Pelosi Says She'll Get Votes Needed for Health Bill  —  WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she is confident she will be able to get the votes needed to pass sweeping health care legislation in the House, even if it threatens the political careers of some members of her party.

Financial Reform Endgame  —  So here's the situation.  We've been through the second-worst financial crisis in the history of the world, and we've barely begun to recover: 29 million Americans either can't find jobs or can't find full-time work.  Yet all momentum for serious banking reform has been lost.

Network News at a Crossroads  —  ABC News is making no secret about what is behind the sweeping staff cuts it now faces: raw survival instinct.  —  “I just looked out at the next five years and was concerned that we could not sustain doing what we were doing,” said David Westin …

POLL: Obama's visit just bounced off Reid  —  Poll shows senator gained little ground in re-election battle  —  WASHINGTON — During his whirlwind visit to Las Vegas two weeks ago, President Barack Obama mentioned U.S. Sen. Harry Reid by name four dozen times, gave him a big hug and talked him up as if he was a long-lost brother.

Who's Obsessed and Deranged?  —  Frank Rich of the New York Times retired as a drama critic in order to take up his new role as the paper's full-time drama queen.  As an op-ed columnist for the Times, his assignment, apparently, is to write in such a hysterical fashion that Paul Krugman seems rational by comparison.

Breaking: Deal says he'll resign from Congress  —  By Aaron Gould Sheinin/asheinin@ajc.com and Jim Tharpe/jtharpe@ajc.com  —  U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) said Monday morning he will resign from Congress to “devote my full energies to the campaign for governor.”

White House Is Rethinking Nuclear Policy  —  WASHINGTON — As President Obama begins making final decisions on a broad new nuclear strategy for the United States, senior aides say he will permanently reduce America's arsenal by thousands of weapons.  But the administration has rejected proposals …

Tommy Thompson eyes Senate bid  —  Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who served four terms as Wisconsin governor, is securing financial pledges and ramping up his outreach to longtime political aides in preparation for a possible campaign against Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold.

Doctors tell Barack Obama to quit smoking  —  The american president has been trying to kick the habit for sometime, apart from the smoking he is in excellent health  —  Barack Obama is still struggling to kick smoking, according to his first medical examination since becoming president.

Are Democratic Presidents Smarter Than Republican Presidents?  —  Watching President Barack Obama at the White House health care summit last week, it was hard not to have an obvious thought: Could George W. Bush have done this?  It is tough to imagine Bush leading a seven-hour gabfest …

IPCC “science” on hurricanes no longer settled, either  —  In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, anthropogenic global warming (AGW) activists insisted that the stronger storm systems resulted from the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, making hurricanes increasingly more severe.

Sen. Lincoln gets primary challenge  —  Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter (right) announced he will launch a primary challenge to Sen. Blanche Lincoln (left).  —  (CNN) - Add a primary challenge to Sen. Blanche Lincoln's growing list of political problems.  —  Arkansas Lt. Governor Bill Halter …