By Michael D. Shear White House press secretary Robert Gibbs is holding class outdoors Thursday. In what may be a first, he will conduct his daily press briefing in the Rose Garden, moving the cantankerous press corps out of the cramped, low-ceilinged building that connects the West Wing to the White House residence. And oh, what a glorious day he has chosen. Weather in Washington is supposed to reach a high of almost 70, more than 10 degrees above normal. The sun will be shining. The skies will be clear. One can only imagine the sweetness and light. How did this all come about?

By Peter Slevin CHICAGO - Anti-abortion forces who oppose President Obama's health-care overhaul suffered a significant defection Wednesday when Rep Dale E. Kildee (D-Mich.) announced that he would vote in favor of the proposal. Kildee, describing himself as "a staunch pro-life member of Congress," said he is confident that the Senate bill under consideration would preserve a 33-year-old ban on federal funding for abortion and would provide insurance to millions of people who need it. "We must not lose sight of what is at stake here - the lives of 31 million American children, adults and seniors - who don't have health insurance," Kildee said in a written statement. "There is nothing more pro-life than protecting the lives of 31 million Americans."

By Garance Franke-Ruta After the fact-checking site Politifact gave a recent ad from Americans for Prosperity a "Pants on Fire" rating for egregiously inaccurate claims, the Democratic National Committee's communications director called on the conservative advocacy group's North Carolina state director "to pull the ad." A man who is also his brother. Brad Woodhouse, 42, and his brother, Dallas Woodhouse, 36, have the unusual distinction of having fought on opposite sides of the battle for health-care reform all year. Last summer, Dallas, a former North Carolina political journalist, called Brad "a professional reputation destroyer" in the New York Times. Brad called Dallas a spreader of "lies, innuendo and conspiracy theories." And their mother said watching the two go at it on television was a stress-inducing experience. "I'm always nervous, and I tell them to be nice to each other," Joyce Woodhouse told the paper. "And they're not always nice." And

Your Browser DoesNot Support IFrames. Updated 7:05 p.m. By Michael D. Shear President Obama's interview Wednesday on Fox News Channel was a testy affair in which Obama repeatedly appeared exasperated at being interrupted and frustrated with the focus on legislative process rather than the substance of his health care proposals. Prodded repeatedly by interviewer Bret Baier to discuss the parliamentary procedures that House Democrats are using to pass his legislation, Obama scolded Baier at several points, telling him, "Bret, let me finish." At one point near the end of the interview, Obama shook his head and turned away when Baier cut in. Later, Baier apologized for interrupting him, getting a smile and a firm handshake in response.

By Alec MacGillis and Michael D. Shear Democrats responded quickly Wednesday to an AP story that suggested health insurance premiums would go up if Congress passes health care legislation, blasting the news agency's fact check as inaccurate. The article advised that "buyers, beware" the health care legislation, and it called into question claims that President Obama made this week in Ohio, saying that the health-care legislation would reduce people's premiums. "Premiums are likely to keep going up even if the health care bill passes, experts say," the AP reported. in a "Fact Check" of their own, officials with the Democratic National Committee said, "Independent analysts and the nonpartisan CBO agree that, under the president's reforms, consumers would see lower premiums, in addition to numerous other attributes of the legislation."

By Anne E. Kornblut President Obama took a break from arm-twisting on health-care reform Wednesday to fill out his NCAA basketball brackets (Ba-rackets? Barack-ets?) - this year adding his predictions for the women's tournament as well as the men's championship. Obama chose Kentucky, Kansas, Kansas State and Villanova to make the Final Four. Saying he had been "completely brainwashed," Obama predicted Duke would make it to the Elite Eight - a nod to his aide Reggie Love, a former Duke basketball star. But his independent thinking apparently kicked in at that point, as he selected Villanova over Duke in their hypothetical showdown. He also predicted a Kentucky-West Virginia matchup would be the "best game of the tournament," and one that Kentucky would win. Obama picked Kansas to ultimately win the championship. Last year, he chose North Carolina - and was right. In the women's tournament - which Obama skipped

By Perry Bacon Jr. Can Republicans win election this fall by campaigning to repeal the health-care legislation now nearing passage in Congress? Even as House Democrats search for the votes to send the bill to President Obama, dozens of Republican lawmakers and candidates have signed a pledge to back an effort to repeal the bill, should the GOP take control of either house of Congress after this fall's elections. Started by the conservative activist group Club for Growth, the "Repeal It" movement first won the backing in January of some of the most conservative Republicans in Congress, such as "tea party" favorite Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). It has since expanded to include some of the party's Senate candidates in liberal-leaning states such as New Hampshire and Illinois. Congressional Republicans are currently battling the Democrats over the House procedures they could use to pass the health-care bill. But they are promising

Updated 1:41 p.m. By Ben Pershing Are House Republicans rooting against the Terps in the Big Dance? That's one possible interpretation of an odd saga that has unfolded on the House floor over the last 24 hours, culminating with a vote minutes ago on a resolution "Congratulating the 2009-2010 University of Maryland Men's Basketball Team, Greivis Vasquez, and Coach Gary Williams on an outstanding season." The measure passed, which seems normal enough, but with 132 members -- all but two of them Republicans -- voting against, which is not to normal for such routine symbolic bills. The controversy started Tuesday evening, when House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D), who represents Prince George's Country, offered the seemingly innocuous resolution, just as the Maryland men prepare to play the University of Houston in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday night.

