Priceless.  Jamie Allman Confronts Russ Carnahan at Secret Press Conference on Beating Black Conservatives (Video)  —  Rep. Russ Carnahan held a secret press conference this morning to discuss the town hall meeting last night where tea party taxpayers were locked out, union thugs …

Palin: Obama's “Death Panel” Could Kill My Down Syndrome Baby  —  In a new posting on her Facebook account, former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) made a dire statement about health care reform — that it could result in an Obama-created “death panel” killing her infant son with Down Syndrome:

SEIU Gets Threatening Phone Call: “You're Gonna Come Up Against The Second Amendment”  —  An official with SEIU, which has been sending members to town halls to counterbalance the Tea Party brigade, sends over this audio of a phone call the union says it received on its central voicemail system …

Embattled S.C. Governor Sanford, Wife Are Splitting Up  —  Jenny Sanford, the wife of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, announced Friday morning that she and their sons will leave the governor's mansion in Columbia and settle in the Charleston area, a split that comes after the couple tried for seven weeks to mend their marriage.

First on the CNN Ticker: Florida senator to resign seat  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Florida, will announce that he is resigning his seat, three GOP sources tell CNN.  —  The sources said that Martinez will officially announce his intention to step down on Friday.

New Rule: Smart President ≠ Smart Country  —  New Rule: Just because a country elects a smart president doesn't make it a smart country.  A few weeks ago I was asked by Wolf Blitzer if I thought Sarah Palin could get elected president, and I said I hope not, but I wouldn't put anything past this stupid country.

White House Move to Collect ‘Fishy’ Info May Be Illegal, Critics Say  —  The White House has been under fire since posting a blog on Tuesday that asks supporters to e-mail any “fishy” information seen on the Web or received electronically.  —  FOXNews.com  —  The White House strategy …

So where's your birth certificate, congressman?  —  From POLITICO's Kathryn McGarr:  —  Last week, POLITICO asked the 11 House Republicans co-sponsoring the so-called “birther” bill — requiring presidential candidates to prove they were born in the U.S.— for copies of their own birth certificates.

Rahm Slammed Dems Attacking Other Dems As “F-king Stupid,” Sources Say  —  The Politico's Jonathan Martin reported this morning that Rahm Emanuel warned leaders of liberal groups in a private meeting this week that it was time to stop running ads attacking Blue Dog and “centrist” Dems on health care.

Health Debate Turns Hostile at Town Hall Meetings  —  The bitter divisions over an overhaul of the health care system have exploded at town-hall-style meetings over the last few days as members of Congress have been shouted down, hanged in effigy and taunted by crowds.

Reactions to Rush Limbaugh's Obama/Hitler comparison  —  [updated below (ADL) - Update II (Simon Wiesenthal Center) - Update III]  —  As I noted yesterday, the comparison of an anonymous person in the 2004 MoveOn.org ad contest of Bush to Hitler generated a massive media firestorm for a full week …

A Better Plan for Health-Care Reform  —  In 1986, Ronald Reagan and Bill Bradley created a legislative miracle.  They fashioned a tax reform that stripped loopholes, political favors, payoffs, patronage and other corruptions out of the tax system.  With the resulting savings, they lowered tax rates across the board.

Ben Stein finally Expelled from NY Times  —  You'll forgive me if I take some small measure of credit for this one: after something in the region of 35,000 words of the Ben Stein Watch, the world's worst financial columnist has finally been fired from the New York Times.  And I couldn't be happier.

OBAMA: 'DON'T WANT THE FOLKS WHO CREATED THE MESS TO DO A LOT OF TALKING'  —  “But I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking.  I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess.  I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking.”

Another Hurdle for the Jobless: Credit Inquiries  —  Digging out of debt keeps getting harder for the unemployed as more companies use detailed credit checks to screen job prospects.  —  Out of work since December, Juan Ochoa was delighted when a staffing firm recently responded to his posting …

Is This Health-Care Reform's Worst Idea Yet?  —  The Senate Finance Committee does not want to propose an employer mandate to promote health-care coverage.  But it doesn't want to let employers entirely off the hook, either.  So it has come up with one of the worst ideas in recent memory: A so-called “free rider” tax.

NY Times Co. says it is in no hurry to sell Globe  —  Paper's finances called improved  —  The New York Times Co.'s chief executive, Janet Robinson, and chairman Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. said deep concessions by The Boston Globe's unions and other measures have helped put the newspaper on the path to long-term survival.

Nancy and the Astroturfers  —  This was the scene when I arrived at Stout Street Clinic in downtown Denver.  Nancy Pelosi is to pay a visit to the clinic within the hour.  About 200 people opposed to Obama's healthcare agenda braved the mile high Denver sun and high temperatures to show their opposition.

Obamacare's Fatal Flaw  —  There are two basic points about health-care reform that President Obama wants to convey.  The first is that, as he put it in an ABC special in June, “the status quo is untenable.”  Our health-care system is rife with “skewed incentives.”

What's a Big City Without a Newspaper?  —  LAST STAND?  —  On a recent trip into Philadelphia, after I exited the Interstate and coasted to a stop at the first traffic light, a man walked up to my car.  He wore a black apron with a change pouch and held aloft a copy of The Philadelphia Daily News, the city's tart, irreverent tabloid.