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.

THE PUBLIC OPTION'S HISTORY, REVISITED.... President Obama sat down with the Washington Post's Scott Wilson on Tuesday, and reflected on the successes of 2009.  The president pointed to accomplishments that “in a normal legislative year would be considered really big achievements” …

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.

EXCLUSIVE: Transvestites, Mao And Obama Ornaments Decorate White House Christmas Tree  —  Why let a holiday season come between the White House and making some political statements?  The White House pegged controversial designer Simon Doonan to oversee the Christmas decorations for the White House.

Change... Obama Now More Loathed Than Bush at End of His Second Term  —  A Good Solid B+  —  Barack Obama's approval index number dropped to a new low today.  —  Rasmussen reported: … At the end of his second term President George W. Bush had a 43% disapproval rating.

SIREN: White House plans ‘very hard pivot to jobs’ next month — will be ‘prescriptive’ — Health reform NOT expected to pass before SOTU, but opponents concede it's ‘when’ not ‘if’  —  BREAKING — AP's Glen Johnson, in Boston: “Teresa Heinz says she is being treated for breast cancer discovered …

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

Geithner: Health Care Bill Good for the Long Haul  —  Treasury Chief Says Pork Deals in Bill Are Small Price to Pay  —  Americans should not lose sight of the benefits of the pending health care reform bill by focusing on the back room deals made by lawmakers to vote in favor of the bill …

When legerdemain is used to pass an unpopular bill  —  Senior Political Analyst  —  It's time to blow the whistle on two erroneous statements that opponents and proponents of the health care legislation being jammed through Congress have been making.  Republicans have been saying that never …

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 …

How do I know China wrecked the climate deal?  I was in the room  —  As recriminations fly post-Copenhagen, one writer offers a fly-on-the-wall account of how talks failed  —  • Ed Miliband: China tried to hijack climate deal  —  • The key players and how they rated  —  Copenhagen was a disaster.

BANNED!!  Making it on Sarah Palin's enemies list.  Update!  —  Today was the last day of Sarah Palin's book tour.  —  And it was to be held in the “picturesque” town of Wasilla, at the Curtis C. Menard Memorial Sports Center.  —  How could I miss it?  —  So Dennis Zaki and I loaded …

The Green Movement's People Problem  —  The once unstoppable green machine lost its mojo at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.  After all its laboring and cajoling, the movement at the end resembled not a powerful juggernaut but a forlorn lover wondering why his date never showed up.

Robert Byrd back in form for Senate health-care vote  —  Since Robert C. Byrd arrived in the Senate in 1959, the senior senator from West Virginia has cast more than 18,500 votes.  —  Byrd has orchestrated and witnessed maneuvering.  He has presided over the shortest session in Senate history …

Why I Went on Fox and Friends  —  I notice there is a diary up on Daily Kos attacking me for going on Fox & Friends.  Unsurprisingly, it doesn't say what I actually said:  —  In 2000, the Republicans passed Medicare Part D, and it had no negotiation for prescription drug prices.

Wither Sovereignty  —  Executive Order Amended Immunizing INTERPOL In America - Is The ICC Next?  —  Last Thursday, December 17, 2009, The White House released an Executive Order “Amending Executive Order 12425.”  It grants INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization) …

Americans Without Work  —  Putting Jobs First  —  The $154 billion jobs bill passed by the House last week will allow the 217 Democrats who voted for it to tell their constituents that they care about unemployment.  But it's unlikely to do much else.  The Senate will not address the issue until next year.

Letters to health-care Santa: Bring back the death panels!  —  Over the course of this week, I'll be asking some health-care experts what they'd like Santa to add to the bill during conference committee, and publishing their responses on the blog.  This edition comes by way of Henry Aaron …

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 …

It's A Wonderful Bill  —  Scene 14: Christmas Eve, inside Bedford Falls Town Hall.  Senator George Bailey confronts an angry mob of constituents protesting his vote on the new health care bill.  —  MAN #1  —  Come on Bailey, you can't hide forever!  Let us in!  —  WOMAN #1