When a team of senior U.S. officials led by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton entered the presidential palace in Kabul on Wednesday for a dinner meeting, they had little indication of what Afg...

She has a strong point -- GOP primaries are the best way to test leaders and ideas.

"The Battle for America" boldly asserts its own importance in its title, and unlike many such pronouncements, it largely delivers. Through a judicious blend of facts, anecdotes, close-ups and wide-ang...

A rebounding Republican Party is savoring victories in two states that President Obama won last year, but as it tries to build momentum toward what GOP Chairman Michael S. Steele called a "Republican...

Earl E. Devaney, the chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, says reports of job creation came from aid recipients and were not always verified.

The Senate majority leader’s deep personal involvement in assembling the overhaul of the health care system has led the measure to the brink of a historic Senate debate.

Advocating civil disobedience to resist laws compelling institutions to perform abortion or recognize unions.

Senator Harry Reid scheduled the first crucial procedural vote on the major health care legislation for Saturday, after what is expected to be two marathon days of debate.

The Court of Appeals left to the Legislature the broader issue of whether same-sex marriage should be legal in New York.

The appointment of a senator to replace Barack Obama gets scrutiny from the Senate Ethics Committee.

Two weeks from the big House vote on health care, the Senate begins its votes -- on a Saturday.

The woman who faced the press for President George W. Bush is chosen for a seat on the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

The animal rights group wants to transform a state prison into an empathy center, if it does not hold detainees from the Guantánamo detention center.

The Conservative Party loser in a Congressional race says it's not over until all absentee ballots are counted.

John McCain emerges as vocal opponent of the climate bill -- a major reversal for the maverick.

The movement's internal squabbling has some members fearful that it will disintegrate.

Members of the Hispanic Caucus says Emanuel's mark is all over the push to block insurance for illegals.

Ethics panel: Illinois senator used 'inappropriate" and 'less than candid" statements.

Democrats -- with their fears about the economy finally bubbling over -- are aiming fire at Timothy Geithner.

And so my friends, it has come to this. As Boyz II Men sang so soulfully, we've come to the end of the road. Or, the runway... Anyway, we've finally made it -- it's RUNWAY TIME.

We need corporate reform by way of requiring all shareholders to approve all pay of all executives at all publicly traded corporations. Only then will this looting insanity end.

Though this has been a tough year, try to remember this: when times are tough, somewhere in the world, some unsuspecting turkey is about to have a fistful of gravy shoved deep into his ass.

Fortunately, this year, you can holiday shop for your child or grandchild with more confidence than ever before. That's because there are new rules on your side and the side of America's children.

Recently I was given just 24 hours to explore a first production build of the Apple iTablet -- and here are my first impressions and discoveries.

A judicious take from a position of support.

That's the trouble with populism: the populace can get mad if they don't get all their books signed. My favorite insult yelled at Palin in Indiana: "Quitting on the job right there!":...

A reader writes: The day Palin's book came out I wrote the original review on Amazon that you quoted from buzzfeed ("So what if Sarah Palin didn't write this book? Even God used early scribes to write...

A reader writes: Yes, I have heard the whole "laboratories of democracy" spiel, but can you please explain why you and (other?) conservatives in this country are so enamoured with states' rights? Why...

Friedersdorf counters Linker and wishes the Dish hadn't gone silent for a day: Ms. Palin’s political critics can no more deny her the spotlight than they can stop her appearances on Rush Limbaugh’...

Sen. Landrieu (D-LA) says she's still undecided on voting for cloture but will decide tonight and put out a statement tomorrow morning....

Not the first Dem I've heard say this. This from TPM Reader EF ... What you say about Palin is certainly true in general, but her likely endorsee in FL - Marco Rubio - is one of the only Republicans..

New developments keep popping through the day in the senate health care bill debate. Check out this page to see all our health care reform debate updates over the course of the day....

I think as long as Sarah Palin remains the King-maker in GOP primary battles across the country, the Dems have something to be happy about....

Defunct Washington Blade relaunches as D.C. Agenda....

