A Democrat's view from the House: Senate bill isn't health reform  —  Editor's note: Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, a Democrat, represents the 28th Congressional District of New York.  Slaughter is the first woman to chair the House Rules Committee and the only microbiologist in Congress.

McCain, GOP secretly courting another Dem to switch  —  Republicans are stepping up their efforts to persuade more House Democrats to switch parties and are zeroing in on a second-term Pennsylvanian who is not ruling out such a move.  —  Democratic Rep. Chris Carney received a phone call Wednesday …

CNN Poll: More Americans think Democratic policies better than Republican  —  Washington (CNN) - Despite the bruising battle over their health care reform proposals, congressional Democrats have maintained an advantage over their Republican counterparts on one key measure, according to a new national poll.

Why I Don't Write About Sarah Palin's Facebook Posts  —  Last week, PolitiFact.com announced its “Lie of the Year”: Sarah Palin's claim that the health care bill might create “death panels” that would kill elderly or disabled Americans.  It was a lie, the editors pointed out …

Crapo: GOP unlikely to be able to repeal health bill  —  Republicans are unlikely to repeal the health reform legislation before Congress if they take control of the House and Senate, a GOP senator conceded Wednesday.  —  Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said Republicans are unlikely to be able …

Jane Hamsher, Grover Norquist Call for Rahm Emanuel's Resignation  —  Today, Grover Norquist and I are calling for an investigation into Rahm Emanuel's activities at Freddie Mac, and the White House's blocking of an Inspector General who would look into it.  The letter follows:

MSNBC Cancels ‘Dr. Nancy’  —  Breaking: TVNewser has learned MSNBC has canceled “Dr. Nancy” the NoonET health/medical show hosted by Dr. Nancy Snynderman.  —  The cancellation of “Dr. Nancy” is yet another daytime programming move by MSNBC, which has fallen to 4th and, on some days, 5th place in the daytime ratings.

Yes, Obama did campaign on the public option  —  Oy.  I'll defend the argument that the health-care bill that looks likely to pass is structurally similar to the health-care proposal released by the Obama campaign.  But it's impossible to defend Obama's statement that “I didn't campaign on the public option.”

Is Obama Growing Weary Of The GOP's ‘Filibuster Everything’ MO?  —  There's growing sentiment on the left—most recently evinced by SEIU President Andy Stern and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman—that the Senate's quiet acceptance of the filibuster—and therefore a 60 vote threshold for most legislation …

‘Seinfeld’ over, but Festivus keeps giving  —  (CNN) — Long before company celebrators bench-pressed fax machines, partygoers performed competitive face-plants into ice water, or family members gathered around an aluminum pole to wield complaints at one another, the common people of ancient Rome began to act up.

Colbert Dishes On Bush, Glenn Beck, and MSNBC  —  When Chicago's Second City comedy troupe held a weekend-long 50th anniversary bash, the obvious highlights were Friday and Saturday shows with Martin Short, Steve Carell, Bonnie Hunt, Jim Belushi, George Wendt, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin …

Stupak: 'You Don't Buy Me Off' — By: Robert Costa  —  After watching the Senate's health-care debate, Rep. Bart Stupak (D., Mich.) tells NRO that he has one message for President Obama and House speaker Nancy Pelosi: “You don't buy me off.”  —  Stupak tells us that he's disappointed …

Recession Slows Population Rise Across Sun Belt  —  MIAMI — States in the South and the West that grew by exceptional leaps and bounds during the real estate boom of just a few years ago are now experiencing sharply slower growth in population, the Census Bureau said Wednesday.

Challenge to health bill's constitutionality fails, 39-60  —  A challenge to the Senate health bill's constitutionality failed on Wednesday afternoon in a party-lines vote.  —  Sens. John Ensign (R-Nev.) and Orrin Hatch's (R-Utah) point of order arguing that the Senate bill is unconstitutional under …

Manufacturing's Death Greatly Exaggerated  —  Here's some pretty grim news about the U.S. manufacturing sector—manufacturing employment in the United States fell below 12 million this year for the first time since 1946, and is now at the lowest level (11,648,000 manufacturing jobs in November) …

Jane Norton, GOP Senate Candidate, Sits Silently As Obama Called A Muslim  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Former Colorado lieutenant governor Jane Norton, one of the five candidates competing in the Republican primary for the state's 2010 Senate race, is distinguishing herself with her full-hearted embrace of the tea party crowd.

Meep Meep  —  My own view is that 2009 has been an extraordinarily successful year for Obama.  Since this is currently a minority view and will prompt a chorus of “In The Tank!”, allow me to explain.  —  The substantive record is clear enough.  Torture is ended, if Gitmo remains enormously difficult …

McCain, GOP secretly courting another Dem to switch  —  But the aide acknowledged that they had gotten “a nibble” from Carney and were now making the pitch that he'd be better off switching parties than running again as a Democrat in a northeastern Pennsylvania seat that President Obama lost by 9 percentage points last year.

Who's Enforcing the Medical Loss Ratio?  —  Last night, former insurance industry executive Wendell Potter appeared on Countdown, claiming that the industry could get around the requirements on the medical loss ratio through accounting tricks.  To recap, under the Senate bill …