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.

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 …

Maddow/Olbermann Invited to White House Chat with Obama, But Fox Isn't a News Organization?  —  Here's a curious turn in the White House vs. Fox News fight.  —  On Monday, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow were among several people who attended an off-the-record briefing with Pres. Obama at the White House.

Attention, Sarah Palin bashers: Lookalike book ‘Going Rouge’ is coming!  —  We know that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin can hunt, and even field-dress a moose, but how will she take to poachers on her book sales?  Start-up publisher OR Books has announced plans to publish Going Rouge …

Prelude to Republican fratricide  —  GOP candidates in New York and New Jersey should be cruising to victory this November.  But angry conservatives would rather hand power to Democrats than help moderate Republicans win.  —  At the beginning of the summer, most observers expected Republicans …

Obama Goes Wobbly on Afghanistan  —  The president can sustain bipartisan support for the war if he demonstrates his personal commitment.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  In an interview with CNN's John King on Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said President Obama …

Cheney's Speech Tonight  —  Dick Cheney that is, who will be speaking at the Center for Security Policy tonight.  The speech is a real humdinger.  Check back here at 6 for the full text of the former vice president's remarks.

Daggett getting into Ventura territory in polls  —  It might be time for Chris Daggett to bust out the pink feather boa.  —  New polling shows the independent New Jersey Governor candidate is about where former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura (I) was at this point in his 1998 race …

There's No Substitute for Troops on the Ground  —  “I HOPE people who say this war is unwinnable see stories like this.  This is what winning in a counterinsurgency looks like.”  —  Lt. Col. William F. McCollough, commander of the First Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment …

Leaders Confident on Health Bill Vote  —  House Democratic leaders sounded bullish Wednesday after launching an all-hands-on-deck effort to win support for a “robust” public insurance option in their health care bill.  —  “We think we have the votes now,” Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (Conn.) told reporters.

‘Die quickly’ congressman creates namesofthedead.com; GOP cries foul  —  Rep. Alan Grayson, whose “die quickly” remark gained him much attention, has created a new website based on his meme called “namesofthedead.com.”  —  On the site, visitors can log the names and stories of friends …

Iran, Israel attend secret nuclear meet in Cairo  —  Israeli and Iranian representatives recently took part in a conference in Cairo on nuclear non-proliferation in the Middle East, the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) said Thursday, but Tehran said the report on the meeting was untrue.

7 Months After Stimulus 49 of 50 States Have Lost Jobs  —  America Now Over 6 Million Jobs Shy of Administration's Projections  —  The table below compares the White House's February 2009 projection of the number of jobs that would be created by the 2009 stimulus law (through the end of 2010) …

Tzipi Livni Shows Prime Ministerial Stuff on J Street Conference  —  The more I listen to Congressional Opposition chief John Boehner as of late, the more I wish he could find the dignity and common ground for big objectives that Israel's Opposition Party Leader, Kadima Party chief Tzipi Livni …

Republicans Overtweet  —  Twitter shuts down 33 fake accounts created by state Republicans in an attempt to lambast Dems  —  Barack Obama's victory last year left many Republicans bemoaning their party's ineptitude when it came to political exploitation of the Web.

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.