An ugly finale for health-care reform  —  Going into Monday morning's crucial Senate vote on health-care legislation, Republican chances for defeating the bill had come down to a last, macabre hope.  They needed one Democratic senator to die — or at least become incapacitated.

The Senate Bill Saves Families Money  —  Health care reform looks like it's finally ready to pass the Senate, now that the Democrats have 60 votes in hand.  But here on the left, not all of us are jumping for joy.  Some think the Senate bill is just barely better than nothing.

CNN Poll: 6 point jump in support for health care bill  —  Washington (CNN) - Support for the health care reform bill that Democrats are pushing through the Senate has risen six points since early December, according to a new national poll, and although a majority of Americans still oppose its passage …

Rasmussen: Dorgan trailing in ND re-election bid by 22 points  —  Call it the Wages of ObamaCare.  When only 30% of a state's likely voters support the one piece of legislation on which the incumbent has worked for most of the year, they tend to get a little chippy about the idea of sending him back to Washington.

Sen. Whitehouse: foes of health care bill are birthers, right-wing militias, aryan groups  —  ****Updated with video link and more transcript  —  Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) today took shots at those who are not supporting the health care legislation.

The amazing disappearing bill  —  There's a lot of talk over whether the health-care bill should begin before 2014, and whether the long delay will give the GOP sufficient time to foment a backlash.  On the one hand, the bill should certainly begin before 2014.

Leadership, Obama Style, and the Looming Losses in 2010: Pretty Speeches, Compromised Values, and the Quest for the Lowest Common Denominator  —  As the president's job performance numbers and ratings on his handling of virtually every domestic issue have fallen below 50 percent …

For Obama, No Opportunity Too Big to Blow  —  Cross-posted with EnviroNation.  —  Contrary to countless reports, the debacle in Copenhagen was not everyone's fault.  It did not happen because human beings are incapable of agreeing, or are inherently self-destructive.

Did The Republicans Blunder On Health Care?  —  Yes, say Jonathan Chait and David Frum, in pre-mortems for the G.O.P.'s efforts to derail the Democratic bill.  Chait argues that the Republicans could have sold moderate Democrats on a “vastly more limited” piece of legislation, if they'd been willing to compromise early in the process.

Lieberman: Obama Never Pressed Me On Public Option  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) insists that the White House did not pressure him to get in line behind either a public health insurance option or a Medicare buy-in compromise during the health care debate this year.

Tim Pawlenty Gets No Respect  —  He doesn't have Sarah Palin's pizzazz or Mitt Romney's money.  But the governor of Minnesota may be a shrewd Republican bet in 2012.  —  Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty  —  From the magazine issue dated Jan 4, 2010  —  In the run-up to the 2008 Republican convention …

Dick Cheney: HUMAN EVENTS' Conservative of the Year  —  In Washingtonian “inside the Beltway” terms, the most amazing aspect of former Vice President Dick Cheney's new clout is that he is achieving it the old-fashioned way: talking about public policy.  He is not running for President or any other office.

Americans Judge The Bush Decade: ‘Awful’ And ‘Not So Good’  —  A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll finds that Americans are entering 2011 with a negative view of the events of the past decade, which was largely marked by President Bush's tenure from 2001-2009:

Serving U.S troops could face prison if they fall pregnant while active  —  A top US commander is threatening soldiers who fall pregnant on active service with jail.  —  Under the new policy, troops expecting a baby face court martial and a possible prison term - and so do the men who made them pregnant.

Kristol: Draft Pence!  —  Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana has issued an excellent statement on the health care bill.  He calls it “Washington at its worst,” and especially urges “Senators with the privilege of representing the great state of Indiana, to give special consideration to Hoosier families and their values and reject this bill.”

Sen. Whitehouse: There Will Be A ‘Reckoning’ For GOP's ‘Desperate, No-Holds-Barred Mission Of Propaganda’ (VIDEO)  —  On the Senate floor yesterday, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) slammed Republicans for their “desperate, no-holds-barred mission of propaganda, falsehood, obstruction and fear …

Cynthia Nixon: Abortion debate's new voice  —  (CNN) — It's been a little more than a week since Cynthia Nixon flew back from filming “Sex and the City 2” in Morocco, and she's already diving headfirst into the debate surrounding abortion and health care reform.

Obama signs Franken's anti-rape amendment into law.  —  The White House Press Office sent out a statement today announcing that President Obama signed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 into law on Saturday: … Within the Appropriations Act is Sen. Al Franken's (D-MN) …