CNN Poll: 6 point jump in support for health care bill  —  Washington (CNN) - Support for the health care reform bill that Democrats are pushing through the Senate has risen six points since early December, according to a new national poll, and although a majority of Americans still oppose its passage …

An ugly finale for health-care reform  —  Going into Monday morning's crucial Senate vote on health-care legislation, Republican chances for defeating the bill had come down to a last, macabre hope.  They needed one Democratic senator to die — or at least become incapacitated.

Why I Left the Right, Exhibit P for Pawlenty  —  Newsweek has an interview with Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, the very model of a modern GOP candidate, considered by many as a possible front runner for the Presidency in 2012: Anti-science and anti-gay. … Is this a kind of “moderate” creationism?

Obama signs Franken's anti-rape amendment into law.  —  The White House Press Office sent out a statement today announcing that President Obama signed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 into law on Saturday: … Within the Appropriations Act is Sen. Al Franken's (D-MN) …

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani expected to announce Tuesday he will not run for U.S. Senate  —  So long, Rudy.  —  Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is expected to announce Tuesday he is not running for U.S. Senate or anything else in 2010, effectively ending his storied - and often stormy - electoral career, The Daily News has learned.

Lieberman: Obama Never Pressed Me On Public Option  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) insists that the White House did not pressure him to get in line behind either a public health insurance option or a Medicare buy-in compromise during the health care debate this year.

Reid defends deals  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) offered a vigorous defense Monday of the deals in the Senate reform bill that benefit individual states, saying “it doesn't speak well” of senators who didn't secure such deals.  —  “There are 100 senators here and I don't know that there's …

Rasmussen: Dorgan trailing in ND re-election bid by 22 points  —  Call it the Wages of ObamaCare.  When only 30% of a state's likely voters support the one piece of legislation on which the incumbent has worked for most of the year, they tend to get a little chippy about the idea of sending him back to Washington.

Sen. Whitehouse: foes of health care bill are birthers, right-wing militias, aryan groups  —  ****Updated with video link and more transcript  —  Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) today took shots at those who are not supporting the health care legislation.

For Obama, No Opportunity Too Big to Blow  —  Cross-posted with EnviroNation.  —  Contrary to countless reports, the debacle in Copenhagen was not everyone's fault.  It did not happen because human beings are incapable of agreeing, or are inherently self-destructive.

Leadership, Obama Style, and the Looming Losses in 2010: Pretty Speeches, Compromised Values, and the Quest for the Lowest Common Denominator  —  As the president's job performance numbers and ratings on his handling of virtually every domestic issue have fallen below 50 percent …

U.S. Limits Tarmac Waits for Passengers to 3 Hours  —  WASHINGTON — The federal government will impose big fines starting this spring on airlines that keep passengers waiting on the tarmac too long without feeding them or letting them off the plane.  —  Airlines that let a plane sit …

Exclusive: ACORN Qualifies for Funding in Senate Health Care Bill  —  Senator Roland Burris is claiming credit for a provision in Harry Reid's “manager's amendment,” unveiled Saturday morning, that could funnel money to ACORN through the health care bill.  —  On December 9, Burris …

A Dangerous Dysfunction  —  Unless some legislator pulls off a last-minute double-cross, health care reform will pass the Senate this week.  Count me among those who consider this an awesome achievement.  It's a seriously flawed bill, we'll spend years if not decades fixing it, but it's nonetheless a huge step forward.

Listicle of the Day: Worst Washington Post Columnists of the Zeroes  —  It's beginning to feel a lot like listicle time: … I want to keep the explication to a minimum, but this is an award for the aggregate badness of one's Washington Post columns, not a holistic judgment of the character …

Code TEA: Tea Parties, Go Home!  All Politics Is Local  —  TEA Parties nation-wide have found that calling, writing, and showing up in person in D.C. has the same impact as a hiccup in a hurricane.  After turning out thousands of citizens at rallies, overwhelming the Senate phone lines …