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 …

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 …

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 …

Big GOP names weigh in on N.Y. congressional race  —  A series of moves by potential Republican presidential candidates has turned a special congressional election next month in New York into an early test of conservative bona fides.  —  In the past week, former House speaker Newt Gingrich …

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.”

GMAC Asks for Fresh Lifeline  —  Lender in Advanced Talks for Third Slug of Taxpayer Cash — at Least $2.8 Billion More  —  In a stark reminder of how some battered financial firms remain dependent on government lifelines, GMAC Financial Services Inc. and the Treasury Department …

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 …

Letterman and Me  —  One of the few women ever to write for Late Night with David Letterman, the author (a longtime V.F. contributor) remembers a hostile, sexually charged atmosphere.  What's to be done?  Start by breaking late night's all-male gag order.  —  At this moment …

Times Buyout Package Reveals More than Expected  —  Just over a week ago, every person in the Times newsroom was sent out a buyout package via UPS Next Day Air.  If 100 staffers don't raise their hands by Dec. 7, there will be layoffs.  —  We got our hands on one of the thickish brown envelopes that went to employees' homes.

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 …

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 …

Flu-wary telecommuters may clog Web networks, GAO says  —  As the spread of the H1N1 flu keeps more Americans away from work and school, a federal report warns that all those people logging on to the Web from home could overwhelm Internet networks.  —  The Government Accountability Office reported earlier …

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).