Senate Democrats Poised to Block Filibusters of Presidential Picks  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are on the verge of moving to eliminate the use of the filibuster against most presidential nominees, aides and senior party leaders said Wednesday, a move that would deprive Republicans …

Obama's Race for the Cure  —  The President's second term may hinge on how fast his health care reform can recover  —  A good President needs a big comfort zone.  He should be able to treat enemies as opportunities, appear authentic in joy and grief, stay cool under the hot lights.

Report: Healthcare spending growing at slowest pace on record  —  The White House on Wednesday released a report that shows healthcare spending has grown at the slowest rate on record under the Affordable Care Act.  —  The report, produced by the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) …

Palin kills Matt Lauer interview over Martin Bashir slur  —  It's no secret that Sarah Palin is mighty steamed at MSNBC and Martin Bashir over his despicable remarks about the abusive treatment he imagines for her.  —  And now she's doing something about it.

Insurers restricting choice of doctors and hospitals to keep costs down  —  As Americans have begun shopping for health plans on the insurance exchanges, they are discovering that insurers are restricting their choice of doctors and hospitals in order to keep costs low, and that many of the plans exclude top-rated hospitals.

The Race That Broke the Cheney Family  —  What happened when a gay sister came between Liz Cheney and a Senate seat.  —  Liz Cheney just wanted to enjoy her milkshake.  It was a Friday afternoon in early November, and the shadows were growing longer over the flat expanse of eastern Wyoming as a hard week dragged on.

Queens Congresswoman Grace Meng violently mugged for her Gucci handbag near Capitol Hill  —  Meng was walking home after having dinner at a restaurant when she was knocked on the head.  She was taken to a hospital where she underwent a CT scan.  —  Rep. Grace Meng was hit on her head …

Enroll America Director Conspires to Release Private Data  —  Do you know where your personal data is going?  —  After meeting with several Obamacare Navigators who openly encouraged our undercover reporters to lie about income status, health history and more, it became clear that personal data was also being “cross-pollinated.”

Vancouver Banned Doorknobs.  Good.  —  Levers are the way of the future.  —  Doorknob Jim Simonson  —  In Vancouver, the humble doorknob is being phased out.  Kind of.  Effective in March, new housing will be required to install levers on doors and faucets, instead of the good-ol' round knobs of our forefathers.

Perry on Presidential Debate Overhaul: 'Hell, Yeah"  —  Photograph by Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images  —  Texas Governor Rick Perry during a press conference on the sidelines of the Republicans' State Party Convention in Anaheim, California, on Oct. 4, 2013.

Florida poll: Charlie Crist leads Rick Scott  —  Florida Gov. Rick Scott trails Democrat Charlie Crist by 7 points in a head-to-head match-up for governor, according to a new poll.  —  Crist, the former Republican governor turned Democrat, leads Scott 47 percent to 40 percent in a Quinnipiac poll released Thursday.

Florida Rep. Trey Radel to Take Leave of Absence After Cocaine Charge … Florida Republican congressman Trey Radel will take a leave of absence from Congress and donate his salary to charity after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of cocaine possession.  —  “I'm owning up to my actions.

Scott Walker treads own path on ACA  —  Scott Walker hates Obamacare.  But Scott Walker also needs Obamacare.  —  The Wisconsin Republican governor, a potential 2016 contender for the White House, has drawn national attention to his ambitious health reform effort to cover the poor …

Applicants Find Health Website Is Improving, but Not Fast Enough  —  DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — Tilda Elias had reason to be optimistic when she opened the HealthCare.gov website on Monday, ready to help her first client of the week find health insurance.  Technicians had made fixes to the online insurance exchange over the weekend.

Statement: Police warned accuser about pursuing Jameis Winston matter  —  A Tallahassee detective told an accuser's attorney that Tallahassee is a “big football town” and her client's life could “be made miserable” if she pursued a sexual assault case against Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston …

Second wave of health plan cancellations looms  —  A new and independent analysis of ObamaCare warns of a ticking time bomb, predicting a second wave of 50 million to 100 million insurance policy cancellations next fall — right before the mid-term elections.

Feds consider new gun regs  —  The Obama administration is working on new gun control regulations that would target stolen and missing weapons.  —  Police have a hard time tracking firearms that disappear from gun shops, which “just feeds the sort of already large and existing secondary market on guns …

Blame Rich, Overeducated Elites as Our Society Frays  —  Complex human societies, including our own, are fragile.  They are held together by an invisible web of mutual trust and social cooperation.  This web can fray easily, resulting in a wave of political instability, internal conflict and, sometimes, outright social collapse.

Why Obamacare May Be Obama's Katrina, Iraq  —  The crises don't compare, but their causes and effects certainly do.  —  We've been measuring presidents against each other since John Adams failed in comparison with the sainted George Washington.  Historical analogues are never perfect …

Top lobbyist Gerry Cassidy to step down  —  One of the Beltway's premier lobbyists, Gerry Cassidy, is stepping aside from his official role at the iconic D.C. lobbying firm that bears his name, POLITICO has learned.  —  On Thursday, Cassidy will announce a transition from the day-to-day leadership …

In an Attack Ad, an Alaskan Voter Is Really an Actress From Maryland  —  WASHINGTON - In a tough new advertisement from the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity, an unnamed woman looks directly into the camera and upbraids Senator Mark Begich, Democrat of Alaska.  —  “Senator Begich didn't listen.

Angry words of '63 Dallas now part of mainstream  —  On the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, the Dallas Morning News ran a giant black-bordered ad headlined “Welcome Mr. Kennedy to Dallas” that ripped him as soft on communism.  Plastered around town were black-framed posters …