Axelrod: Left ‘insane’ to sink bill  —  Trying to stave off a sudden fusillade from the left, White House senior adviser David Axelrod said Thursday that Howard Dean's criticisms of health-care reform are “predicated on a bunch of erroneous conclusions” and that for progressives to torpedo the legislation …

Nelson a ‘no’ on health reform bill pending further changes  —  Centrist Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.) won't advance healthcare reform efforts unless further changes are made, the senator said Thursday afternoon.  —  Nelson said that modifications to the bill, including provisions …

Sarah Palin's McCain Cover Up  —  For the first time ever, Sarah Palin used her head to make a searing political comment — a frontal attack on Sen. John McCain.  —  The failed Vice Presidential nominee took time off from shilling her book to vacation with her son Trig …

Health care and Iraq  —  Steve Benen is right: for the most part the debate among progressives about whether the final product on health reform is worth supporting has been edifying.  Serious people are making serious arguments, in a way that puts conservatives, who have offered nothing but smears and lies, very much to shame.

Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones  —  $26 Software Is Used to Breach Key Weapons in Iraq; Iranian Backing Suspected  —  WASHINGTON — Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need …

Missing Ted Kennedy  —  For those of us who like Barack Obama on some level think single-payer health care would be best but impractical, then hoped for a system with a public option, but who are still enthusiastic about health reform that doesn't include it, I think we've really reached …

Chat transcript: Reconciliation, cost controls and Lieberman, oh my!  —  Reconciliation: Howard Dean and others on the left are saying that a better health-care bill can still pass through reconciliation.  What is your take on this?  —  Ezra Klein: I think there's no chance of it.

AFL demands ‘substantial changes’  —  AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka went a bit further than the SEIU's Andy Stern in a statement today, insisting that “[F]or this health care bill to be worthy of the support of working men and women, substantial changes must be made.”

Monica's back - says Clinton lied  —  In the years since their bitter battle, both former President Bill Clinton and independent counsel Ken Starr have predicted they'd be vindicated in the history books.  —  Now the first definitive history of the Clinton scandal is about to arrive …

Election 2010: Missouri Senate  —  Missouri Senate: Carnahan 46% Blunt 44%  —  Democrat Robin Carnahan and Republican Roy Blunt remain locked in a tight race to become the next U.S. senator from Missouri.  —  The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds that Carnahan attracts 46% …

Obama's '10 challenge: ‘Waking liberals’  —  With President Barack Obama's job approval rating at a term-low near the end of his first year, the Pew Research Center's Andrew Kohut suggests that “what's really exceptional at this stage of Obama's presidency is the extent to which the public …

From the horse's mouth  —  I FEAR that I am exhausting readers' patience with my continued writing about the Federal Reserve's decision to ignore, more or less, the fact that the unemployment rate in America is at 10% and is unlikely to return to normal levels for at least a half decade.

Walpin-gate may snag Mrs. Obama  —  Skullduggery alleged in White House dismissal of inspector general  —  No inspector general can unearth corruption without access to his office, computer or staff.  An “administrative leave” putting an IG in that position has the same effect, for all intents and purposes, as an immediate firing.

Sorry, Senator Kerry  —  Let us contemplate the badness of Joe Lieberman.  —  Who would have thought that this holiday season we'd be obsessed with the senator from Connecticut?  Really, I was hoping it would be more about shopping for mittens on the Internet.

Blizzard Dumps Snow on Copenhagen as Leaders Battle Warming  —  Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — World leaders flying into Copenhagen today to discuss a solution to global warming will first face freezing weather as a blizzard dumped 10 centimeters (4 inches) of snow on the Danish capital overnight.

GAO tells Smith, Issa it will probe ACORN  —  The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has informed two House Republicans that it will investigate ACORN's use of federal funds.  —  The GAO sent a letter to Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee …