In shift, GOP leaders embrace Hoffman  —  The House Republican leadership is prepared to welcome Doug Hoffman into its ranks, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said Thursday, a sign that the GOP establishment is recalibrating its approach toward …

'I'm not big on showing weakness'  —  Even before her bill reaches the House floor, health care reform has been a lesson in the limits of power for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — and in the immense challenge of managing disappointment on the left.  —  The bill rolled out Thursday is weaker …

Seven members of House defense subcommittee scrutinized by ethics investigators  —  Separate probes focus on ties to lobbying firm founded by Hill aide  —  Nearly half the members of a powerful House subcommittee in control of Pentagon spending are under scrutiny by ethics investigators in Congress …

Fox News Viewed as Most Ideological Network  —  Swine Flu Tops Weekly News Interest  —  The Fox News Channel is viewed by Americans in more ideological terms than other television news networks.  And while the public is evenly divided in its view of hosts of cable news programs having …

Evan Bayh: Hypocrisy on the Public Option  —  Stock quotes in this article: WLP , EMMS , LLY  —  WASHINGTON (TheStreet) — Evan Bayh, the junior senator from Indiana, is in the middle of a heated debate in the Senate on whether a public option should be included as part of President Obama's health care reforms.

Bayh reversal?  —  Hours after POLITICO posted results of a poll showing a possible backlash by Indiana Dems, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) backed off of previous statement saying he was considering siding with the GOP on a public option filibuster.  —  A spokesman emailed me the following statement just now:

Corzine Leads Christie by Five Points in New Jersey  —  With less than a week to go before Election Day in New Jersey, a new survey conducted for Stan Greenberg and James Carville's organization Democracy Corps shows Democratic Governor Jon Corzine slightly expanding his lead over Republican Chris Christie to 5 points.

Brooklyn Law Won't Proactively Rat Out Its Students  —  Yesterday we reported on this announcement by Brooklyn Law School: … This stance proved unpopular with BLS students, as well as ATL readers.  In a poll, about 75 percent of readers answered “yes” when asked, “Should Brooklyn Law School …

New Jersey Police: Reports Like Lou Dobbs' ‘Not At All Uncommon’ During Hunting Season  —  Several media sources have reported that shots were fired at the residence of CNN's Lou Dobbs.  While Dobbs and his anti-immigrant supports were quick to jump to conclusions about the motive of the shooting …

Disgraceful: In 8 Years, George W. Bush Never Greeted Fallen Troops  —  This is what a president does. … NPR notes that, … Why? … Bush also preferred to go bed early, but apparently, could never get his ass out of bed early enough to honor the soldiers he so recklessly sent off to die.

The Defining Moment  —  O.K., folks, this is it.  It's the defining moment for health care reform.  —  Past efforts to give Americans what citizens of every other advanced nation already have — guaranteed access to essential care — have ended not with a bang, but with a whimper …

They make their mark in mug shot history  —  (CNN) — Police say guilt was written all over their faces.  —  Police received a call Friday night that two men with hooded sweatshirts and painted faces had tried to break into a man's home in Carroll, Iowa.  —  When police stopped …

Iran reply on nuclear deal called ‘inadequate’  —  A Western diplomat says Tehran wants to send its uranium abroad for enrichment in smaller batches and over a longer period of time than foreseen by the U.S.-backed proposal.  —  U.N. nuclear inspectors arrive in Vienna after a visit …

Blair hopes for EU presidency sinking fast  —  Ex-PM's chances of winning role slide as Sarkozy and Merkel fail to back him  —  Tony Blair's hopes of becoming Europe's first sitting president were receding fast last night as Britain admitted his chances of success were “fading” …

Sarah Palin Charging $100K for Iowa Speech?  Not Exactly.  —  Palin in Iowa, November 2008.  Photo by Mark Hirsch / Getty Images  —  Politico's Jonathan Martin has a good story today about an Iowa conservative group's efforts to lure Sarah Palin to a fundraising dinner in Des Moines next month.

How Democrats can say the bill costs less than $1 trillion  —  There was a lot of confusion this afternoon when the CBO released its cost estimate for the House bill.  Democrats had said earlier in the day that the bill would cost $894 billion — just under the $900 billion limit set by President Obama.