Harkin: Health deal was reached days before Brown's victory  —  Sen. Tom Harkin, the chairman of the Senate Health Committee, said negotiators from the White House, Senate and House reached a final deal on healthcare reform days before Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts.

Bay what?  Guantanamo eyed for 9/11 trial  —  By JOHN DOYLE and DAVID SEIFMAN in NY and CHARLES HURT in DC  —  The trial of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed won't be held in lower Manhattan and could take place in a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, sources said last night.

Cossack Rahm Works For The Czar  —  Ezra Klein finds Rahm Emanuel's apparent willingness to let health reform slide into the indefinite future very depressing.  So do I. And it's not just health reform that will die under this approach — it's the road to a caretaker presidency.

Un-frickin-believable: U.S. Military Serving as Chauffeurs, Babysitters for the Pelosi Kids: Receipts That Will Blow Your Mind  —  Meet the Pelosi family!  Using Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, Judicial Watch uncovered thousands of pages of travel documents related to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's use of military aircraft.

Deficit of Trust: Most Voters Don't Believe President's Assertions About Economy  —  During his State-of-the-Union address Wednesday night, President Obama spoke about a deficit of trust between the American people and political leaders.  New Rasmussen Reports polling on the president's speech shows …

Obama's Stunning Admission  —  There's been a remarkable amount of coverage of President Obama's appearance at the House Republican retreat today, but I haven't seen anyone focus on the President's rather stunning admission about the Democrats' health care legislation (Video):

Pentagon starts clock on lifting gay ban  —  WASHINGTON — The Defense Department starts the clock next week on what is expected to be a several-year process in lifting its ban on gays from serving openly in the military.  —  A special investigation into how the ban can be repealed without hurting …

G.O.P. Facing Opportunities and Obstacles  —  HONOLULU — Republican leaders burst into applause here the other day as their luncheon speaker, Gov. Linda Lingle of Hawaii, shared the latest analysis by a Washington Congressional handicapper: The way things are heading, she read …

President Obama's Tax Credit for Cutting Jobs  —  The country is currently suffering through the worst downturn since the Great Depression, with 15 million people unemployed.  That might seem a strange time to introduce a tax credit that would give companies an incentive to hire fewer workers …

Justice Dept.: Obama administration may take action on BCS  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is considering several steps that would review the legality of the controversial Bowl Championship Series, the Justice Department said in a letter Friday to a senator who had asked for an antitrust review.

Obama tries hand at color commentary during interview at Duke-GU game  —  President Barack Obama said he can't catch as much college hoops as he'd like, but relies on ESPN to keep him up to date.  —  In a mid-game interview on CBS during today's Duke-Georgetown game at the Verizon Center in D.C. …

World hunger and the locavores  —  Every so often at Davos you have a short, startling conversation which completely changes the way you think about a subject — and I just had one of those standing next to Dan Barber, the chef of Blue Hill Farm.  He's a very smart, very funny guy …

Sarah Palin's PAC raised $1.4 million in final six months of 2009  —  Sarah PAC, the political action committee of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, collected $1.4 million over the final six months of 2009, a solid — if not spectacular — total that demonstrates her fundraising capacity as she mulls a bid for national office in 2012.

Justice Official Clears Bush Lawyers in Torture Memo Probe  —  For weeks, the right has heckled Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. for his plans to try the alleged 9/11 conspirators in New York City and his handling of the Christmas bombing plot suspect.  Now the left is going to be upset …

Climate chief was told of false glacier claims before Copenhagen  —  The chairman of the leading climate change watchdog was informed that claims about melting Himalayan glaciers were false before the Copenhagen summit, The Times has learnt.  —  Rajendra Pachauri was told that the Intergovernmental Panel …

The stuff of riveting political theater  —  Friday's encounter between President Obama and House Republicans proved to be riveting political theater.  The question is whether it will be remembered as a moment that began to ease the tensions between the two parties — or an asterisk in this era of polarized politics.

LIMBAUGH LETS LOOSE  —  Rush Limbaugh is already creating buzz as a judge at the Miss America pageant: Seems the man knows how to bust a move.  —  On Thursday night, in between rounds of competition, the judges competed for their own crown: “Judge of the Night.”

High Jinks to Handcuffs for Landrieu Provocateur  —  James O'Keefe III, the guerrilla videographer, advised conservative students this month that they needed to start taking more risks.  —  “The more you put yourself out there and you take those calculated risks,” he told the Web site CampusReform.org …