Obama Readies a Fallback Proposal  —  Scaled-Down Plan Would Expand Insurance to About Half as Many People as Pending Bill Envisions  —  President Barack Obama will use a bipartisan summit Thursday to push for sweeping health-care legislation, but if that fails to generate enough support …

Did the Congressional Budget Office find that premiums costs will go down?  —  Lamar Alexander and Barack Obama just had a contentious exchange on this point, so it's worth settling the issue: Yes, the CBO found health-care reform would reduce premiums.  The issue gets confused because it also found …

Marco Rubio charged personal bills on GOP card  —  Senate candidate Marco Rubio said he reimbursed the state GOP for expenses put on an American Express card given to him by his party.  —  BREINHARD@MIAMIHERALD.COM  —  U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio charged grocery bills …

What to Expect in November  —  An Update on the House of Representatives  —  Just about everyone agrees that Republicans will be gaining a sizeable number of U.S. House seats come November, but this far in advance, few agree on the exact number.  We've seen a couple of dozen predictions so far …

Frank Gaffney Posits That Missile Defense Logo Is Evidence of Obama's ‘Submission To Shariah’  —  Frank Gaffney, a protégé of Richard Perle and an influential figure in right wing national security circles, has firmly entered the world of right wing tin-foil hat paranoia.

Photo Emerges Of Murderous Killer Whale At Tea Party Rally  —  Some quick investigate reporting by the folks at Daily Kos and Democratic Underground has unearthed a photo of Tilikum, the killer whale who yesterday killed a trainer at Sea World, at a Tea Party event in Omaha, Nebraska.

Top Paterson Official Resigns  —  The cabinet official who supervises the state police has resigned in the wake of a reports of intervention by the state police and Gov. David A. Paterson into a domestic-assault case against a senior Paterson aide.  —  The official, Denise E. O'Donnell …

Most ‘tea party’ followers are baby boomers reliving the '60s  —  A poll debunks assumptions about the movement, showing that it's largely middle-class, college-educated, white and male.  —  Oceans of ink, terabytes of blog space and an eternity of television time have been devoted …

While You Are Distracted by the Summit, Obama Democrats Are Targeting the CIA — By: Andy McCarthy  —  The Obama Democrats have outdone themselves.  —  While the country and the Congress have their eyes on today's dog-and-pony show on socialized medicine, House Democrats last night stashed …

CORRECTED Graph for “Conflicted Conservatives”  —  In comments on my first post, Marty Gilens alerts me to errors in the 2008 ANES data file that involve the spending variables that I used (noted here on their webpage).  It is my fault for not having seen this.

Truth squad: Boehner wrong to say Obama took zero GOP ideas  —  The office of House Minority Leader John Boehner claims that Democratic proposals “do not implement a single major GOP reform that would lower costs for families and small businesses.”  —  Three of the 11 pages …

Republicans watching the clock  —  Before Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn started talking, the time of possession was:  —  Democrats: about 74 minutes Republicans: about 37 minutes  —  Post Comment  —  Pages  —  Sob stories take longer to tell than ideas and facts.

Michael Steele says Obama should have held a summit a year ago.  Then it's pointed out to him that in fact he did.  —  Michael Steele went on MSNBC this morning before the health-care summit and began attacking President Obama for a “dog and pony show” — and claimed that the president …

Arnold: Give Obama a Break!  —  Schwarzenegger Says He Deserves Credit for Sticking Neck Out on Health Care; Economy Tough on All Office-Holders  —  (CBS) Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose last term as California governor runs out at the end of the year, had some words of support for President Obama from across the aisle.

Americans Running Out of Patience on Health Care, Polls Show  —  Posted by Jennifer De Pinto 4 comments - Share - - - Share - E-mail - Print - Font A recent CBS News/New York Times Poll, conducted February 5-10, finds that Americans may be running out of patience when it comes …

Former police officer pleads guilty to Danziger Bridge shooting cover-up of stunning breadth  —  Laura Maggi and Brendan McCarthy wrote this story  —  Admitting a cover-up of shocking breadth, a former New Orleans police supervisor pleaded guilty to a federal obstruction charge on Wednesday …

Breaking: Prominent Congressional Dem Defends Obama On National Security  —  As you know, it's been a regular refrain on this blog that Congressional Dems have completely abandoned the White House on national security issues, effectively letting Republican attacks on Obama's policies drive the debate in Congress.

US refuses to endorse British sovereignty in Falklands oil dispute  —  Giles Whittell, Washington and James Bone, New York  —  Washington refused to endorse British claims to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands yesterday as the diplomatic row over oil drilling in the South Atlantic intensified in London, Buenos Aires and at the UN.

Graham's talks with White House on Gitmo frustrate House GOP  —  Talks between Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and the White House on closing the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba are angering House Republicans who oppose any transfer of detainees to U.S. soil.