Lieberman: I'll block vote on Reid plan  —  Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Tuesday that he'd back a GOP filibuster of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's health care reform bill.  —  Lieberman, who caucuses with Democrats and is positioning himself as a fiscal hawk on the issue …

Arnold to SF: F**k You  —  It was hardly a bill of cosmic import, but Assemblymember Tom Ammiano's AB 1176 would have helped the Port of San Francisco with some financing issues.  It's the kind of bill that legislators offer on behalf of their cities all the time — and generally, they are non-controversial.

Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace  —  I was debating with Jon Chait at a J Street panel this morning on the subject of “what does it mean to be pro-Israel?”  As expected, we disagreed on a number of points, most of which I was right on and he was wrong on.  But one thing he said in his opening remarks …

Brother of Afghan Leader Is Said to Be on C.I.A. Payroll  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country's booming illegal opium trade, gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency, and has for much of the past eight years …

Police: Gang rape lasted over two hours  —  (CNN) — A California high school student who police said was gang raped in a two-and-a-half-hour assault outside a homecoming dance remained hospitalized in stable condition Monday, two days after she was flown from the attack scene in critical condition.

Pathetic: Jarrett backtracks from Fox News bias claim when asked about MSNBC  —  Credit CNN here.  Not only did Campbell Brown follow up with a question about MSNBC after this sorry hack went into Fox-bashing mode but CNN.com actually posted a write-up noting her lame retreat when confronted.

Alan Grayson Stands by “K Street Whore” Comment  —  Outspoken Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson is under fire from both Republicans and Democrats after a month-old radio interview was posted online in which Grayson is heard calling an adviser to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke a “K Street whore.”

Justice Scalia comes clean on Brown v. Board of Education?  —  UPDATE:  —  As I suspected, Justice Scalia did not say he would have dissented in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.  The newspaper account is incorrect and took his remarks out of context.  The author of the article …

Fred to Newt: We're not ‘deaf, dumb’  —  Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson brushed back former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Tuesday over Gingrich's warning that the Republican Party is wrong to thrown in its lot with the Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman over Dede Scozzafava …

Ex-Chief of AMD Is Linked to Galleon  —  One of the technology industry's highest-profile executives has become ensnared in an alleged insider-trading case that is shaking the corporate and financial worlds.  —  A criminal case filed by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office earlier …

Exclusive: Robust Public Option Lacks Votes To Pass House, Internal Whip Count Document Shows  —  The House Dem leadership has conducted its preliminary whip count and has tallied up less than 200 likely Yes votes in support of a health care reform bill with a robust public option …

D.C. vote hopes fade on the Hill  —  D.C. voting rights advocates ran into a major obstacle Tuesday, as the top Senate appropriator said he'd block any proposal to attach the District voting representation bill to a must-pass military spending measure.  —  “Forget it,” said Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).

Bay Bridge closed after repair falls apart  —  (10-27) 21:12 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — Three pieces of an emergency repair to the Bay Bridge's cantilever section made over Labor Day weekend snapped and crashed onto the upper deck of the span late Tuesday afternoon, striking three vehicles and forcing …

The Lethal Politics Of The Opt-Out Public Option  —  I'm surprised this hasn't gotten more attention.  But imagine for a moment that the opt-out public option passes and becomes law (I give it a 65 percent chance at this point).  Then what happens?  Well, there has to be a debate in every state …

GOP Honors Tea Party Marchers — And Inflates Their Numbers  —  Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) and 75 other House Republicans have introduced a resolution “expressing gratitude and appreciation to the individuals and families who participated in the Taxpayer March on Washington on September 12, 2009” …

Iraq seeks new nuclear programme  —  Iraq has started lobbying for approval to again become a nuclear player, almost 19 years after British and American war planes destroyed Saddam Hussein's last two reactors, the Guardian has learned.  —  The Iraqi government has approached the French nuclear industry …

Washington Sketch: A hostile climate for Sen. Inhofe the warming skeptic  —  It must be very lonely being the last flat-earther.  —  Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, committed climate-change denier, found himself in just such a position Tuesday morning as the Senate environment committee …