Hoyer knew of Massa allegations  —  First-term Rep. Eric Massa announced Wednesday that he will not seek reelection, saying his doctors have told him that he can't continue to “run at 100 miles an hour.”  —  But several House aides told POLITICO that the House ethics committee has been informed …

A Death in the Blogging Family  —  The great Jon Swift has died.  That's the “blogging” angle to a personal tragedy.  In reality, the voice of Jon Swift - the hilarious faux conservative blogger whose talent and passion were evident in every post - belonged to Al Weisel …

Exclusive: RNC document mocks donors, plays on ‘fear’  —  The Republican National Committee plans to raise money this election cycle through an aggressive campaign capitalizing on “fear” of President Barack Obama and a promise to “save the country from trending toward socialism.”

Exclusive: Unknown DOJ Lawyers Identified  —  A day after a conservative group released a video condemning the Justice Department for refusing to identify seven lawyers who previously represented or advocated for terror suspects, Fox News has uncovered the identities of the seven lawyers.

Obama Now Selling Judgeships for Health Care Votes?  —  Obama names brother of undecided House Dem to Appeals Court.  —  Tonight, Barack Obama will host ten House Democrats who voted against the health care bill in November at the White House; he's obviously trying to persuade them to switch their votes to yes.

Palin Does Stand-Up On Leno's “Tonight Show” (VIDEO)  —  AP / Huffington Post  —  What's Your Reaction:  —  BURBANK, Calif. — Sarah Palin says she's going to play Tina Fey in an upcoming Las Vegas show.  —  Just kidding.  —  The former Republican vice presidential nominee turned …

Obama calls for reconciliation to prevent filibuster on health-care reform  —  President Obama's endorsement Wednesday of a risky legislative maneuver to complete health-care legislation sent Democratic leaders scrambling to settle policy disputes and assemble the votes necessary for passage in the coming weeks.

Off the Track  —  In general, I'm not a big fan of right track/wrong track polling, even though some say that it is very useful in predicting election results, since the party perceived as being in power bears the brunt of the “wrong track” sentiment.  If that's true, this Rasmussen survey …

Fringe Benefits — By: Mark Steyn  —  Gee, prosecuting Geert Wilders for “Islamophobia” in a politically rigged show trial seems to be working out just swell for the Dutch establishment.  Local election watch from EuroNews:  —  Attention is also on Geert Wilders' far-right Freedom Party …

Full Speech: Obama On Insurance Reform  —  President Obama presented his new proposal on health reform, Wednesday afternoon.  Read his full speech, below.  —  THE WHITE HOUSE  —  Office of the Press Secretary  —  Washington, D.C.  —  Good afternoon.

Stupak: 12 previous health bill supporters could flip over abortion  —  The Senate's healthcare bill would lose 12 Democratic votes in the House, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said Wednesday.  —  Stupak, the sponsor of an amendment to the House healthcare bill which barred federal subsidies …

The fable of Emanuel the Great  —  In the space of 10 days, thanks in no small part to my own newspaper, the president of the United States has been portrayed as a weakling and a chronic screw-up who is wrecking his administration despite everything that his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, can do to make things right.

GRAND JURY TO INDICT EDWARDS  —  The ultimate fall from grace, a Federal grand jury is about to indict John Edwards, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.  —  In another shocker, close sources say Edwards' estranged wife Elizabeth could help send the former presidential candidate to jail!

Rove blames himself for administration's response to lack of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq  —  Former president George W. Bush did not mislead the nation about weapons of mass destruction as a way to “lie us” into war, his former top political aide, Karl Rove, asserts in a new memoir, “Courage and Consequence.”

Key House liberal may vote against healthcare bill  —  Rep. Raúl Grijalva, co-chairman of a progressive caucus, says he's “leaning toward” opposing the legislation  —  WASHINGTON — An influential House progressive says he's less likely to vote for the final healthcare reform bill …

Consumer Agency Within Fed Seen as Victory for Banks  —  For consumer advocates, housing a new agency to protect Americans from financial-product abuse within the Federal Reserve would be a defeat after lobbying for an independent body.  For banks, it would represent a victory.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Readjusts Principles on Use of Force  —  WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, laid out new principles Wednesday for how to use the military in meeting contemporary threats, saying that overwhelming force can be counterproductive if used recklessly.

Fed's Fisher: Too-Big-To-Fail Banks Should Be Dismantled  —  NEW YORK (Dow Jones)—Large, systemically important “too-big-to-fail” banks should be dismantled and broken up before regulators have to deal with another crisis, Richard Fisher, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said Wednesday.