House Democrats release bill for Budget markup Monday  —  House Democrats on Sunday night set into motion what they hope will be the final steps on healthcare reform.  —  The House Budget Committee on Sunday evening released text that will serve as the base legislation for the changes the House will seek to the Senate bill this week.

Rielle Hunter speaks for the first time in GQ interview about John and Elizabeth Edwards, Andrew Young, and the big-money donors  —  Rielle Hunter at her home in Charlotte, N.C. (Photo by Mark Seliger / Courtesy of GQ)  —  For more than two years after Rielle Hunter emerged at the center …

Contractors Tied to Effort to Track and Kill Militants  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — Under the cover of a benign government information-gathering program, a Defense Department official set up a network of private contractors in Afghanistan and Pakistan to help track and kill suspected militants …

Gitmo's Indefensible Lawyers  —  Legal counsel to some of the detainees went far beyond vigorous representation of their clients.  Doesn't the public have a right to know?  —  On the evening of Jan. 26, 2006, military guards at Guantanamo Bay made an alarming discovery during a routine cell check.

Millions Spent to Sway Democrats on Health Care  —  WASHINGTON — The yearlong legislative fight over health care is drawing to a frenzied close as a multimillion-dollar wave of advertising that rivals the ferocity of a presidential campaign takes aim at about 40 House Democrats whose votes …

Israel envoy: U.S. ties at their worst in 35 years  —  Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, has told the country's diplomats there that U.S.-Israeli relations face their worst crisis in 35 years, despite attempts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office to project a sense of “business as usual.”

Taking On China  —  Tensions are rising over Chinese economic policy, and rightly so: China's policy of keeping its currency, the renminbi, undervalued has become a significant drag on global economic recovery.  Something must be done.  —  To give you a sense of the problem …

March 14: Axelrod, Clyburn, Durbin, Rove, roundtable  —  MR. TOM BROKAW: This Sunday: Critical condition.  President Obama delays his trip overseas to push hard for healthcare reform.  —  PRES. BARACK OBAMA: It's time to vote!  Tired of talking about it.  —  MR. BROKAW: Will he finally succeed on this top priority?

Peter Graves, ‘Mission: Impossible’ Star, Dies at 83  —  Peter Graves, the cool spymaster of television's “Mission: Impossible” and the dignified host of the “Biography” series, who successfully spoofed his own gravitas in the “Airplane!” movie farces, died on Sunday.  He was 83.

Robert Gibbs: Health Care Will Be ‘Law Of The Land’ Next Week; Axelrod To GOP: ‘Make My Day’  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  The White House is beginning its final push on health care this week, with senior adviser David Axelrod and press secretary Robert Gibbs making the rounds …

Obama makes 5th trip to Ohio  —  President Obama will head back to Ohio Monday - his fifth trip to the state since becoming president.  —  Washington (CNN) - President Obama heads back to Ohio Monday, his fifth trip to the state since assuming the presidency over a year ago.

Rating agency warns on US public finances  —  Moody's Investor Service, the credit rating agency, will fire a warning shot at the US on Monday, saying that unless the country gets public finances into better shape than the Obama administration projects there would be “downward pressure” on its triple A credit rating.

Democrats, Forever Changed  —  Hungry Beast Giving Beast Women in the World  —  Blogs and Stories  —  By pressing ahead on health care, President Obama is ending a decades-long internal debate within his party—and the Democratic Party will never be the same.

Obama's happiness deficit  —  Here's a theory about why President Obama is having a tough political time right now: He doesn't seem all that happy being president.  —  I know, it's the world's hardest job, and between war and the world economy collapsing, he didn't have the first year he might have wished for.