Finance Committee to drop end-of-life provision  —  The Senate Finance Committee will drop a controversial provision on consultations for end-of-life care from its proposed healthcare bill, its top Republican member said Thursday.  —  The committee, which has worked on putting together …

End-of-Life Provision Loses Favor  —  The cost of caring for patients who are near death accounts for a big piece of the government's medical spending.  But a furor over a provision for government-paid counseling to plan for end-of-life care is steering lawmakers away from the issue.

Trust on Issues  —  Voters Give GOP First-Time Lead on Health Care  —  For the first time in over two years of polling, voters trust Republicans slightly more than Democrats on the handling of the issue of health care.  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that voters favor the GOP on the issue 44% to 41%.

Obama camp plants fake doc, Che fan at Jackson Lee forum  —  I was reading the Chron's piece about Sheila Jackson Lee's town hall, when something caught my eye: … In this video, Mayer claims to be a general practitioner, eliciting applause and even a hug from Queen Sheila:

Nineteen Minutes In a Car With Harry Reid  —  LAS VEGAS - Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, was having second thoughts - or was he? - about the way he had characterized people who are disrupting town halls with “lies, innuendo and rumor,” and not letting others speak.  They are, he said, “evil-mongers.”