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.

If Democrats ignore health-care polls, midterms will be costly  —  In “The March of Folly,” Barbara Tuchman asked, “Why do holders of high office so often act contrary to the way reason points and enlightened self-interest suggests?”  Her assessment of self-deception …

Report Details How Lehman Hid Its Woes as It Collapsed  —  By MICHAEL J. de la MERCED and ANDREW ROSS SORKIN  —  It is the Wall Street equivalent of a coroner's report — a 2,200-page document that lays out, in new and startling detail, how Lehman Brothers used accounting sleight of hand …

Reid's wife, daughter seriously injured in car accident UPDATE  —  Harry Reid's wife, Landra, suffered a broken neck, back and nose and his daughter, Lana, also sustained serious injuries in a chain-reaction car accident in Fairfax, Va. on Thursday according to Reid's spokesman.

Obama Social Secretary Ran Into Sharp Elbows  —  WASHINGTON — Long before the State Dinner party crashers and the tension with her White House colleagues and the strain in her relationship with the first lady, Desirée Rogers began to understand she was in trouble when David Axelrod summoned …

Senators give Obama a bipartisan plan on immigration  —  The president is encouraged, but healthcare politics could jeopardize the proposal.  —  Clarissa Martinez de Castro of the National Council of La Raza speaks to reporters outside the White House after meeting with President Obama to on immigration reform.

Top Obama Priorities Collide as Student Loan Legislation May Be Attached to Health Care  —  WASHINGTON — Democratic Congressional leaders struck a tentative agreement on Thursday that breathes new life into President Obama's proposed overhaul of federal student loan programs.

Why don't honest journalists take on Roger Ailes and Fox News?  —  One question has tugged at my professional conscience throughout the year-long congressional debate over health-care reform, and it has nothing to do with the public option, portability or medical malpractice.

GOP chooses Burns for special election in 12th  —  LATROBE — Tim Burns, a Johnstown native making his first political run, will be the Republican candidate seeking to serve the remainder of the late John Murtha's unfinished term.  —  Burns, who now lives in the Washington County community of Eighty Four …

Rove ‘proud’ of US waterboarding  —  A senior advisor to former US President George W Bush has defended tough interrogation techniques, saying their use helped prevent terrorist attacks.  —  In a BBC interview, Karl Rove, who was known as “Bush's brain”, said he “was proud we used techniques that broke the will of these terrorists”.

Johnny Weir Deemed “Not Family Friendly” Enough to Perform in Stars on Ice Tour  —  GLAAD has learned from a source that wishes to remain anonymous that sponsors of the Stars on Ice Tour, which include Smuckers and IMG Entertainment, have refused to allow 3-time US National Champion and 2 …

NJ Terror Suspect Worked at Nuclear Power Plants  —  Former classmate says he had a heated exchange with Mobley during a tour in Iraq  —  The South Jersey man who Yemini officials are calling a terrorist with links to al-Qaeda previously worked at three local nuclear power plants.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright discusses Obama controversy, history of his church  —  President Obama's former pastor Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. on Wednesday compared the president to a son who was being treated unfairly and said it had been hard weathering the media storm after Obama became …

Timing of Obama Indonesia Trip Questioned  —  With President Obama's health care bill hanging in the balance, the White House is facing intensifying questions about whether Mr. Obama should take his planned trip to Indonesia and Australia next week.  —  The visit, which has been timed …

Tea parties stir evangelicals' fears  —  The rise of a new conservative grass-roots fueled by a secular revulsion at government spending is stirring fears among leaders of the old conservative grass-roots, the evangelical Christian right.  —  A reeling economy and the Obama administration's …

The Lincoln Model  —  A reader writes: … Trust me.  I have not forgotten.  It informs every judgment I make on the guy.  I remain absolutely convinced we are beyond lucky to have him st thi moment in history - and he deserves far more grass-roots support from his supporters than he's currently getting.

Health Reform Myths  —  Health reform is back from the dead.  Many Democrats have realized that their electoral prospects will be better if they can point to a real accomplishment.  Polling on reform — which was never as negative as portrayed — shows signs of improving.

How Obama spent his $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize  —  You probably recall late last year on one of his autumn commutes to Scandinavia President Obama picked up the Nobel Peace Prize.  We wrote about that here and here and here.  His speech was well-received here.  Also some fallout over here.

Memo to Obama: Get back in touch  —  Almost anyone who ever traveled with President Bill Clinton can tell a similar tale.  At the end of a long day, Clinton would unwind by working the rope line.  He would shake hands, clasp shoulders — and listen.  When there were no stories left to hear …