Severed gas line found at home of Perriello brother  —  Updated: 4:55 p.m. U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello's brother received a threatening letter in the mail on the same day that someone apparently severed a gas line at the home in Ivy.  —  Two conservative Tea Party activists posted the address …

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.”

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

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.

Obama and Netanyahu: pointless poison  —  So it's now been two weeks since President Obama chose to seize on a poorly-timed Israeli announcement about new Jewish housing in Jerusalem to launch another public confrontation with the government of Binyamin Netanyahu.  The results, so far, are these:

Senate Republicans refuse to work past 2 p.m. [Updated!]  —  “There is a little-known rule in the Senate stating that hearings can't happen after 2:00 p.m. each day without unanimous consent,” explains Amanda Terkel.  “However, every day, at the start of business, the Senate generally agrees …

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 …

Gates Will Relax 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Enforcement This Week  —  When the Pentagon's leadership announced a process to end the military's ban on open gay service before Congress, Defense Secretary Robert Gates played the cautionary role.  Gates told senators that he would put together a study group …

A Hearing to Define “Mainstream” Judicial Views  —  The Senate Judiciary Committee today holds its most significant hearing on any of President Obama's judicial nominees, to consider a candidate who has received remarkably little attention.  Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who passed through …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 :

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.

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.

Harkin: Public option backers eyeing second reconciliation bill  —  Public option supporters could offer a second reconciliation bill to establish the program, a top Democrat said Wednesday.  —  Supporters of creating a government-run public option health insurance program are considering moving …

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

Terrorists Could Use Explosives in Breast Implants to Crash Planes, Experts Warn  —  Plastic surgeons using explosive-laden breast implants in homicide bombers could be a new terror tactic that current airport scanning methods may miss.

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?