Republicans feeling blue as Scott Brown win backfires  —  Republican folk hero Sen. Scott Brown is being taunted by triumphant Democrats - and slammed by irked conservatives - after the historic health-care bill he was elected to kill was signed into law by President Obama yesterday.

The backlash: Reform turns personal  —  Reps. Louise Slaughter and Bart Stupak have received death threats.  —  A tea party participant published what he thought was Rep. Thomas Perriello's home address and urged disgruntled voters to “drop by” for a “good face-to-face chat.”

Gap in health care law's protection for children  —  WASHINGTON — Hours after President Barack Obama signed historic health care legislation, a potential problem emerged.  Administration officials are now scrambling to fix a gap in highly touted benefits for children.

Senate sliding inexorably toward procedural reform  —  Since Democrats took control of the Senate in 2007, Republicans have smashed all previous records for the number of cloture votes required to pass legislation.  Last month, a few Senators, led by Jim Bunning, used procedural moves to block …

SHOCKING AUDIO: REP. DINGELL SAYS OBAMACARE WILL EVENTUALLY ‘CONTROL THE PEOPLE’  —  “It takes a long time to do the necessary administrative steps.”

After meeting, deafening silence  —  The Obama administration shifted this week from red hot anger at Benjamin Netanyahu to an icier suspicion of the Israeli prime minister, who made clear during marathon meetings with U.S. officials that he would give ground only grudgingly on their goal …

Grassley: Look How Great This Health Care Bill Is  —  Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has long been a vocal critic of the Democrat's health reform efforts, but today he started taking credit for some provisions of the bill, and talking up his own role in crafting the legislation.

Axelrod: Health Care Passed Because GOP Let Down Its Guard After Massachusetts  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  One of the president's closest advisers said on Tuesday that Republican opponents of health care reform let down their guard following Sen. Scott Brown's election in Massachusetts …

Source: Pentagon set to ease policy on gays in the military  —  Robert Gates is expected to announce changes to 'don't ask don't tell' on Thursday.  —  Washington (CNN) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to announce changes Thursday easing the Defense Department's controversial …

In Health Bill, Obama Attacks Wealth Inequality  —  For all the political and economic uncertainties about health reform, at least one thing seems clear: The bill that President Obama signed on Tuesday is the federal government's biggest attack on economic inequality since inequality began rising more than three decades ago.

The Republican Health Care Failure  —  Much ink and many pixels are being expended on writing health care's political postmortems, but the focus should rightly be on the policy front — in the think tanks and in the legislative priorities of recent Republican administrations and Congresses.

Resisting ObamaCare, Gandhi Style  —  Americans will lose control over basic decisions if this law stands.  —  President Barack Obama came into office promising hope and change.  But he might get more change than he hoped for.  By foisting ObamaCare on a deeply unwilling country he might …

Chief Justice Roberts: Why Isn't Obama Making Recess Appointments To The NLRB?  —  For two years now, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) — which is responsible for mediating disputes under the National Labor Relations Act — has been stuck with only two of its five members in place.

A Tea Party Without Nuts  —  President Obama's winning passage of national health care is both exhilarating and sobering.  Covering so many uninsured Americans is a historic achievement.  But the president had to postpone trips, buy off companies and cut every conceivable side deal …

Men leave their own mark on veganism  —  SOMERVILLE — For most of his life Joe McCain subsisted on pepperoni and sausage pizza, steak bomb subs, and anything “fried, fried, or fried.”  In other words, says the Somerville police detective with a shaved head, snowy beard, and tattoos cascading up his arms …

Hail the Conquering Professor  —  The Democrats were walking around in a state of shock.  —  Holy cow, they were saying to themselves.  We're not total wimps!  We don't have to sit around and let ourselves be slapped silly by Republican bullies and Tea Party scaremongers.

Shales On ‘Little Ms Politics.’  —  Just in case you were wondering if I was too hard on Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales yesterday for his shallow and pernicious critique of Christiane Amanpour as ABC's choice to replace George Stephanopoulos on This Week, this is what he had to say about her during his live chat with readers :

HERE'S MY AMA REQUEST FOR MEMBERSHIP DUES:  —  Sunbeam?  Read this.

The risk of health-care reform  —  The polarizing forces of a legislative debate have a tendency to amplify the certainty of supporters and magnify the doubts of advocates.  So I'd recommend Ruth Marcus's skeptical, pro-reform column.  I think she actually overstates the amount of disagreement …

POLITICO Interview: Rep. Paul Ryan  —  ALLEN: Congressman, I was in the gallery when you gave your speech during the final debate and you were a little worked up.  —  RYAN: I was.  —  ALLEN: Are you surprised they finally sold this and why do you think the president clinched this?

Obama signs executive order on abortion out of sight of media glare  —  There were no glaring lights or TV cameras when President Obama signed an executive order this afternoon affirming the continuing ban on federal funding for abortion.  No East Room speeches.  Not even a photo op handshake.

Work to Rule: GOP Nixes Hearings to Protest Health Bill  —  For a second day, Senate Republicans — or at least one of them — are strictly following the rules as a way of protesting the health-care legislation. … They have blocked several afternoon committee hearings from taking place …

‘I Am Alive’: Justice Ginsburg Fires Back  —  Ginsburg Says She's in ‘Good Health,’ Despite Bunning's ‘Bad Cancer’ Comment  —  A year after surgery for pancreatic cancer, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told an audience last week that she is feeling well — and then took a dig at the senator …

Dingell: It will take a while for ObamaCare to “control the people”  —  Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) defended the ObamaCare bill on WJR's Paul W. Smith show yesterday when the host wondered why Democrats wait until 2014 to stop people from dying through lack of universal health care coverage.