Pelosi Says She'll Get Votes Needed for Health Bill  —  WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she is confident she will be able to get the votes needed to pass sweeping health care legislation in the House, even if it threatens the political careers of some members of her party.

Financial Reform Endgame  —  So here's the situation.  We've been through the second-worst financial crisis in the history of the world, and we've barely begun to recover: 29 million Americans either can't find jobs or can't find full-time work.  Yet all momentum for serious banking reform has been lost.

Deal Resigning Congress Tomorrow  —  Nathan Deal has called two press conferences tomorrow morning, one in Dalton and one in Gainesville, to announce that he is resigning from Congress.  —  Sources close to his campaign tell me that Deal will resign his seat in Congress to focus on his campaign for Governor.

Network News at a Crossroads  —  ABC News is making no secret about what is behind the sweeping staff cuts it now faces: raw survival instinct.  —  “I just looked out at the next five years and was concerned that we could not sustain doing what we were doing,” said David Westin …

Who's Obsessed and Deranged?  —  Frank Rich of the New York Times retired as a drama critic in order to take up his new role as the paper's full-time drama queen.  As an op-ed columnist for the Times, his assignment, apparently, is to write in such a hysterical fashion that Paul Krugman seems rational by comparison.

Are Democratic Presidents Smarter Than Republican Presidents?  —  Watching President Barack Obama at the White House health care summit last week, it was hard not to have an obvious thought: Could George W. Bush have done this?  It is tough to imagine Bush leading a seven-hour gabfest …

White House Is Rethinking Nuclear Policy  —  WASHINGTON — As President Obama begins making final decisions on a broad new nuclear strategy for the United States, senior aides say he will permanently reduce America's arsenal by thousands of weapons.  But the administration has rejected proposals …

Dropouts Targeted by New Obama Plan for Underperforming Schools  —  When President Obama delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress a year ago, he talked about the national problem of youngsters quitting high school.  —  “Dropping out of high school is no longer an option,” Obama said.

Tommy Thompson eyes Senate bid  —  Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who served four terms as Wisconsin governor, is securing financial pledges and ramping up his outreach to longtime political aides in preparation for a possible campaign against Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold.

POLL: Obama's visit just bounced off Reid  —  Poll shows senator gained little ground in re-election battle  —  WASHINGTON — During his whirlwind visit to Las Vegas two weeks ago, President Barack Obama mentioned U.S. Sen. Harry Reid by name four dozen times, gave him a big hug and talked him up as if he was a long-lost brother.

Top Labor Executive Leaves for Green Jobs Initiative  —  Chris Chafe, the executive director of the Change to Win labor federation, is leaving to his post at the end of the month to launch a new clean economy business and marketing initiative.  —  The departure of Chafe …

GOP allows extender bill to move forward  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has agreed to allow amendments on legislation extending several tax measures that expired last year, ending Republican procedural roadblocks on the legislation.  —  Around 2pm on Monday …

Doctors tell Barack Obama to quit smoking  —  The american president has been trying to kick the habit for sometime, apart from the smoking he is in excellent health  —  Barack Obama is still struggling to kick smoking, according to his first medical examination since becoming president.

IPCC “science” on hurricanes no longer settled, either  —  In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, anthropogenic global warming (AGW) activists insisted that the stronger storm systems resulted from the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, making hurricanes increasingly more severe.

WHEN THE GOP GIVES DEMS ADVICE.... One of the more commonly heard Republican talking points lately has been advice to the Democratic majority: if health care reform passes, and the majority delivers a historic victory, it will be awful news for Democratic candidates.

Alexander hints at interest in climate  —  Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) said Sunday that lawmakers could advance energy and climate legislation by adopting a step-by-step approach that eschews sweeping measures.  —  Alexander's comments appear to indicate …

The Raging Septuagenarian  —  Taking on the Times, Google, and, in a sense, his own children, Rupert Murdoch is not going gently into the night.  —  On Saturday, January 9, Rupert Murdoch was on his Boeing 737 returning to New York from a business trip to Los Angeles when he learned …