THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL  —  The internet is alive with the sound of people analyzing the CBO's “scoring” of the Max Baucus aka Senate Finance Committee Health Care Bill.  Before everyone gets too deeply into their thoughts, please keep in mind the following (get ready, all CAPS, bold, indented signifies a really important concept):

Bob Dole outs naysayer Mitch McConnell  —  Bob Dole supports health care reform.  —  “This is one of the most important measures members of Congress will vote on in their lifetimes,” the former Republican Senate majority leader and presidential candidate told an audience in Kansas City today.

Corzine Points a Spotlight at His Rival's Waistline  —  It is about as subtle as a playground taunt: a television ad for Gov. Jon S. Corzine shows his challenger, Christopher J. Christie, stepping out of an S.U.V. in extreme slow motion, his extra girth moving, just as slowly, in several different directions at once.

Civilian, Military Officials at Odds Over Resources Needed for Afghan Counterinsurgency  —  In early March, after weeks of debate across a conference table in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the participants in President Obama's strategic review of the war in Afghanistan figured …

Intelligence Fiasco Footnote  —  The authors of the 2007 Iran NIE have some explaining to do.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  When it comes to politicized intelligence in the Bush years, the critics may finally have a point.  Perhaps the work of America's intelligence agencies was manipulated …

Gun-toting soccer mom is shot dead … Meleanie Hain, the pistol-carrying Lebanon mom who received national attention for taking a loaded gun to her daughter's soccer game, was shot to death Wednesday night with her husband in an apparent murder-suicide, police said.

Thugs attack two transvestites... who turn out to be cage fighters wearing fancy dress  —  Two thugs who attacked what they thought were a pair of transvestites picked on the wrong men - when their intended victims turned out to be cage fighters on a night out in fancy dress.

In First Lady's Roots, a Complex Path From Slavery  —  WASHINGTON — In 1850, the elderly master of a South Carolina estate took pen in hand and painstakingly divided up his possessions.  Among the spinning wheels, scythes, tablecloths and cattle that he bequeathed to his far-flung heirs …

Religion Largely Absent in Argument About Cross  —  WASHINGTON — A Supreme Court argument on Wednesday about the fate of a cross in a remote part of the Mojave National Preserve in southeastern California largely avoided the most interesting question in the case: whether the First Amendment's ban …

Baucuscare: Score!  —  So, the CBO report is out, and my estimate of the contents is totally wrong.  WonkRoom has a pretty good summary:  —  Old CBO Score Of Baucus Bill  —  New CBO Score Of Baucus Bill  —  Costs  —  Reduce deficits: $49B/10yrs  —  Net Cost: $500B/10yrs  —  Gross cost: $774B/10yrs

Fort Carson's heroes  —  Please take time to read the profiles of the American soldiers who died in the siege at Kamdesh.  —  The Colorado Springs Gazette tells their stories here and here.  —  Many were fathers.  All were patriots.  They were stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado.

Father of Palin's grandson to pose for Playgirl  —  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Levi Johnston is going for the ultimate exposure—his bare body.  —  Posing nude for Playgirl is next for the 19-year-old father of Sarah Palin's grandchild.  Johnston's attorney, Rex Butler …

Health care reform: Saving American lives  —  Keith Olbermann on what really matters when it comes to health reform  —  SPECIAL COMMENT  —  Since August 23rd of this year I have interacted daily with our American Health Care system and often done so to the exclusion of virtually all other business.

It'll Be Hard for GOP to Party Like It's '94  —  A big question hangs over American politics: Could next year be 1994 all over again?  —  That was the year a bitter debate over health care led to a disastrous congressional election for Democrats, in which they lost 54 House and 10 Senate seats …

U.S. Budget Deficit Hit Record $1.4 Trillion in 2009  —  The previous record deficit was $459 billion and was set just last year.  —  WASHINGTON — The federal budget deficit tripled to a record $1.4 trillion for the 2009 fiscal year that ended last week, congressional analysts said Wednesday.