To Our Readers  —  This is only the second time in its nearly ten-year history that the Dish has gone silent.  The reason now is the same as the reason then.  When dealing with a delusional fantasist like Sarah Palin, it takes time to absorb and make sense of the various competing narratives that she tells about her life.

Budget office: Health care bill costs $849 billion  —  Washington (CNN) — The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the Senate health care bill would cost $849 billion over 10 years, according to a senior Democratic source and an administration official.

Reid modifies abortion provisions but eschews Stupak language  —  The Senate healthcare reform bill includes new language designed to prevent taxpayer money from financing abortions, an anti-abortion-rights Democrat said Wednesday.  —  Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who was briefed on the healthcare bill …

Fox News displays old campaign footage to claim Palin is getting ‘huge crowds’ at her book signings.  —  This afternoon, Fox News host Gregg Jarrett proudly announced that Sarah Palin is “continuing to draw huge crowds while she's promoting her brand new book.  Take a look at — these are some of the pictures just coming into us.”

Palin photographer breached contract with sale to Newsweek  —  What on earth was Sarah Palin thinking when she posed in a pair of teeny-tiny gym shorts for a photograph that ended up on the cover of Newsweek — a cover she has called “sexist”?  Perhaps she was thinking that her image …

Holder's Testimony — By: Andy McCarthy  —  They are in recess after opening statements and initial rounds of questions.  Here are some of the Attorney General's whoppers so far:  —  1. The “tragic shooting” at Ft. Hood.  What happened at Ft. Hood was a jihadist massacre — a terrorist act, not a tragedy.

Texas' gay marriage ban may have banned all marriages  —  AUSTIN — Texans: Are you really married?  —  Maybe not.  —  Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed …

Breast Imaging Guidelines Trigger Political Fight  —  Some Republicans are seizing on new mammogram guidelines issued by a government advisory panel to underline their assertion that the Democrats' health care overhaul would lead to rationing of medical services.

5:30 p.m. |  Palin comes out of the bus, clad in a red and black jacket and black skirt and carrying her son Trig.  She tells the people gathered outside that she was thrilled to be back in Michigan.  —  “Alaska and Michigan have so much in common with the huntin' and the fishin' and the hockey moms …

Obama Approval Dips Below 50% For First Time, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Support For U.S. Troops In Afghanistan Drops Below 50%  —  President Barack Obama's job approval rating is 48 - 42 percent, the first time he has slipped below the 50 percent threshold nationally …

Health-care reform will not be remembered for its price tag  —  The numbers came first.  The Senate bill, we now know, costs a smidge under $850 billion during its first 10 years, cuts the deficit by $127 billion, and covers 31 million people.  In the second decade, it cuts the deficit by an improbably large $650 billion.

Jesse Jackson: 'You can't vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man'  —  The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night criticized Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) for voting against the Democrats' signature healthcare bill.  —  “We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill,” Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night.

Study: Stupak Amendment Will Eliminate Abortion Coverage ‘Over Time For All Women’  —  A new study by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services adds some expert imprimatur to what many progressives have been saying all along: The Stupak amendment …

The Federalist Society Annual Dinner: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!  —  Sensible shoes are for liberal chicks.  Say hello to fabulous Federalist footwear!  —  As you may have noticed, from our two posts late on Monday night and one from Tuesday morning, we're engaging …

$500 Million and Apology From Goldman  —  How much good will can an apology — and half a billion dollars — buy?  A lot, Goldman Sachs is hoping.  —  After first staunchly defending its outsize profits and pay, and then bristling at calls for restraint in these tough economic times …

Palin: ‘Death Panels’ Are Like Reagan's ‘Evil Empire’  —  ABC News' Rick Klein reports:  —  Sarah Palin is acknowledging that “death panels” aren't part of Democrats' health care bills.  —  But, she says, she's been talking about them to make a point — and she's comparing her use of the term …