Obama plans for health care delay, new jobs bill  —  The White House privately anticipates health care talks to slip into February — past President Barack Obama's first State of the Union address — and then plans to make a “very hard pivot” to a new jobs bill, according to senior administration officials.

Plan to Move Guantánamo Detainees Faces a New Delay  —  WASHINGTON — Rebuffed this month by skeptical lawmakers when it sought finances to buy a prison in rural Illinois, the Obama administration is struggling to come up with the money to replace the Guantánamo Bay prison.

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.

Palin: I told you so!  —  It didn't take long for Jim DeMint's outrage over highly unusual language protecting a care-rationing board to generate a response from Sarah Palin.  This came just days after Politifact called her statement about “death panels” the “lie of the year,” …

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.”

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 …

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 …

Palin's Wasilla book signing feels like a homecoming  —  AT HOME: Only signs seen for conservative causes or Christmas.  —  zhollander@adn.com  —  WASILLA — Sarah Palin was treated like a homecoming queen when she brought her national book tour to Wasilla on Tuesday.

After quiet first months, Franken's sharp tongue emerges in Senate  —  Al Franken, the Democrat from Minnesota who won election to the Senate after a successful career as a comic and author, has begun to show the sharp-tongued side of his personality by ripping into GOP staffers behind the scenes.

Schwarzenegger to seek federal help for California budget  —  Facing another huge deficit, the governor wants $8 billion or threatens massive cuts in social services.  He also plans to renew push for offshore oil drilling.  —  Reporting from Sacramento - Facing a budget deficit of more than $20 billion …

Star Trek and Moral Judgment  —  Kevin Drum is amused, and rightly so, by this bit from the Corner's Mike Potemra: … Kevin notes it is not every day you get conservatives to admit they oppose (or at least dislike) peace, tolerance, due process and progress.

In praise of the Nelson deal  —  Ben Nelson is getting a lot of blowback for the deal he struck exempting Nebraska from paying for its Medicaid expansion.  But though it was his deal, it wasn't his preference.  It was Harry Reid's.  And Reid made the right decision.

CRS report: ACORN didn't break law  —  A Congressional Research Service report commissioned by the House Judiciary Committee says ACORN hasn't violated any federal regulations the last five years.  —  The report, released by Judiciary Chairman John Conyers' (D-Mich.) staff Tuesday evening …

Harry Reid Turns Insurance Into a Public Utility  —  The health bill creates a massive cash crunch and then bankruptcies for many insurers.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  As Harry Reid's 2,000 page health-care bill is being rammed through the Senate, most of the public debate has been focused …

US voters give Barack Obama an F  —  Barack Obama gave himself a B+ on Oprah Winfrey's White House Christmas Special on ABC, but the American public is far less generous.  The latest influential Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll of likely US voters gives Obama a thumping 56 percent disapproval rating …

Cornyn: Conservatives ‘have to yield’ to reality in upcoming Senate races  —  Conservative primary voters “have to yield” to reality, Senate Republicans' campaign chairman said Wednesday.  —  Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) …