The House vote on the Slaughter Solution: Update: Constitution-butchers prevail, 222-203; Roll call vote added; Calling out Dems Altmire, Lynch  —  Photoshop credit: Big Fur Hat at iowntheworld.com and Applecross Media  —  You'll recall that House Republicans unveiled a resolution two days ago …

Rules Panel Dem To Vote Against Bill  —  A key House Dem has begun informing party leaders he plans to vote against health care legislation both on the House floor and in the rules committee, on which he sits.  —  Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-NY), a sophomore Dem who had a tougher …

Stupak: Health fight has been ‘living hell’  —  Leading a revolt against President Barack Obama's healthcare legislation over abortion has been a “living hell” for Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.).  —  The telephone lines in his Washington and district offices have been “jammed” …

Choi Arrested at White House Gates  —  In an act of civil disobedience, Lt. Dan Choi and Jim Pietrangelo have been arrested at the White House gates on Thursday while protesting the military's “don't ask, don't tell” policy.  —  Following a Human Rights Campaign rally for DADT repeal …

I-Team: DOJ Serves Subpoenas in Senator Ensign Investigation  —  LAS VEGAS — Nevada Senator John Ensign is in the crosshairs of a Department of Justice criminal investigation.  —  The criminal probe stems from a romantic affair Ensign had with the wife of his key staffer and close friend …

Comparing The CBO Scores For Different Health Care Bills  —  We're still waiting on the the language of the reconciliation bill, but I've gone through the preliminary CBO report and pulled out some numbers to compare the new package with the old Senate and House drafts.

Has Rahm's assumption about progressives been vindicated?  —  President Barack Obama, Paul Krugman, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga  —  Politico's Ben Smith yesterday suggested that one important aspect of Rahm Emanuel's health care strategy …

Planned Switch to G.O.P. Stirs New York Governor Race  —  ALBANY — A governor's race that seemed all but settled is about to be upended again, by a popular Democrat from Long Island who is set to announce that he is switching parties.  The move is certain to excite Republican leaders pessimistic about their party's hopes this fall.

Christiane Amanpour Named ‘This Week’ Anchor  —  Christiane Amanpour Starts as ‘This Week’ Anchor in August  —  Christiane Amanpour has been named the new anchor of “This Week,” ABC News President David Westin announced today.  —  “I am delighted to announce that Christiane Amanpour …

GOP Doc Asks Pelosi: ‘Are you so arrogant ... ignorant ... incompetent?’  —  ABC's Z. Byron Wolf reports: Democrats might have themselves a health reform bill, but Republicans have doctors - way more doctors in Congress, anyway, than Democrats.  And they're steamed.

Texts Without Context  —  In his deliberately provocative — and deeply nihilistic — new book, “Reality Hunger,” the onetime novelist David Shields asserts that fiction “has never seemed less central to the culture's sense of itself.”  He says he's “bored by out-and-out fabrication …

Canceling the trip  —  The cancellation of President Obama's trip to Asia marks the full reversal of the strategy his presidency began with: Flooding the zone with policy, keeping the President out of the weeds.  —  The decision to cancel his trip may look like a sign of urgency but it's also …

He Took My Lunch Money, Or, Why Women Need Full Health Care  —  Once more, with feeling ...  I'm not the only woman in the country who once had a partner who took my paychecks and deposited them in an account that I had no access to; not by debit card, not by checkbook.

Don't Be Morose!  Get Even!  —  David Brooks says he's out on the ledge, morose, and about to have a “Howard Beale” moment.  Just last week he was telling us that Obama was a misunderstood moderate.  Now he confesses that Obama is aiding and abetting unlawfulness of the worst kind.  He explains:

Conrad Predicts Senate Changes to Reconciliation Bill  —  Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Thursday that it is unlikely the Senate will be able to pass a health care reconciliation bill unchanged from what the House passes.  —  Conrad said the Senate Parliamentarian has declined …

“Libertarians,” Sprawl, and Land Use  —  Randal O'Toole has a baffling and bafflingly long post dedicated to trying to rebut my very simple view of the relationship between “sprawl” and land-use regulations.  So I'll just restate my argument in briefer form and ask O'Toole to say what, if anything, in it he disagrees with: