McConnell: ‘Not clear’ if GOP can block partisan tactic on healthcare  —  It's “not clear” whether enough Democrats will defect on a majority-vote procedure on health legislation to stop it, the Senate's top Republican said Sunday.  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) …

The Fat Lady Has Sung  —  A small news item from Tracy, Calif., caught my eye last week.  Local station CBS 13 reported: “Tracy residents will now have to pay every time they call 911 for a medical emergency.  But there are a couple of options.  Residents can pay a $48 voluntary fee for the year …

Why I'm Leaving the Senate  —  BASEBALL may be our national pastime, but the age-old tradition of taking a swing at Congress is a sport with even deeper historical roots in the American experience.  Since the founding of our country, citizens from Ben Franklin to David Letterman have made fun of their elected officials.

Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs  —  BUENA PARK, Calif. — Even as the American economy shows tentative signs of a rebound, the human toll of the recession continues to mount, with millions of Americans remaining out of work, out of savings and nearing the end of their unemployment benefits.

The GOP's ‘tea party’ dance  —  Will the movement sink or save the conservatives?  —  In September 1960, several dozen young conservative intellectuals descended on National Review editor William F. Buckley Jr.'s estate in Sharon, Conn., to draft a manifesto.

With his health-care summit, Obama could make partisanship worse  —  The White House health-care summit on Thursday is supposed to mark a return to politics as it should be practiced — the president leading the legislative process, the two parties talking things out, bipartisanship flowering, order restored.

White House adjusts strategy on Republicans  —  The Obama administration aims to put members of the GOP on the spot, forcing them to compromise on issues or be portrayed as obstructionists.  —  Reporting from Washington - As voters lose patience with political gridlock …

Our Mission is Finally Accomplished... Anyone Care? … I am not naive.  I understand that there are individuals who opposed the war in Iraq from the very beginning and I believe their passion, although misguided at times, is rooted in a deep desire for peace.

Grassley, Harkin drop to all-time lows  —  Approval for U.S. Sens. Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin has fallen again in recent months, to new all-time lows, according to the Iowa Poll.  —  Iowans' approval of Grassley and Harkin has been on the wane for a year and has not rebounded since dipping below …

CNN Poll: Majority think government is broken  —  Washington (CNN) - Americans overwhelmingly think that the government in this country is broken, according to a new national poll.  But the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, released Sunday morning, also indicates that the public overwhelmingly holds …

Ron Paul Wins Presidential Straw Poll at CPAC  —  Paul, a Republican congressman from Texas known for his libertarian views, ran for president in 2008 but was never a serious contender for the GOP nomination.

Sarah Palin coming to Illinois; Valerie Jarrett on Sarah Palin  —  Will Sarah Palin play in Peoria?  Except for a brief stop in Chicago to tape an Oprah Winfrey show last November, Palin's first public appearance in Illinois will be April 17 in Washington, a town of about 14,000 near Peoria.

Breitbart Confronts Blumenthal at CPAC  —  A funny thing happened on the last day of CPAC.  Max Blumenthal, recently corrected and embarrassed “journalist” from Salon.com paraded through the convention with a camera crew.  Like last year, he was looking for a confrontation of some kind.