Obama To GOP: It's Over  —  Obama listened politely for six hours, with occasional flashes of temper, but in the end, the message was clear: It's over.  We're moving forward without Republicans.  —  Whether Obama and Dems will succeed in passing reform on their own is anything but assured, to put it mildly.

Afflicting the Afflicted  —  If we're lucky, Thursday's summit will turn out to have been the last act in the great health reform debate, the prologue to passage of an imperfect but nonetheless history-making bill.  If so, the debate will have ended as it began: with Democrats offering moderate plans …

One last health-reform sprint: House, Senate race to an Easter deadline for ‘the big bill’ — Mitch ‘The Knife’ Daniels eyes '12 prez run — N.Y. tabs say Paterson must go  —  BREAKING — George W. Bush, whose book will be out Nov. 8, at this morning's closed-door Bush-Cheney alumni reunion breakfast …

Committee scolds defiant Rangel  —  The House ethics committee put another dent in the armor of embattled Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel Thursday, admonishing him for violating House gift rules by accepting corporate-funded trips to the Caribbean through an organization called the Carib News.

A Productive Day & Another Step Towards Putting Americans in Charge of Their Health Care  —  Ed. Note: Watch video of the meeting in our section on the President's proposal.  —  Today's bipartisan health care meeting offered something you rarely see in Washington: an open, honest, productive discussion between the political parties.

Intel bill pulled over controversial added interrogation provision  —  A controversial bill that would have levied criminal punishments on intelligence officers for harsh interrogations was pulled Thursday evening.  —  House Republicans charged Democrats with trying to sneak a provision …

Paterson Gets Some Sobering Advice on His Political Future  —  ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson said Thursday night that as he weighed his political future, he was seeking counsel from elected officials across the state.  But the first few hours of that listening effort offered some sobering advice.

Defeated congresswoman's car still in House parking lot — more than 3 years later — even though she's a registered lobbyist  —  Former Rep. Melissa Hart may have hit the road and gone back home to Pittsburgh in 2006 when she lost her bid for re-election, but it appears that a car …

Plan to Seek Use of U.S. Contracts as a Wage Lever  —  The Obama administration is planning to use the government's enormous buying power to prod private companies to improve wages and benefits for millions of workers, according to White House officials and several interest groups briefed on the plan.

MSNBC Talker: Let's Rip Out Cheney's Heart  —  SAY HI TO MIKE  —  With Deranged Cheney Rant, Ed Moves Into Malloy Territory  —  *** CAUGHT-ON-TAPE EXCLUSIVE ***  —  *** NEWSBUSTERS REACTS ***  —  With his cable talk show preempted for Olympics coverage this week …

Al-Arian roils Calif. Senate race  —  A bespectacled former college professor who has pleaded guilty to aiding the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad helped tip the balance in a 2004 Senate contest in Florida.  Now, six years later, Sami Al-Arian could be on the verge of doing it again, this time in California.

Madoff Whistleblower Book: Claims He Uncovered State Street Fraud, Thought About Killing Madoff  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  In an explosive new book, Bernie Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos tells the inside story of how he uncovered the $65 billion fraud, claims that he exposed State …

Obama May Prohibit Home-Loan Foreclosures Without HAMP Review  —  Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration may expand efforts to ease the housing crisis by banning all foreclosures on home loans unless they have been screened and rejected by the government's Home Affordable Modification Program.

BIDEN: IT'S EASY BEING VP  —  There have been some tense moments during today's health care summit at the Blair House, but not for Vice President Joe Biden, it seems.  —  Just moments before the afternoon session got underway, C-SPAN's cameras picked up audio of Biden chatting casually with participants.