CBO numbers  —  House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) just released the first set of Congressional Budget Office numbers to reporters this morning.  —  The bill would cost $940 billion, and reduce the deficit by $130 billion over the first 10 years and $1.2 trillion in the second 10 years.

President Barack Obama Talks to Bret Baier About Health Care Reform Bill  —  This is a rush transcript of “Special Report With Bret Baier” from March 17, 2010.  This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.  —  BRET BAIER, “SPECIAL REPORT” HOST: Welcome to Washington.

Stupak: It's been ‘a 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” and he's gotten …

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:

Gloomy Americans Bash Congress, Are Divided on Obama  —  Health Care Reform - Can't Live With It, or Without It  —  As the day of reckoning for health care reform approaches, Americans have little to cheer about.  Nearly everyone (92%) gives the national economy a negative rating.

Steve Levy Plans Switch to G.O.P., Stirring Governor's 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 …

Clinton, Bush Haiti-bound: $31 m so far  —  Remember Haiti?  —  Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are working to ensure that the world doesn't forget the suffering that remains from a catastrophic earthquake.  —  The two plan to travel to Haiti on Monday, according to the Clinton Foundation.

Obama's pitch: Fate of presidency on the line  —  President Barack Obama had exhausted most of his health care reform arguments with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus during a White House meeting last Thursday when he made a more personal pitch that resonated with many skeptics in the room.

Ailes to the DC Staff: No More Shooting Inside the Tent  —  Fox News founder and chairman Roger Ailes dropped in to the Washington Bureau this afternoon for an impromptu talk to the troops ahead of tonight's RTCA dinner.  —  Sources inside the packed newsroom tell TVNewser Ailes started …

Homeowner Kills Attempted Robber In Driveway Shootout  —  OCOEE — An Orange County man is recovering after a shootout in front of his home.  —  It happened around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 1800 block of Pomegranate Court.  —  Police said the homeowner, Dave Henry, had just returned home …

The Return Of Betsy McCaughey?  —  Just when you thought things couldn't possibly get any weirder in NYS politics...  A reader who lives in Manhattan reports he received a poll call last night that appeared to be testing the viability of former LG Betsy McCaughey as a statewide candidate for either governor or the US Senate.

Walgreens: no new Medicaid patients as of April 16  —  Effective April 16, Walgreens drugstores across the state won't take any new Medicaid patients, saying that filling their prescriptions is a money-losing proposition — the latest development in an ongoing dispute over Medicaid reimbursement.

Field Poll: Campbell leads GOP Senate field; Boxer fades  —  WASHINGTON - Former Rep. Tom Campbell has a six-point lead over his closest challenger in the three-way Republican primary to face Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, whose popularity has significantly eroded in the past two months, according to a Field Poll released today.

Alex Chilton, Rock Musician, Dies  —  Alex Chilton of the rock band Big Star performed at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple last November.  —  Alex Chilton, the mercurial if influential rock musician, whose work spanned an eclectic gamut from the soul songs of the Box Tops to the multiple incarnations …

Code Red Moves Cardoza and Costa to “Yes” Votes on Gov't Healthcare Takeover After Water Deal  —  Is this Another Backroom Deal to Force Obama's Bill Down the American People's Throats?  —  As a vote approaches on Obama and Pelosi's government takeover of healthcare, Code Red is now considering …

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.

KSM's dispensable trial  —  The Obama administration and its critics are locked in a standoff over whether to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other alleged Sept. 11 conspirators in a military commission or in federal court.  Both sides are busily ignoring the obvious solution: Don't bother trying them at all.

Germans Cringe at Hitler's Popularity in Pakistan  —  Germans are popular in India and Pakistan, but not always for the right reasons.  Many in South Asia have nothing but admiration for Adolf Hitler and still associate Germany with the Third Reich.  Everyday encounters with the love of all things Nazi makes German visitors cringe.