Howard Dean: “Kill The Senate Bill”  —  In a blow to the bill grinding through the Senate, Howard Dean bluntly called for the bill to be killed in a pre-recorded interview set to air later this afternoon, denouncing it as “the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate,” the reporter who conducted the interview tells me.

Nelson: 'I'm not on the bill'  —  The White House meeting Tuesday between President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats has raised expectations that they have nailed down 60 votes for the health care bill.  —  But as he prepared to leave for the White House with other senators, Sen. Ben Nelson …

Person of the Year 2009  —  The story of the year was a weak economy that could have been much, much weaker.  Thank the man who runs the Federal Reserve, our mild-mannered economic overlord  —  Ben Bernanke  —  A bald man with a gray beard and tired eyes is sitting in his oversize Washington office, talking about the economy.

U.S. gave up billions in tax money in deal for Citigroup's bailout repayment  —  Deal made to recover bailout Firms exempted from rule when U.S. sells its stake  —  The federal government quietly agreed to forgo billions of dollars in potential tax payments from Citigroup as part …

SHENANIGANS: SCHUMER HAS A FLIGHT TO FORGET  —  Schumer has a flight to forget  —  Sen. Chuck Schumer loves the sound of his own voice, but it carried a bit farther than he might have liked on the US Airways shuttle from New York to Washington on Sunday.  —  According to a House Republican aide …

Democrats Put Off Some Difficult Issues Until 2010  —  WASHINGTON — Faced with a shortage of time and an abundance of disagreement, Congressional Democrats are pushing fights over an increase in the federal debt limit and several other tough issues into 2010.

White House Says Comments from GOP Leader Boehner Are Crazy  —  From Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller:  —  Asked about fears some Americans might have about Gitmo detainees being transferred to a prison in Thomson, Illinois, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs today singled …

WaPo/ABC poll: Obama hits new lows on health care, overall approval rating  —  His numbers are down across the board since last month, so technically there's a trend here.  But not really.  The problem with WaPo's polls is that they've been using samples that skew overwhelmingly Democratic …

It's Official!  Media Matters Morphs Into One-Stop Fisting Information Clearinghouse  —  It's official...  MEDIA MATTERS: ALL THINGS FISTING  —  The Soros-linked far left website is now your premier stop for defending fisting and dental dam indoctrination of children.

Mystery as Lockerbie bomber goes missing from home and hospital  —  Mystery surrounded the Lockerbie bomber last night after he could not be reached at his home or in hospital.  —  Libyan officials could say nothing about the whereabouts of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, and his Scottish monitors could not contact him by telephone.

An Odd Post-Crash Couple  —  Spurning Obama, McCain and Cantwell propose resurrecting Glass-Steagall to break up Wall Street. … John McCain lost the 2008 presidential election because of the financial crisis—at least that's what his chief strategist, Steve Schmidt, suggested.

Hillary Clinton Admits Obama's Iranian Policy Is Also a Failure (Video)  —  What a complete and utter shock.  —  Who would have guessed this?  —  Hillary Clinton admitted today that Barack Obama's Iranian policy of extending a hand to the evil Iranian regime has produced nothing- Nada- Zilch.

Oral Roberts, Fiery Preacher With Vast Empire, Dies at 91  —  Oral Roberts, the Pentecostal evangelist whose televised faith-healing ministry attracted millions of followers worldwide and made him one of the most recognizable and controversial religious leaders of the 20th century, died Tuesday in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 91.

Spiteful Joe  —  I don't think it is betraying any confidences to divulge that I received an email from Atrios about ten days ago or so where he suggested that we really ought not to show any enthusiasm for the Medicare Buy-In plan lest Joe Lieberman decide that he's against it.