House may try to pass Senate health-care bill without voting on it  —  After laying the groundwork for a decisive vote this week on the Senate's health-care bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Monday that she might attempt to pass the measure without having members vote on it.

The U.S. quarrel with Israel  —  PRESIDENT OBAMA'S Middle East diplomacy failed in his first year in part because he chose to engage in an unnecessary and unwinnable public confrontation with Israel over Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem.  Over the past six months …

Everything David Brooks says about reconciliation is wrong  —  Jon Chait did a very funny job taking apart David Brooks's column on reconciliation.  I want to do a serious job on it.  The factual statements Brooks uses in his argument are wrong.  Not arguable, or questionable, or suspicious.

Court rules Tea Party can proceed with effort to recall Sen. Robert Menendez … A state appellate panel today ruled New Jersey's secretary of state must accept a petition a citizens group filed to recall U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez.  —  The court stayed its decision to allow Menendez (D-N.J.) to appeal its ruling.

You don't win elections by failing to govern  —  Republicans have been very generous recently in offering House Democrats strategic advice in advance of the 2010 election.  But Norm Ornstein and Thomas Mann, who were around in 1994, remember what happened last time Democrats took the GOP's advice …

Dem leader: We have the votes for healthcare  —  House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (Conn.) has taken the lead in the optimism sweepstakes when it comes to healthcare reform, telling reporters Monday night that leaders have the votes they need in hand.

THIS IS CNN?.... If I didn't get independent confirmation of this, I honestly would have assumed the announcement was some elaborate practical joke.  Alas, it's true. … This is easily the worst decision CNN has ever made.  That the network probably reviewed Erickson's work before hiring him …

Obama agencies invoking secrecy provision more often than under Bush  —  One day after being sworn into office, President Barack Obama instructed federal agencies to ensure government transparency by complying with the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act law.

Petraeus offers first public support for change to don't ask law  —  Gen. David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command, said Tuesday the time has come to consider changing the controversial law banning openly gay people serving in the U.S. military.  —  It was the general's most direct answer to date on the issue.

Gore Attaches Global Warming as Cause to Last Weekend's Storm in Northeast  —  Former vice president points toward weather events as evidence of climate change during ‘strategy conference call’ for supporters.  —  Business & Media Institute  —  If there's a drought - it's global warming.

Andrew Young Fires Back at Rielle Hunter  —  Former John Edwards Aide Doubts Former Politician and Ex-Mistress are Still in Love  —  (CBS/ AP) A former aide to John Edwards fired back at Rielle Hunter, the former mistress of the ex-Senator and vice presidential candidate, a day after her tell-all interview was published.

Dick Armey's ‘tea party’ history is a strange brew  —  Dick Armey is intellectually versatile: The former leader of House Republicans went from being a rainmaker for a Washington lobbying firm to being the unofficial leader of the anti-Washington “tea party” movement.

Kucinich in Obama's crosshairs  —  Air Force One took off from suburban Maryland today at 11:13 a.m. and landed 48 minutes later in Cleveland.  —  For Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) — who says he plans to vote no on the president's health-care bill — it must have felt like a much longer flight.