Finance Committee to drop end-of-life provision  —  The Senate Finance Committee will drop a controversial provision on consultations for end-of-life care from its proposed healthcare bill, its top Republican member said Thursday.  —  The committee, which has worked on putting together …

Internal Memo Confirms Big Giveaways In White House Deal With Big Pharma  —  A memo obtained by the Huffington Post confirms that the White House and the pharmaceutical lobby secretly agreed to precisely the sort of wide-ranging deal that both parties have been denying over the past week.

Sources: Edwards to admit paternity of ex-mistress' child  —  RALEIGH, N.C. — Sources have told WRAL News that they expect former U.S. Sen. John Edwards to admit that he is the father of his former mistress' 18-month-old daughter.  —  Edwards, a two-time Democratic presidential candidate …

“Death to Obama” Sign Holder Detained by Secret Service  —  Secret Service now involved  —  There were signs comparing President Barack Obama to a Nazi and showing him with an Adolf Hitler-style mustache, but federal officials believe another sign referencing the president and his family went too far.

Hardball: Lawrence O'Donnell Exposes Clueless Town Hall Protester  —  Lawrence O'Donnell filled in for Chris Matthews on Hardball Wednesday, and somehow managed to avoid savaging clueless town hall protester, Katy Abram.  Abram went on a moronic tirade at Senator Arlen Specter's town hall meeting on Tuesday …

It's Hip to Be Round  —  THIS summer the unvarying male uniform in the precincts of Brooklyn cool has been a pair of shorts cut at knickers length, a V-neck Hanes T-shirt, a pair of generic slip-on sneakers and a straw fedora.  Add a leather cuff bracelet if the coolster is gay.

Trust on Issues  —  Voters Give GOP First-Time Lead on Health Care  —  For the first time in over two years of polling, voters trust Republicans slightly more than Democrats on the handling of the issue of health care.  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that voters favor the GOP on the issue 44% to 41%.

BREAKING: Obama Official Linked to Racially Charged Boycott of Glenn Beck  —  A racially charged activist group called “Color of Change” founded by Van Jones, a special advisor to the Obama Administration, is trying to silence popular radio and Fox News personality Glenn Beck by calling for a boycott of Beck's TV advertisers.

Zeke Emanuel on Sarah Palin's Accusation of ‘Death Panels’: 'It's An Absolute Outrage'  —  Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the health-policy adviser at the White House's Office of Management and Budget — who has been caricatured by conservatives as a “Dr. Death” seeking to pull the I.V.s …

Mom in minivan tasered twice in Salina traffic stop; camera captures deputy's rough roadside arrest (VIDEO)  —  In January, an Onondaga County sheriff's deputy pulled over Audra Harmon, who had two of her kids with her in her minivan.  A routine traffic stop escalated quickly.

Air traffic controller suspended, was chatting on phone with girlfriend during Hudson River crash  —  See shocking new video below.  —  WASHINGTON — The air traffic controller at Teterboro Airport was on the phone with his girlfriend during Saturday's deadly air collision over the Hudson River, the Daily News has learned.

Reid: Protesters are ‘evil-mongers’  —  Town hall protesters are “evil-mongers,” says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)  —  Reid coined the term in a speech to an energy conference in Las Vegas this week and repeated it in an interview with Politics Daily.

Statement from the American College of Surgeons Regarding  —  Recent Comments from President Obama  —  CHICAGO—The American College of Surgeons is deeply disturbed over the uninformed public comments President Obama continues to make about the high-quality care provided by surgeons in the United States.

Wanted: Obama healthcare reform volunteers willing to be paid $15 an hour  —  It seems that, despite all the media attention lavished on e-mail appeals to his supporters, not everyone pushing for President Obama's embattled healthcare reform plan these warm August days is an idealistic volunteer …

The GOP's Misplaced Rage  —  Blogs and Stories  —  Leading conservative economist Bruce Bartlett writes that the Obama-hating town-hall mobs have it wrong—the person they should be angry with left the White House seven months ago.  —  Where is the evidence that everything would be better if Republicans were in charge?

Tax Withholding Is Bad for Democracy  —  So is the payroll tax.  End them both and voters will have a healthier understanding of the government burden.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  America is supposed to be a democracy in which we're all in it together.

Boswell: Obama willing to be one-term president  —  Congressman Leonard Boswell (D-Des Moines, Iowa) held a town hall meeting in Sigourney this afternoon.  Despite one group's ad which “thanks Boswell for his support” of health care reform, Boswell told the crowd he may vote against it.

The Return of the Viral Email  —  Read an email out this morning from Senior Advisor David Axelrod and watch a new “Reality Check” video from Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle below.  Both respond to the malicious chain emails that have been circulating on health insurance reform:

Man Wanted for Terrorist Threats in Standoff at Federal Building  —  The suspect made an unspecified threat against the White House, according to a law enforcement source.  —  WESTWOOD — A man accused of making threats against the White House led officers on a wild freeway chase that ended in a standoff outside the Federal Building.

Dean Declines Offer To Appear On Dobbs' Radio Show  —  Days after calling Howard Dean as a “bloodsucking leftist” who could only be stopped with “a stake through his heart,” CNN host Lou Dobbs reached out to the former Democratic National Committee Chairman to invite him on his radio show.

Obama Is Trying To Sell Us A Hunk Of Junk  —  As a person who has diabetes, I am infuriated at the propaganda being churned out by the current occupant of the Oval Office and his underlings in furtherance of America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (ObamaCare).

Mohammed is most popular boy's name in four biggest Dutch cities  —  Mohammed, or other variations of the name of Islam's founding prophet, has become the most popular name choice for baby boys in the four biggest cities of the Netherlands.  —  Information collected by the country's social security agency …