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Obama Readies a Fallback Proposal — Scaled-Down Plan Would Expand Insurance to About Half as Many People as Pending Bill Envisions — President Barack Obama will use a bipartisan summit Thursday to push for sweeping health-care legislation, but if that fails to generate enough support …
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There's no plan B for health-care reform — The Wall Street Journal has a splashy piece this evening on the White House's plan B for health-care reform: a fallback approach that would cover 15 million people, do less to reform the system and cut costs, and carry a lower price tag. Call it health-care lite.

More of the Same, Only More Expensive — The President has wrestled control of the health care debate away from Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid by finally introducing his own plan. Unfortunately, the White House's proposal includes everything we found untenable about the old Senate bill - only this one is even more expensive!


Preparing in Great Detail for a Health Debate, and for Its TV Audience — WASHINGTON — In convening Thursday's bipartisan health session, President Obama is angling to recreate the kind of spontaneous, unscripted debate that gave him a decided advantage when he took questions on live television …


Democrats looking beyond health-care summit to final talks within party — Congressional Democrats are already looking beyond the White House health-care summit, reckoning that Thursday's session will amount to little more than political theater and focusing instead on a final round …
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Scared Monkeys, Political Punch, The Note, NOW! Blog, Washington Times, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and The New Republic

Americans Tilt Against Democrats' Plans if Summit Fails — Most doubt an agreement will result from Thursday's summit — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans are skeptical that lawmakers will agree on a new healthcare bill at Thursday's bipartisan healthcare summit in Washington …

Will Dr. Obama go for Plan B-1, or Plan B-2? — Dems' post-summit message: POTUS was ‘thoughtful, comprehensive,’ Rs ‘insulted the summit’ — New NYT expose may finish Gov. Paterson — EXCLUSIVE — Speaker Pelosi's prepared remarks for the Blair House summit: “[I]naction and incrementalism are simply unacceptable.
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The Page

A viewer's guide to the health-care summit
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Michael Calderone's Blog, PostPartisan, Time, Prairie Weather, The Page, The Atlantic Politics Channel and NewsBusters.org

Poll: Expectations low on health summit
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Photo Emerges Of Murderous Killer Whale At Tea Party Rally — Some quick investigate reporting by the folks at Daily Kos and Democratic Underground has unearthed a photo of Tilikum, the killer whale who yesterday killed a trainer at Sea World, at a Tea Party event in Omaha, Nebraska.
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Questions of Influence in Abuse Case of Paterson Aide — Last fall, a woman went to court in the Bronx to testify that she had been violently assaulted by a top aide to Gov. David A. Paterson, and to seek a protective order against the man. — In the ensuing months, she returned to court twice …
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Banks Bet Greece Defaults on Debt They Helped Hide — Bets by some of the same banks that helped Greece shroud its mounting debts may actually now be pushing the nation closer to the brink of financial ruin. — Echoing the kind of trades that nearly toppled the American International Group …
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Greek rescue in danger as deputy prime minister attacks ‘Nazi’ Germany


Weiner: Every GOPer I Know Is A ‘Wholly-Owned Subsidiary Of The Insurance Industry’ (VIDEO) — A must-watch performance on the House floor today from Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY). — “You gotta love these Republicans,” Weiner said. “I mean, you guys have chutzpah.
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Can This Possibly Be True? New Obama Missile Defense Logo Includes A Crescent — The Obama administration's determined effort to reduce America's missile defense capabilities initially seemed to be just standard Leftist fare — of a piece with the Democratic base's visceral hostility …


Marco Rubio charged personal bills on GOP card — Senate candidate Marco Rubio said he reimbursed the state GOP for expenses put on an American Express card given to him by his party. — BREINHARD@MIAMIHERALD.COM — U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio charged grocery bills …
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Ben Smith's Blog, MiamiHerald.com, msnbc.com, TPMDC, USA Today, The Eye, Real Clear Politics and The Daily Caller

Brauchli Confirms Print Death of “The Party” by Sally Quinn — After hours of frenzied calling and e-mailing and even a little Facebook messaging, City Desk has finally gotten someone in the know at the Washington Post to comment on the whole Sally Quinn situation. That would be the Executive Editor, Marcus Brauchli.


Not in Vermont's Back Yard — Trouble at the nuclear renaissance: … This highlights why I think all this talk about nuclear loan guarantees from the Obama administration or new subsidies as part of a climate/energy bill is a bit misguided. The problems with nuclear power in the United States …

New Jobless Claims Jumped to 496,000 as Heavy Snow Caused Rise in Layoffs — The number of new claims for unemployment benefits jumped unexpectedly last week as heavy snows caused layoffs to rise.

Campaign Goes After Opponents of Gay Marriage — ALBANY — Angered by the defeat last year of a bill that would have allowed same-sex couples to marry, a group of well-financed gay rights advocates has started a political action committee to take aim aggressively at state senators who have opposed same-sex marriage.


C.I.A. and Pakistan Work Together, but Do So Warily — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Inside a secret detention center in an industrial pocket of the Pakistani capital called I/9, teams of Pakistani and American spies have kept a watchful eye on a senior Taliban leader captured last month.

Sen. McCain 'doesn't understand' Sen. Reid's repeated attacks on him — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday he is confused about his relationship with Harry Reid (D-Nev.), noting that the majority leader has a habit of lambasting him one day and praising him the next.

Olbermann swings back at Mediaite (and Abrams) — Keith Olbermann called Mediaite “gullible” earlier this week for questioning if there's a lack of diversity on MSNBC and calling attention to a critical video from the Dallas Tea Party. And last night the “Countdown” host followed up by awarding …


Up to 1,200 needless deaths, patients abused, staff bullied to meet targets... yet a secret inquiry into failing hospital says no one's to blame — Up to 1,200 patients died unnecessarily because of appalling care — Labour's obsession with targets and box ticking blamed for scandal


Dems say they're down but not out — Charlie Cook is predicting that Democrats will lose their House majority in November, and Republicans are beginning to get their mouths around the words “Speaker Boehner.” — But if the Democrats themselves are panicking, you wouldn't know it from talking to them.
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Politics Daily


Thirty-one House Dems quizzing Toyota execs got UAW campaign cash — Two committees in the U.S. House of Representatives are holding hearings this week concerning allegations of sudden acceleration problems in Toyota cars and trucks sold in this country. — Among the witnesses appearing today …