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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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”.

Reid's Wife and Daughter Injured in Car Accident  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's wife and daughter were hospitalized Thursday — the wife with a broken back and neck — after their minivan was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer truck on an interstate highway in suburban Virginia, authorities said.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

House Majority Leader Kevin Garn admits to incident with girl in past  —  SALT LAKE CITY — House Majority Leader Kevin Garn admitted as the Legislature adjourned Thursday night to a nude hot tubbing incident with a teenage girl 25 years ago.  —  In a tearful statement in a packed House chambers …

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 …

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 …

'Net Posse Tracked ‘Jihad Jane’ for Three Years  —  Civilian Monitors Warn of Others Like ‘Jane’ on the 'Net Who Are More Dangerous  —  While the rest of America was stunned to hear that a suburban Pennsylvania woman allegedly used the Internet identity of Jihad Jane and tried to join militant jihadists …