House health-care reform bill includes public option, Medicaid expansion  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will unveil a health-care reform bill on Thursday that includes a government insurance option and a historic expansion of Medicaid, although sticking points in the legislation involving abortion and immigration remain unresolved.

U.S. Economy Started to Grow Again in the Third Quarter  —  For the first time in a year, the United States economy grew, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.  But even if a recovery is technically in the offing, job seekers likely will not begin to feel the benefits for months to come.

Obama Visits Returning War Dead  —  President Obama traveled to Dover Air Force Base early Thursday morning to meet with family members and pay his respects as the flag-draped coffins carrying bodies of 18 American troops killed this week in Afghanistan were returned to the United States.

Nervous W.H. intervened in N.J. race; top Obama adviser now in charge  —  One of President Barack Obama's key political advisers has become the central strategist in New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's bruising campaign for re-election, a race the White House desperately wants to win to avert …

Iowa Republicans wince at Palin fee  —  A conservative Iowa group's effort to lure Sarah Palin to its banquet next month has had an unintended effect: Rather than exciting conservatives about the prospect of a visit from the former Alaska governor, the group's plan to raise a six-figure sum …

Gates, Crowley Spotted Together In Cambridge Bar  —  CAMBRIDGE (WBZ) ― Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge police Sergeant James Crowley were spotted at a pub in Cambridge Wednesday night.  —  The owner of “River Gods” told WBZ the two sat in a booth together and talked for about an hour.

Report: Cash for Clunkers was a lemon  —  A study by Edmunds.com released Wednesday suggests that Cash for Clunkers mostly gave money to people who were going to buy a new car anyway.  —  American taxpayers paid a lot of cash for those clunkers: $24,000 for each new car sold, according to a study released Wednesday.

Democrats Ask New Jersey Secretary of State to Ignore Mismatched Signatures on Absentee Ballot Requests — By: Jim Geraghty  —  This year, New Jersey's registered voters can request a mail-in ballot for any reason.  Before 2005, voters needed to provide a reason for why they needed an absentee ballot.

Stimulus jobs overstated by thousands  —  WASHINGTON — An early progress report on President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan overstates by thousands the number of jobs created or saved through the stimulus program, a mistake that White House officials promise will be corrected in future reports.

Politicians Butt In at Bailed-Out GM  —  Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg was no fan of the $58 billion federal rescue of General Motors Co., saying he worried taxpayer money would be wasted and the restructuring process would be vulnerable to “political pressure.”  Now the lawmaker says it's his “patriotic duty” to wade into GM's affairs.

Victory for Obama Over Military Lobby  —  When the Obama administration proposed canceling a host of expensive weapons systems last spring, some of the military industry's allies in Congress assumed, as they had in the past, that they would have the final say.

‘Audacity to Win’: Excerpt by Plouffe on Obama Campaign  —  In a new memoir, The Audacity to Win, David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama's 2008 race for the White House, provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse inside the campaign.  Here's an excerpt:  —  Agony.  Ecstasy.

Shooting at North Hollywood synagogue investigated as hate crime; man detained [Updated]  —  A gunman approached a North Hollywood synagogue this morning and shot two people before fleeing, according to police, who are investigating the attack as a hate crime.

Police: SC state attorney caught with stripper  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. — A deputy assistant attorney general who said he was on his lunch break when an officer found him with a stripper and sex toys in his sport utility vehicle has been fired, his boss said Wednesday.

How bad should I feel about taking hot showers?  —  I know that taking long, hot showers is an environmental no-no. But now that the weather's getting colder, I just can't face the day without one.  Exactly how much damage am I doing to the planet?  —  Guilt is a tricky thing to quantify.