CNNWhat to expect in Senate's Saturday health care voteCNN InternationalSens. Jack Reed, left, Dick Durbin and Robert Menendez, right, hold a news conference about health care Friday at the Captio...

MiamiHerald.comGiuliani back in spotlight _ but what's the show?The Associated PressNEW YORK — Whether he's planning another run for the White House or a bid for senator or governor, or he j...

The Associated PressObama: Below 50 percent approvalUSA TodayPresident Obama's job-approval rating has slipped below 50% in the Gallup Tracking Poll for the first time in his presidency, pulled do...

News OneJesse Jackson Tones Down Racially Charged Challenge to Black LawmakersFOXNewsThe Rev. Jesse Jackson on Thursday sought to soften his fairly stinging shots at a black lawmaker who voted against...

Washington TimesRNC targets Lincoln and Nelson in last-minute push to stop health reformIowa IndependentInstead of asking conservatives to call home-state senators with pleas for votes against health...

America wants to expand the war on terror to Northern Africa. It shouldn't.

What do teachers' unions think about being vilified by everyone from Newt Gingrich to Al Sharpton?

The fight over God's secular title.

Abortion-rights activists were not caught unaware on the anti-abortion-funding amendment to the House health-care bill, and they are likely to stop it in the Senate.

Giuliani should know better than to impugn the capabilities of federal courts.

With health reform's first test vote on the Senate floor less than 72 hoursaway, the White House dispatched a platoon of top strategists...

A wavering centrist Democrat said Friday he'd stand with Senate Democratic leaders on a crucial weekend test vote on their sweeping health care bill...

In foreign policy, does making nice lead to making progress?

How Obama's lawyer sparked a battle royal when he tried to keep some of the President's campaign promises in the war on terrorism...

Sarah Palin's blockbuster memoir, Going Rogue, gets a mixed reception in the press as it hits bookstores...

This feed has moved to .

David Plouffe has agreed to a seven-figure deal to write a book about last year's presidential election. “The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory” will...

Democrat Al Franken is asking the Minnesota governor and secretary of state to issue an election certificate that would let him take office in the Senate.

The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com.

Democratic candidate Al Franken now holds a 49- vote lead over Republican Sen. Norm Coleman with almost all of the counting in Minnesota's Senate race done.

With the state Canvassing Board ready to award the last pile of votes in Minnesota's U.S. Senate recount, Democrat Al Franken clung to a narrow lead over Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. The final c...

AP - With no margin for rebellion, Senate Democrats pushed toward a crucial weekend test vote on their sweeping health care bill Friday, and wavering moderates appeared to be falling in line on Presid...

AP - Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska is a "yes" in a crucial weekend test vote on health care.

AP - The United States will do its part to reduce corruption in Afghanistan by examining its own contracts and projects, even as it is demanding the same from the Afghan government, Defense Secretary...

AP - The Obama administration is shifting the focus of its Iran policy from talk to sanctions, but the prospect of winning early international support for toughened new penalties appears dim.

Politico - Congressional Democrats could be careening toward a head-on collision with the White House over $200 billion in leftover bailout money — money that Republicans think should simply be...

The GOP wants him to run, but not all are buying rumors Rudy Giuliani will made a bid for the Senate.

In 7 key states, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce finds opposition to healthcare reform plans.

Washington Times editor in Reverend Moon dispute had wages garnished by his book publisher.

Public shows little support for eliminating presidential term limits as Bill Clinton hinted at.

Palin says the alleged Fort Hood shooter should have been profiled, doesn't rule out a White House bid.

Gibbs: Obama won't announce new Afghan strategy before Thanksgiving. Plus: House Republicans urge quick decision in letter to the president Thursday.

Senator confirms Friday he'll support motion to proceed on health care. And/But: Threatens "no" on second cloture if bill remains unchanged. STATEMENT: Read it here.

Speaker has tough words on Afghanistan Friday.

