"The notion that you don't get what you want, [so] you're not going to cooperate on anything else, is not a whole lot different than I might hear from a 6-year-old." —White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, taking a hard swipe at John McCain and other Republicans who have promised to obstruct congressional business.

By William Underhill...

Today, after almost a century of trying; today, after over a year of debate; today, after all the votes have been tallied—health insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America. — President Obama at the signing ceremony of health reform today. (Today's runner up here.)

The Speaker of the House is either a hero or villain. As health-care reform becomes law, we hear from her friends and foes.

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By Mark Hosenball and Daniel StoneSometimes there may be less than meets the eye to a terrorist threat reported in the media. The latest example: a series of seemingly alarming reports regarding a U.S. intelligence warning of possible Al Qaeda attacks on ships near the coast of Yemen.The matter first came to the attention of Declassified on Monday morning when we saw and heard a report broadcast on CNN—complete with an on-screen map—about a government warning of forthcoming terror attacks against ships near Yemen. "A warning for U.S. ships off the coast of Yemen," CNN's anchor intoned: "Al Qaeda may be planning an attack. The U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Intelligence says it could be like the USS Cole incident. Small boats stuffed with explosives coming up to a military ship. You may remember that." Only at the end of the report was this caveat added:  "There have been no specific threats at this point.” On its face, such a report would seem highly...

By Lisa Miller No one really...

By Dan Ephron and Joanna Chen...

“A Consumer Bill Gives Exemption on Payday Loans”—headline in , March 9, 2010When the bills can’t wait till paydayWhen you send up a fiscal MaydayCall Newsverse Fast-Cash Drive-By Lending!Drive on through and keep on spending! We’ll treat you like a long-lost brotherDon’t worry if you need anotherFast-Cash Drive-By Payday LoanYou can borrow on the phone! If your credit score is zeroIf Willie Sutton is your hero Come on down and have no fear!  “No”Is a word you’ll never hear! So—Just pull up and toot your claxonsCollect a stack of Andy JacksonsYou can pay us when convenientYou will find us very lenient*And at a most alluring rateTen percent, or even eight!**And once your crisis has recededWe will lend you even moreThan you ever thought you needed!It’s like a game! Who’s keeping score?***Such close and warm and fond relationsAren’t made by regulations!Rules are just a bunch of twaddleThat’s not the Newsverse business model!We would so much rather coddleYou and always be your friend!...

"If people vote yes, whatever form that takes, that is going to be a vote for health-care reform. And I don't think we should pretend otherwise.... If they don't, if they vote against it, then they're going to be voting against health-care reform and they're going to be voting in favor of the status quo." —President Obama during an interview with Fox News's Bret Baier Wednesday.  

By Owen Matthews and Anna Nemtsova U.S. officials negotiating with Moscow must often feel like the Kremlin's favorite word is nyet. Whether it's sanctions on Iran, missile defense, or arms control, Moscow seems to oppose every issue the U.S. raises. The Kremlin's apparent purpose: to extract as many concessions as possible before ultimately agreeing to some measures, like punishing Tehran or a new version of the START arms-reduction treaty. Exhibit A is Russia's continued blocking of U.S. missile-defense plans. Last year, as a good-will gesture, Washington bowed to Moscow's objections and scrapped designs for a defense shield based in Eastern Europe. Last week, it announced a less-threatening alternative: interceptors in the Black Sea, even farther from Russia's borders--a solution that the Kremlin itself suggested a year ago.So has Russia agreed? Nyet: the new offer is "even worse," says Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, despite the fact...

By Pablo Espinel On Feb. 26, Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled that President Álvaro Uribe could not seek a third term, thereby putting an end date on the leader's popular eight-year reign. The verdict has left Colombia in a state of shock and brings up major questions for its future--including whether this spells the end of the center-right, tough-on-crime brand of politics called Uribismo.To replace Uribe, analysts currently favor his former defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos, who has a 23 percent lead in the polls. Santos is likely to continue Uribe's crackdown on crime and on the FARC insurgency as well as his orthodox financial policies. No matter who's elected, meanwhile, relations with Colombia's neighbors are bound to improve: Uribe often clashed with über-leftists Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. And even though many of their underlying diplomatic disputes will remain--control of the border regions, alleged support of...

THE PRESIDENT: Your own congressman, who is tireless on behalf of working people, Dennis Kucinich. AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Vote yes! THE PRESIDENT:  Did you hear that, Dennis? Go ahead, say that again. AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Vote yes! —President Obama and an unnamed audience member, urging wavering Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich to vote yes on health reform at an event in Strongsville, Ohio.

"I am making good on my aspect of my wager with Dimitri, my Canadian counterpoint, who is somewhere several hundred miles north laughing." —White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, explaining the Canadian hockey jersey he wore at the start of today's press briefing

By Emerson Fittipaldi The 2010 formula one season-opener in Bahrain marks the return of perhaps the greatest athlete to ever compete in the sport: after a three-year retirement Michael Schumacher, the former Ferrari star and seven-time world champion, has joined the Mercedes GP team at the age of 41. He will face a slew of new rules designed to keep the sport's skyrocketing costs under control and compete against great drivers roughly half his age, such as 22-year-old Red Bull star Sebastian Vettel. Other top contenders include Vettel's teammate, Mark Webber; two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, now with Ferrari; Alonso's teammate Felipe Massa; and the McLaren team, which recruited last year's champion, Jenson Button, to join 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton.His return will be good for Formula One, on par with Michael Jordan's return to the Chicago Bulls in 1995. Schumacher's name alone draws tremendous interest from fans throughout the world, as well...

By Jerry Adler ...

Vice President Biden retaliated to a diplomatic snub by Israel with an “unusually harsh” condemnation. So where do relations between the two countries stand now?

"I have very few hard and fast rules. One of them is not to have sword fights in the morning with Rahm Emanuel." --- Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) comments about statments made earlier this week by Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY).

By Jessica Ramirez It...

Majid - Getty Images

"I'll just tell you this, if this passes and it's five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented—I am leaving the country. I'll go to Costa Rica." —Rush Limbaugh, speaking about health reform during his radio show Tuesday

"I am showering, naked as a jaybird, and here comes Rahm Emanuel, not even with a towel wrapped around his tush, poking his finger in my chest, yelling at me." -- Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) describes a confrontation with Emanuel in a shower. Massa claims fellow Democrats ousted him because of his position on health care.    

Our staff discusses the 82nd annual Academy Awards ceremony.

"In the incredibly toxic atmosphere that is Washington D.C., with the destruction of our elected leaders having become a blood sport, especially in talk radio and on the internet, there is also no doubt that an Ethics investigation would tear my family and my staff apart. " —Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) in a statement announcing that he will resign Monday and denying any ethical improprieties.

Our staff discusses whether a tabloid deserves the top journalism prize.

"I am leading a war against the British Empire. I'm not worried about what Democratic Party hacks say or do." —Kesha Rogers, an acolyte of Lyndon LaRouche who won the Democratic primary in Texas's 22nd congressional district Wednesday.