Administration Official: “Sebelius Misspoke.”  —  An administration official said tonight that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius “misspoke” when she told CNN this morning that a government run health insurance option “is not an essential part” of reform.

Conservatives Now Outnumber Liberals in All 50 States, Says Gallup Poll  —  (CNSNews.com) - Self-identified conservatives outnumber self-identified liberals in all 50 states of the union, according to the Gallup Poll.  —  At the same time, more Americans nationwide are saying this year …

Rationing and Rationality  —  Defined at a high level of abstraction, rationing is inevitable in medicine.  Not everything that might be in a patient's best interest can be done in a world of finite resources, and some constraint has to limit his treatment.  Thus the left-wing jibe that the market features “rationing by price.”

The Swiss Menace  —  It was the blooper heard round the world.  In an editorial denouncing Democratic health reform plans, Investor's Business Daily tried to frighten its readers by declaring that in Britain, where the government runs health care, the handicapped physicist Stephen Hawking …

Telling Grandma ‘No’  —  When Democratic congressmen dream these days, they're tongue-tied in town halls, fumbling with their microphones while they're shouted down by slavering, pitchfork-wielding Limbaugh listeners.  —  But Barack Obama is wiser than most Democratic congressmen, and his nightmares are savvier.

Overhauling health-care system tops agenda at annual meeting of Canada's doctors  —  SASKATOON — The incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association says this country's health-care system is sick and doctors need to develop a plan to cure it.  —  Dr. Anne Doig says patients …

Poll: 57% don't see stimulus working  —  WASHINGTON — Six months after President Obama launched a $787 billion plan to right the nation's economy, a majority of Americans think the avalanche of new federal aid has cost too much and done too little to end the recession.  —  POLL RESULTS: Six questions

Exclusive: New Poll Finds Majority Of Republicans Either Believes Or Isn't Sure About “Death Panel” Claim  —  Wow.  A forthcoming poll by the nonpartisan Research 2000 for DailyKos finds that a majority of Republicans either believes, or isn't sure about, the claim that the Dem health care proposal …

Mike Huckabee bashes America on foreign soil  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  Mike Huckabee this week traveled to a foreign country and, speaking on foreign soil, is now bashing America in front of a foreign audience: … According to Haaretz, Huckabee is joined on this trip by …

Obama: ‘Honored and humbled’ to speak before veterans in Phoenix  —  Police report no arrests or calls for medical assistance  —  President Barack Obama came to Phoenix this morning to address the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention.  —  But the real story, was on the streets outside …

Truth and not-quite-truth in the health reform debate  —  As chairman of the House Republican Health Care Solutions Group, Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Springfield, knows a thing or two about health care.  But some of what he knows just isn't true.  —  “I'm 59,” Mr. Blunt said last week during a meeting with Post-Dispatch reporters and editors.

Pentagon Worries Led to Command Change  —  McKiernan's Ouster Reflected New Realities in Afghanistan — and Washington  —  In mid-March, as a White House assessment of the war in Afghanistan was nearing completion, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen …

Tom DeLay on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ — It's Hammer Time!  —  Tom DeLay, the former Republican majority leader in the House of Representatives, will be a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars” when the popular ABC show premieres Sept. 21.  And, before you laugh or think this is going to be a joke …

Time to Legalize Drugs  —  Undercover Baltimore police officer Dante Arthur was doing what he does well, arresting drug dealers, when he approached a group in January.  What he didn't know was that one of suspects knew from a previous arrest that Arthur was police.  Arthur was shot twice in the face.

Obama, Biden to raise money for Specter  —  Sen. Arlen Specter (D) will welcome President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden to Pennsylvania in the coming months as he looks to build his financial lead in his race for reelection.  —  The president will attend a Sept. 15 fundraiser …

Auto Dealers Paid for Just 2 Percent of ‘Clunkers’ Claims, Congressman Says  —  Rep. Joe Sestak says only 2 percent of claims have been paid and that four of every five applications have been “rejected for minor oversight.”  —  FOXNews.com  —  The federal government has only reimbursed auto dealers …

Joe The Plumber Says He Would ‘Beat The Livin’ Tar' Out Of Pelosi  —  This past weekend, at the right wing's RightOnline blogger conference in Pittsburgh — sponsored by Americans for Prosperity — Alternet's Adele Stan reported that Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher attacked Nancy Pelosi for calling teabaggers “un-American.”

Democratic Elites Urge Progressive Block To Fold  —  There are a lot of actions that progressives can take to help progressive health care legislation become law.  You can call members of Congress or the White House.  You can attend town hall events.  And, just as importantly …

ORRIN HATCH, PAINFULLY CONFUSED.... It's frightening to think this guys was involved for months with the center-right negotiations in the Senate Finance Committee.  —  On ABC's “This Week” yesterday, Jake Tapper asked Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) of Utah a good question.

Court says Troy Davis can present evidence  —  Condemned killer on death row for murder of off-duty police officer  —  The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday gave Troy Anthony Davis the chance to present evidence in court that the condemned man has said for years will clear him of the murder of a Savannah police officer.