Meet the Press: Sens. Lieberman, Hutchison, Durbin, Feinstein This Week: Sens. Coburn, Nelson, Reps. Blackburn, Schultz; roundtable with George Will, Liz Cheney, Walter Isaacson, Robert Reich Face t...

What does Harry know?

JIM GIBBONS DIVORCE INSANITY: America's worst governor and alcoholic adulterous sex-assaulter crook Jim Gibbons and his power-crazed wife Dawn are finally getting the divorce everybody always knew...

The great George W. Bush delivered the commencement address at Colorado's Air Force Academy today, the same day that his former hobbit slave was publicizing mean books about him. Here he is this...

Ooh looky it's another Kustomized Kampaign Trinket for you, the reader! For just $250, you can show the world that YOUR NAME totally supports JOHN MCCAIN. But are there any names or phrases that...

We usually don't like to encourage the comedy YouTube jokes because none of them are funny, or it's something you can watch on the TeeVee, later, on your sofa or whatever, eating your "carry out."...

SEE WHAT EVERYONE'S SAYING ABOUT SCOTT MCCLELLAN'S NEW #1 BOOK, GEORGE BUSH JR. MADE VAGUE ERRORS! "I would think if he harbored such deep feelings about things he wouldn't have and shouldn't have.

Abortion is almost as old as childbirth. There has always been a need for some women to end their pregnancies. In modern times, the law’s attitude toward that need has varied. In the United Stat...

Germany observes no official holiday on November 9th, the day when, twenty years ago, crowds of stunned, delirious East Germans breached the Berlin Wall. This is because November 9th is also the date...

A year after he stood to the side of the stage at Grant Park and watched his client, the newly elected President, declare America “a place where all things are possible,” the political str...

In the tumultuous days leading up to the Pakistan Army’s ground offensive in the tribal area of South Waziristan, which began on October 17th, the Pakistani Taliban attacked what should have bee...

REG [at a meeting of the People’s Front of Judea]: All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system, and public he...

WASHINGTON--Normal human beings--let's call them real Americans--cannot understand why, 10 months after President Obama's inauguration, Congress is still tied down in a procedural torture chamber tryi...

Sarah Palin’s autobiography Going Rogue doesn’t have an index. Why? Well, I’m not exactly sure. But it sure makes finding gems in the text--such as the defense of that $150,000 cloth...

WASHINGTON--Imagine a time when government work was exciting, widely admired, and much sought after. It seems an outlandish thought at a moment when you cannot turn on your television without hearing...

Is it worth sacrificing health care reform for ideological purity on abortion? That’s the question Democrats are facing after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to avoid derailing health care legislati...

WASHINGTON--For some years, Democrats have denounced parodies casting their party as utterly closed to the views of those who oppose abortion. Last weekend, Democrats proved conclusively that they are...

Former NYT Shanghai bureau chief Howard French on the coverage of Obama's trip to Asia...

Strong Politico story takes a close look at the Tea Party movement...

The press pretends to be surprised that Obama's charm didn't work wonders in Asia...

For telling the human story of health reform...

Senate Democrats hoped to have enough votes this week to pass a health care bill, Obama Cabinet officials faced hostile lawmakers on Capitol Hill and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's much-awaited book...

The Senate Ethics Committee on Friday admonished Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., for making "inconsistent, misleading or incomplete" statements about the circumstances surrounding his appointment to the s...

Cultural and political phenomenon Sarah Palin returned to the national spotlight this week to promote her memoir "Going Rogue" and fielded questions about a possible run for the White House in 2012. H...

Democrats will need to vote in lockstep to overcome GOP opposition in a key procedural vote to move the $848 billion measure to full debate. But it's not yet clear whether Majority Leader Harry Reid c...

Squawking aside, closed-door legislative engineering is business as usual for the Senate.

NORAH O'DONNELL'S REASONABLE QUESTION.... A clip made the rounds this week of MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell appearing live in Michigan, at a bookstore where Sarah Palin fans had lined up to get their copy o...

TRENT FRANKS' SHORT MEMORY.... Six years ago this month, the floor of the U.S. House was the scene to one of the more embarrassing moments in the history of the institution. It was when the Republican...

