Ruling Kills an Option for Moving Health Bill  —  The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that President Barack Obama must sign Congress' original health care reform bill before the Senate can act on a companion reconciliation package, senior GOP sources said Thursday.

House GOP votes to ban all earmarks  —  House Republicans approved a conference-wide moratorium on earmarks on Thursday, one day after a House committee enacted a ban on for-profit earmarks.  —  The Republicans' moratorium is more extensive than the House Appropriations Committee's ban …

Barney Frank confirms key detail in Massa saga  —  Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) confirmed a key detail that was allegedly reported to the office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) regarding allegations of Eric Massa's improper behavior.  —  The Washington Post reported Thursday that Joe Racalto …

What Biden told Netanyahu behind closed doors: “This is starting to get dangerous for us”  —  Publicly, Vice President Joe Biden tried to keep up a positive tone in his good will visit to Israel this week.  But privately, the Israeli press reports, he had sharper words for Israeli decisions Biden …

Senate Liberals Dissed on Health Bill  —  Senate Democratic leaders are concerned about the amount of mischief their own Members could create if or when a health care reconciliation bill comes up for debate.  And sources said some supporters of creating a public insurance option are privately worried …

How Andrew Breitbart Hacks the Media  —  Andrew Breitbart has been waiting 45 minutes for a filet mignon.  He drums his fingers on the table in this plush Italian restaurant off Times Square, a place where the media types he regularly trashes used to flaunt their expense accounts — back when they still had them.

Holder Failed to Disclose Brief on Detainee Policy  —  WASHINGTON — During his Senate confirmation hearings last year, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. failed to disclose that he had signed a brief urging the Supreme Court not to uphold President Bush's claim that he could imprison …

The Scandalous Scott Brown Lawsuit that No One Told You About  —  Did you know that Scott Brown—the new star Republican Senator—was accused of harassing a female campaign worker in 1998?  We have the documents to prove it.  Did the Democrats blow an opportunity to keep their 60th Senate seat?

Beck: Fox News executive told me ‘you are the key’ to surviving ‘a global economic holocaust.’  —  Fox News host Glenn Beck has made a trademark of propagating outlandish conspiracy theories and far-right rhetoric, but his employers at Fox have long claimed that his views do not reflect the network's.

Get Woody — By: Jonah Goldberg  —  As anyone who's read my book knows, I am a member in good standing of the Woodrow Wilson Haters Club.  The exciting news is that almost everyone wants to be a member these days.  Glenn Beck — partly influenced by my book — has been on a jihad against Wilson for a while now.

Texas Hearing Considers Deeper Conservative Stamp on Textbooks  —  AUSTIN, Tex. — Even as a panel of educators laid out a vision Wednesday for national standards for public schools, the Texas school board was going in a different direction, holding hearings on changes to its social studies curriculum …

Sex Scandals Aren't Interesting When They Involve Republicans  —  Interestingly John Ensign, like David Vitter but unlike Elliot Spitzer or Eric Massa, hasn't yet been driven from public life: … Man, that John Edwards sure is a scumbag!

Woods hires ex-Bush aide to prep for return in two weeks  —  MIAMI — Tiger Woods has summoned someone even more significant than swing coach Hank Haney to help facilitate his wildly anticipated comeback.  —  Two sources in the golf community have told The Post that Ari Fleischer …

Money for Nothing  —  On February 23 the New York Times reported that ABC News had decided to reduce its staff by a whopping 300 to 400 people, or approximately a quarter of its workforce.  Three days later, the paper ran a full-page ad featuring a Photoshopped crowd of the network's biggest and best-compensated celebrities.

Estimate of the Budgetary Effects of the Senate-Passed Health Bill  —  CBO has just released an estimate of the budgetary effects of the health bill, H.R. 3590, that passed the Senate on December 24.  Today's estimate differs from the estimate for a slightly earlier version of the legislation …

Paul Ryan: The Roadmap Warrior  —  The Wisconsin congressman on tax policy.  —  Paul Ryan's Roadmap for America's Future would drastically overhaul the American welfare state in a free-market direction.  The Congressional Budget Office says it would solve the entitlements crisis through …

Hillary Rodham Clinton widens her circle at the State Department  —  Hillary Rodham Clinton ran a presidential campaign notoriously insular and unhappy, managing a group of egos and backstabbers whose dysfunction may have cost her the White House.  Understandably, people wondered what kind …