CBO issues correction: Health bill nixes deficit less than thought  —  The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) corrected its estimate of the Senate health bill's costs on Sunday, saying it would reduce deficits slightly less than they'd predicted.  —  In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid …

Dec. 20: Axelrod, Dean, roundtable  —  David Axelrod, Howard Dean, Joe Scarborough, Markos Moulitsas, Ed Gillespie, Tavis Smiley  —  MR. DAVID GREGORY: This Sunday: The Democrats now appear to have the votes to pass sweeping healthcare reform in the Senate, and the president stands at the brink of a major legislative victory.

Why the Senate Should Vote Yes on Health Care  —  IF I were still a United States senator, I would not only vote yes on the current health care reform bill, I would do so with the sure knowledge that I was casting one of the most historic votes of my 36 years in the Senate.

POOR CHESS PLAYERS.... If it seemed as if the vast majority of Senate Democrats were acting with a stronger-than-expected commitment to getting health care done this year, it wasn't an accident. … Now, I happen to like that sentiment quite a bit, but let's pause to appreciate who made it: Evan Bayh?

Brittany Murphy Dies  —  Brittany Murphy died early this morning after she went into full cardiac arrest and could not be revived, multiple sources tell TMZ.  —  She was 32.  —  A 911 call was made at 8:00 AM from a home in Los Angeles that is listed as belonging to her husband …

Cooped-up senators turn cranky  —  Senators are suffering from cabin fever — and it has nothing to do with the snowstorm that socked Washington over the weekend.  —  A marathon session of early-morning, late-night and weekend votes — all coming after senators are typically home for the holidays …

Why I Still Believe in This Bill  —  Jacob S. Hacker is the Stanley B. Resor Professor of Political Science at Yale University.  An expert on the politics of U.S. health and social policy, he is author, coauthor, or editor of numerous books and articles, both scholarly and popular …

When Will White People Stop Making Movies Like “Avatar”?  —  Critics have called alien epic Avatar a version of Dances With Wolves because it's about a white guy going native and becoming a great leader.  But Avatar is just the latest scifi rehash of an old white guilt fantasy.  Spoilers...

Payoffs for states get Reid to 60  —  Ben Nelson's “Cornhusker Kickback,” as the GOP is calling it, got all the attention Saturday, but other senators lined up for deals as Majority Leader Harry Reid corralled the last few votes for a health reform package.  —  Nelson's might be the most blatant …

A Whodunit: The $100 million mystery hospital  —  ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports:  —  The health reform Christmas gifts for Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska are well known .  But somewhere out there is another good little legislator who got funding for a hospital in their state.

Dreading our future  —  I am a baby boomer, which is to say my life has coincided with turbulent and awesome times.  From the Cold War to Vietnam, from Watergate to Monicagate, through the horrors of 9/11 and the stunning lifestyle advances, my generation's era has been historic and exciting.

Questions over business deals of UN climate change guru Dr Rajendra Pachauri  —  The head of the UN's climate change panel - Dr Rajendra Pachauri - is accused of making a fortune from his links with ‘carbon trading’ companies, Christopher Booker and Richard North write.

Ayatollah Montazeri, Iranian Cleric, Dies at 87  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon — Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the plain-spoken senior Shiite cleric who helped forge Iran's system of religious government and went on to become a fierce critic of its hard-line rulers, died Sunday morning at the age of 87.

A President Who Loves Deadlines  —  WASHINGTON — Barack Obama had been in office just two days when he established himself as the Deadline President.  —  On that day, Jan. 22, Mr. Obama affixed his curlicue signature to an executive order requiring him to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay …