On the NY23 Race, We Have A Practical Choice To Make  —  In the statement and audio clips below, Speaker Gingrich explains his decision to endorse Dede Scozzafava in the NY 23 special election:  —  Through my experience as Speaker of the House and building a Republican majority in 1994 …

Temporary Beltway Sanity  —  The doctor fix blows up in the Senate, no thanks to the AMA.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Yesterday saw some rare good news on the health-care front, with the stealth Democratic plan to move $247 billion in ObamaCare costs off the books collapsing in the Senate on a procedural vote of 47 to 53.

W.H.: Cheney failed on Afghanistan … No comments yet.  Be the first!

Conservatives roar; GOP trembles  —  Many top Republicans are growing worried that the party's chances for reversing its electoral routs of 2006 and 2008 are being wounded by the flamboyant rhetoric and angry tone of conservative activists and media personalities, according to interviews with GOP officials and operatives.

LANDRIEU'S LINE IN THE SAND.... The AP reports this morning on the Senate Democrats “who are more concerned about their next election or feel they have little to lose by opposing their party's hierarchy,” and who may stand in the way of health care reform.  —  Many of the usual suspects were mentioned, but one stood out.

Obama administration to cut executive pay at 7 bailed-out firms  —  NEW YORK — The Obama administration plans to order companies that have received exceptionally large amounts of bailout money from the government to slash compensation for their highest-paid executives by about half on average …

REM call for Guantanamo closure  —  Rock bands including Pearl Jam and REM have joined a coalition of musicians to support the US president's efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison.  —  The National Campaign to Close Guantanamo, which also includes former military officers, launched on Tuesday.

Fewer Americans See Solid Evidence of Global Warming  —  Modest Support for “Cap and Trade” Policy  —  There has been a sharp decline over the past year in the percentage of Americans who say there is solid evidence that global temperatures are rising.  And fewer also see global warming …

EVEN NPR.... Ken Rudin is the political editor for NPR.  To see him swallow the latest Republican attack meme whole is more than a little painful.  Here's his commentary on “Talk of the Nation” yesterday, complaining about the White House's criticism of Fox News. … I'd like to think Ken Rudin knows better.

AHIP Lobbyist To GOP: Don't Give “Comfort To The Enemy” On Health Care  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  A top lobbyist for the major private insurance industry trade group, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), urged Congressional Republicans to not even consider helping Democrats pass …

How John Kerry got the Afghan leader to see sense.  —  Sen. John Kerry's successful mission to Kabul—in which he convinced Afghan President Hamid Karzai to hold a second-round runoff to August's fraud-soaked election—suggests that the Obama administration is putting the squeeze on Karzai …

Mock As We Say!  —  Not as we do!  —  Lefties resort to sexism vs. empowered woman!  Again!  (Caution: Don't try this with the sitting president) Entertainment Weekly: … Such a good joke, they're all telling it: … It's OK.  Making fun of a powerful self-made woman of backwoods origins is good clean fun!

For Some Parents, Shouting Is the New Spanking  —  JACKIE KLEIN is a devoted mother of two little boys in the suburbs of Portland, Ore. She spends hours ferrying them to soccer and Cub Scouts.  She reads child-development books.  She can emulate one of those pitch-perfect calm maternal tones to warn …

In U.S., Half See Own Costs Worsening Under Healthcare Bill  —  More expect costs, quality, and coverage to get worse than did so in September  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Compared with last month, Americans have become more likely to say the costs their family pays for healthcare will get worse if a healthcare bill passes.

Snowe: I Do Not Support Opt Out Compromise, Would Likely Filibuster Public Option Bill  —  In a huddle with reporters moments ago, I asked Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) for her thoughts on a public option compromise that would allow states to opt out of a national government insurance program …