 911 call led to his arrest earlier this month.  —  Wendy Murphy, attorney and spokeswoman for Lucia Whalen, said today that Gates had sent …

Rudy: ‘Shut Up’  —  Rudy Giuliani, who has returned as a leading Republican spokesman, condemned Obama's health care plan in an interview with Sean Hannity.  —  He also offered, in response to the president's hope that the Gates arrest would be a “teachable moment,” this:  —  “He's actually right.

How government programs are saving insurance companies from disaster.  —  “The truth is, we have a system today that works well for the insurance industry, but it doesn't always work well for you,” President Barack Obama said recently, making his case for health care reform.

Ben Nelson On Ads Run Against Him: They Could Kill Health Care Reform  —  Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) lashed out Friday at the ads being run against his position on health care reform in his home state, saying they would backfire — and might even derail the entire reform process.

Corazon Aquino, Leader of Philippines, Dies at 76  —  Corazon C. Aquino of the Philippines, who was swept into office on a wave of “people power” in 1986 and then faced down half a dozen coup attempts in six years as president, died Saturday in Manila, her son said.  She was 76.

NAACP-Forgery Group, Bonner & Associates, Has A Decades-Long History Of Astroturf Tactics  —  A DC-based consulting firm has been exposed for forging letters in opposition to the American Clean Energy and Security Act.  The letters, replete with letterhead and made-up identities …

Rep. Taylor calls anti-tax group ‘scum’  —  Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) has called Grover Norquist's anti-tax group Americans for Tax Reform “lying sacks of scum” for lumping him in with other moderate Democrats who support the House health reform bill.  —  “Americans for Tax Reform …