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 …

BREAKING: Comprehensive List of Taxes In House Democrat Health Bill  —  H.R. 3962, the “Affordable Health Care for America Act” has been introduced—all 1990 pages of it.  This gargantuan beast contains thirteen new tax hikes.  Here they all are, with description and page number (PDF version):

Dozens in Congress under ethics inquiry  —  House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

Orly Taitz Smacked Down: Birther Lawsuit Dismissed  —  Central District of California Judge David O. Carter has dismissed Barnett et al v. Obama et al, Orly Taitz's most successful lawsuit — that is, the one that got the furthest through the legal system — demanding proof of the president's citizenship.

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.

GDP Growing Again: Are We Finally Okay?  —  So GDP grew at 3.5% in the third quarter?  Are we out of the woods yet?  —  Maybe.  But I wouldn't bet on it.  —  I think we have bottomed out; I don't foresee the economy starting to contract sharply again.  But I'm not overimpressed by the growth figures, for a couple of reasons.

McConnell: The Public Option ‘May Cost You Your Life’  —  For months now, conservatives have been scare-mongering about health care reform with outrageous claims that it would lead to “death panels” that could “pull the plug on grandma.”  In Congress, some Republican backbenchers have claimed …

President Signs Law Giving Defense Department Authority To Exempt Photos From Freedom Of Information Act  —  ACLU Renews Call For Secretary Gates Not To Block Release Of Torture Photos  —  CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org  —  WASHINGTON - President Obama today signed into law …