COBURN'S CRAVENNESS.... Sen. Tom Coburn, a right-wing Republican from Oklahoma, is apparently not above callous opportunism. He saw headlines about mammogram screening, headlines about a proposed tax...

CLOTURE WATCH.... Senate Democrats need 60 votes to bring health care reform to the floor for a debate. As of this morning, three Dems -- Ben Nelson (Neb.), Mary Landrieu (La.), and Blanche Lincoln (A...

THE DANGERS OF ILLITERACY.... OK, so most Americans have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to the deficit. How are they when it comes to understanding stimulus efforts? Arguably, on thi...

They won't carry Palin, but they will sell these.

BBC confirms that a hack did indeed occur. Is this smoking-gun evidence of global warming data being fabricated?

Leaders of a nonviolent Columbus mosque finger local al-Shabaab supporters — who want control of the mosque — for intimidation by arson.

Then, Representative Emanuel Cleaver's asinine "Complaint-Free Day" legislation might actually happen on its own.

I was involved with a similar fiasco with Ayaan Hirsi Ali in Holland. Why would Obama risk a constitutional crisis?

You'll still find our content at the same place, but you'll need to change your RSS feed to http://factcheck.org/feed/rss/...

The first lady, her mother and her children did stay in Europe for a private vacation after the president completed an overseas trip on official business. However, no taxpayer money was used for the f...

Facts vs. Obama...

Rep. Boehner and Rush Limbaugh got this wrong. The Realtors and home builders associations say there's no such requirement in the bill, as do we.

More ads claim that Congress is pushing a Canadian-style health care bill.

Read this post »...

On fire.

Payoffs from A to Z.

Read this post »...

Read this post »...

As both Kevin K. and Dave Weigel noted earlier today, Sarah Palin angered and disappointed fans in Noblesville, Indiana yesterday when she abruptly left a book signing promotion even though there were...

Tenants are still "Lost in the Shuffle" when the foreclosure notices arrive. Facts are stupid things department: Testifying as an expert on the stimulus Thursday, Dick Armey admitted before the House...

Mike Lillis of TWI: Reid, Baucus Approve Wyden’s ‘Free Choice’ Proposal Senate Democratic leaders have amended their newly released health reform bill to include a contentious pro...

So Fox conducts a poll on whether or not Americans approve of President Obama's bow while meeting the Emperor of Japan. Given that they attacked President Obama mercilessly over the bow on Monday, it'...

Don't Arizonians know that he's a war hero? Senator John McCain’s future in the U.S. Senate may be a little less assured than previously thought. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of l...

From our White House Photo Blog, this scene from President Obama's trip to China:...

Senate Democratic leaders are wooing Senators Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson and Blanche Lincoln -- the last three hold outs who have not pledged to vote for the motion to proceed tomorrow night to start t...

Forget WWJD. The new question is apparently What Would MLK Do? A coalition of politically and theologically conservative Christian leaders, including nine Roman Catholic bishops, who have just signed...

I have this on TIME.com.

I've always had trouble understanding the opt-out version of the public option. Or more specifically, I've had trouble understanding why any state would actually opt out of something that some might f...

From NBC's Domenico MontanaroPresident Obama has now dropped, for the first time, below 50% approval in the Gallup poll. It's the second poll this week to show that result. This puts Obama on par wit...

From NBC's Ken StricklandAs was expected after Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-NE) statement yesterday explaining what a vote for cloture would mean, he has now released a statement saying that he will vote with...

From NBC's Ken StricklandAfter reading reports that Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) has already told Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) how she'll vote tomorrow on issue of whether to bring the...

From NBC's Ken StricklandAt a news conference this morning, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) pre-emptively gave the his answer to the question everyone's been asking over the past few weeks: does Majority Lead...

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg*** More Saturday Night Fever: The Senate is expected to take its vote to proceed on Senate Majority Leader Reid’s bill on Saturday.

Friday fun link: watch four maritime empires grow and decline.

