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.

Bunning holds floor: ‘Tough s—t’  —  Senate Democrats spent Thursday night hammering away at Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) for single-handedly holding up action in the upper chamber - but he blurted out a message to one of them on the Senate floor: “Tough s—t.”

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.