DeMint promises to delay health bill, force Christmas Eve vote  —  Sen. Jim DeMint said Thursday he is prepared to use every procedural tool to delay a vote on the Democratic healthcare legislation.  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is planning to schedule votes around the clock …

Liberal Revolt on Health Care Stings White House  —  WASHINGTON — In the great health care debate of 2009, President Obama has cast himself as a cold-eyed pragmatist, willing to compromise in exchange for votes.  Now ideology — an uprising on the Democratic left — is smacking the pragmatic president in the face.

Franken shuts down Lieberman on Senate floor  —  WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Al Franken took the unusual step Thursday of shutting down Sen. Joe Lieberman on the Senate floor.  —  Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, currently is the target of liberal wrath over his opposition …

Obama Presses China for Accountability on Climate  —  COPENHAGEN — President Obama called on world leaders to move swiftly to address climate change, and, in a direct challenge to China, pressed for a global climate change accord to include a way to monitor whether countries are complying with promised emissions cuts.

Is the European police state going global?  —  From The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley in Copenhagen  —  Today the gloves came off and the true purpose of the “global warming” scare became nakedly visible.  Ugo Chavez, the Socialist president of Venezuela, blamed “global warming” …

Pass the Bill  —  A message to progressives: By all means, hang Senator Joe Lieberman in effigy.  Declare that you're disappointed in and/or disgusted with President Obama.  Demand a change in Senate rules that, combined with the Republican strategy of total obstructionism, are in the process of making America ungovernable.

Palin cuts vacation short  —  Sarah Palin announced Thursday night that she ended a Hawaii vacation early because of the ruckus raised after she blacked out “McCain” on her sun visor in an effort to elude paparazzi.  —  After the former Alaska governor was photographed on the beach earlier this week …

Ohio's Traficant contemplates return to Congress  —  CLEVELAND — Former Rep. James Traficant, who was recently released from prison after serving seven years for corruption, said Thursday that he is “proud of being an ex-con” and may try to return to Congress.

The 10 Worst Predictions for 2009  —  Ten pundits and politicians whose prognostications for this year completely missed the mark. … —Rahm Emanuel on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, April 19, 2009  —  The bill the White House chief of staff was optimistically referring to …

Rare gender identity defect hits Gaza families  —  Editor's Note: Watch Connect the World tonight 9pm GMT, 4pm ET.  —  Gaza City (CNN) — Two Palestinian teenagers stroll amid the mounds of rubble left by last year's Israeli military offensive, listening to the tinny beat of a Turkish pop song playing on a cell phone.

Hurry Up and Wait  —  A woman whose name I didn't recognize left a message on my office telephone a few weeks ago.  Identifying herself as a member of Congress, but without telling me what she wanted, she asked me to call her at a private number, not the 225 prefix for telephones in the House of Representatives office buildings.

Kucinich panel to investigate Citigroup tax ruling  —  A House subcommittee said Thursday that it will investigate the Treasury Department's decision to change a long-standing law so that Citigroup could keep billions of dollars in tax breaks.  —  Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) …

Dec. 18: ISAF Assesses Claims of Civilian Casualties; Operational Update  —  ISAF Joint Command - Afghanistan  —  ISAF is sending a team who will assess, with Afghan officials, reports of civilian casualties as a result of an ISAF operation in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar yesterday.

Homeowners often rejected under Obama's loan plan  —  WASHINGTON — Ten months after the Obama administration began pressing lenders to do more to prevent foreclosures, many struggling homeowners are holding up their end of the bargain but still find themselves rejected …

Hillary Clinton Pledges $100B for Developing Countries  —  COPENHAGEN — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has promised the United States will help raise $100 billion annually by 2020 to assist poor countries in coping with climate change as long as America's demands for a global warming pledge are met.

Morgan Stanley to Give Up 5 San Francisco Towers Bought at Peak  —  Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — Morgan Stanley, the securities firm that spent more than $8 billion on commercial property in 2007, plans to relinquish five San Francisco office buildings to its lender two years after purchasing …

Whitman has wide lead over her GOP rivals  —  (12-16) 21:16 PST SAN FRANCISCO — Republican former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who has spent more than $20 million in her campaign to become California's next governor, holds commanding leads over her two GOP competitors, while nearly half …

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 …