• Henry Jenkins explores the art that falls between genres. • Paul McAuley ponders two hidden histories of science fiction, one that highlights sf's intersection with respectable...

From our December issue, Senior Editor Radley Balko wonders how the prosecutor who convicted an innocent man on dubious child molestation charges could go on to become a state superior court...

If you ever get that feeling that you have already died and everything around you is some bizarre virtual afterlife designed to make you figure out that you're no longer on Earth, well, this...

An audit of the Federal Reserve Bank would "substantially castrate the Fed so it cannot do what it was set up to do," Rep. Melvin Watt (D., N.C.) said yesterday, in an effort to tamp down a c...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can rest at least a little bit easier tonight. As he heads into the first vote in his chamber on Democrats' healthcare reform bill, he knows he has at least one...

For the second time this week, a reliable pollster shows President Obama's approval rating falling below 50 percent. On Wednesday, it was Quinnipiac; now, it's Gallup. This new survey will likely prov...

Generally speaking, primaries are where ideological fights play out. And it looks like we may have some interesting battles to watch next year in a few key Senate races. Both parties are now split by...

The best-kept secret in Washington has nothing to do with nuclear codes or Dick Cheney's undisclosed location. It's this: Al Gore is actually pretty funny. Funny enough, in fact, that he managed...

Quick! Someone look for ACORN operatives; check around every corner, under every cushion, down every alley -- they must be somewhere, because Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman now has no chanc...

Traditional Senate decorum yielded to brass-knuckle politicking on the eve of a key procedural vote.

CNN's John King looks at two men on different sides of the health debate and their senator caught in the middle.

The Senate will vote on opening debate on the sweeping health care bill introduced by Democrats.

Most cardholders never read the long complicated legalese in a credit card agreement -- and that could spell trouble.

To debate or not to debate the Senate's health care reform bill; that is the question.

OFA fundraising off Palin book tour. Washington (CNN) - The Democratic Party's fundraising off of Sarah Palin's "dangerous" book tour. "Right now, Sarah Palin is on a highly publicized, nationwide...

New York (CNNMoney.com) – The health care bill that faces a crucial test vote in the Senate on Saturday is proof that getting reform passed and getting it right are two very different things. Bo...

Sanford impeachment measure to be formally considered. (CNN) – A special House committee in South Carolina will formally consider an impeachment resolution against Gov. Mark Sanford for the f...

Washington (CNN) – Call it the New York-23 effect: Both the Democratic and Republican congressional re-election committees spent more money than they took in last month. The Democratic Congressi...

Today's column is my last for The Washington Post. And the first thing I want to say is thank you. Thank you to all you readers, e-mailers, commenters, questioners, Facebook friends and Twitterers for...

It says a lot about this presidency that there is so much else going on that the public has almost forgotten that our troops are still fighting two wars. And yet, there is big trouble on both fronts.

Colum Lynch writes in The Washington Post: "The United Nations' top human rights advocate, Navanethem Pillay, on Wednesday appealed to the Obama administration to release Guantanamo Bay inmates or try...

Jon Stewart shows a clip of Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer criticizing Obama for his restrained response to the Iranian crackdown. Stewart's response: "You can't believe Obama puts our natio...

Barack Obama has fallen below 50 percent in the Gallup Poll. Obama's public approval decline ranks in the lower third of modern American politics. He has fallen below the majority threshold at the fou...

Rasmussen survey of the California Senate race shows incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer under 50% but still maintaining healthy leads over her two potential Republican rivals: Boxer (D) 46 Fiorina (R) 3...

Apropos Sean's post on the results of the CNN survey, there are plenty of data points to to explain why Americans are visibly frustrated with the state of the economy. While Wall Street Banks are set...

It was bound to happen sooner or later, though Democrats very much hoped that it would be later. Public opinion is shifting -- sharply -- and Americans are beginning to blame the Democrats for the...

Rasmussen is out with a new poll this morning indicating that Senator John McCain could be facing a stiff primary challenge from former Rep (and now radio talk show host) JD Hayworth. According to Ras...