By Dan Balz Americans have long prided themselves as being part of an optimistic society. But a new survey portrays Americans as pessimistic, believing the nation is in decline and that quality of life for future generations may be lower than it is today. Defining the American Dream is not easy, although four definitions dominate people's perceptions of what it means to them, according to researchers at the Xavier University's Institute for Politics and the American Dream: opportunity, freedom, family and financial success. Happiness, wealth, home ownership are among the things that rank as less important in people's views of what the dream means. However people define it, they believe the American Dream is harder to achieve for this generation that it was for their parents' generation. Sixty percent of those surveyed by Xavier University said that was their conclusion. Even more -- 68 percent -- said their children and

Updated 4:26 p.m. By Ben Pershing The Senate cleared an $18 billion jobs bill for President Obama's signature Wednesday, a down payment on what Democrats hope will be a significant election-year investment in boosting the economy. The measure passed 68-29, with 11 Republicans joining all but one Democrat present -- Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.) -- in support. The bill had already passed the Senate once but the House tweaked it, requiring the second Senate vote before it could go to the White House. President Obama plans to sign the measure Thursday, according to an administration official.. Though relatively small compared to last year's economic stimulus package, the measure represents the first clear legislative shot in months aimed squarely at persistent unemployment, and a rare bipartistan achievement from a Congress plagued by partisan squabbling. After getting bogged down in the health-care debate, Democrats are eager to pivot to the economy, which

By Kenneth W. Smith Jr. As the House moves toward a vote on health-care legislation, one possible route to passage involves a procedural measure called a "self-executing rule," or "deem and pass." It would allow House members to pass the Senate's bill by voting not on the measure itself, but rather a "fixes package." Here's a look at the self-executing rule and its role in Congress: What is it? A self-executing rule, which exists only in the House, allows for a "two for one" procedure: When the House adopts such a rule, it simultaneously agrees to dispose of a separate matter, a "self-executed provision," which is specified in the rule itself. According to a Congressional Research Service report, this basically means that lawmakers have no opportunity to amend or vote separately on the self-executed provision. It is automatically agreed to upon passage of a related measure. So the procedural vote

Your Browser DoesNot Support IFrames. Updated 12:52 p.m. By Perry Bacon Jr. and Garance Franke-Ruta Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), often a proponent of very liberal, unlikely ideas such as the creation of a "Department of Peace" and the impeachment of then-Vice President Cheney, has found his pragmatic streak. Under pressure from both President Obama and liberal groups, the Ohio congressman announced Wednesday morning he would back the health-care bill Democrats are trying to push through Congress this week. Long an advocate of a Medicare-for-all health care system, Kucinich in November voted against the House version of the legislation, arguing it "incentivizes the perpetuation, indeed the strengthening, of the for-profit health insurance industry, the very source of the problem." "I know I have to make a decision, not on the bill as I would like to see, it but on the bill as it is," the longtime congressman said in a

By Ben Pershing After the health-reform fight is over -- and after House Democrats either have or haven't used the "deem and pass" strategy to get the bill through -- Nancy Pelosi and her allies will have to look back at this week and wonder whether it was worth all the obvious distraction this has caused. Because the reform bill has been percolating for so many months, many reporters would rather write about something different -- the "deem and pass" debate -- rather than something they've covered umpteen times before, like what the measure would do for Medicare. Obviously Democrats would prefer that the media focus on the latter, but to no avail. "As lawmakers clashed fiercely over major health care legislation on the House floor, Democrats struggled Tuesday to defend procedural shortcuts they might use to win approval for their proposals in the next few days," the New York

By Michael D. Shear President Obama will give hold a final, pre-vote rally for health care in Fairfax County, Virginia on Friday, White House officials announced today. The rally, to be held at George Mason University's Patriot Center auditorium, will begin at 11:30 a.m. and is open to the public, officials said. Officials described the event as one in which Obama would make remarks about health care. The House of Representatives is scheduled to take up the final votes on health care late Friday or early Saturday. The capacity of the Patriot Center is 10,000 people.

Updated 6:45 p.m. By Michael D. Shear Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine promised an army of volunteers will campaign for lawmakers who vote for health-care reform this week, though he declined to say whether the DNC will withhold help from those who don't. Following a lunch with the president at the White House, Kaine described President Obama as "upbeat" about the prospects for passage of health-care legislation this week. "It's the right thing to do from a policy standpoint, but it's also politically smart," Kaine said. The former Virginia governor said the Organizing for America arm of the DNC has amassed 9.1 million pledges of volunteer hours on behalf of health reform. "I think they are going to energetically respond and work very hard for those who are part of this reform effort," he said Tuesday. Kaine would not offer those volunteers any guidance about who to work for

By Michael D. Shear In response to questions from reporters about how President Obama spends his time, press secretary Robert Gibbs just tweeted the following: "Questions about POTUS' afternoon schedule - he just picked his men's and women's NCAA brackets..." Gibbs wrote. So? Who did he pick? No word yet. A spokesman at the White House said he knew "nada." Last year, Obama made his NCAA picks on ESPN, choosing North Carolina to win over Louisville. In the end, the Tar Heels went on to beat Michigan State.

By Michael D. Shear White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had an answer ready for the questions -- the repeated questions -- about whether his boss supports the idea of "deeming" the health bill passed. "You're going to know where people are on health-care reform, and where they are on the president's proposal on health-care reform," Gibbs told reporters Tuesday. And again: "There's going to be a vote on health-care reform this week. You're going to know where people are on health-care reform." And again: "I think that you're going to ask people how they stand on health care. You're not going to ask them how they stand on 'deem and pass.' You're going to have a vote count that constructs not the process for the rule but where you are on health care." Nowhere did Gibbs say whether the president liked the procedural tactic, or didn't like it. When

By Ben Pershing Just in case the process for passing health care wasn't confusing enough already, House Republicans announced a plan Tuesday that would force Democrats to vote on whether they should have a vote. Adding a wrinkle to the ongoing war of words between the two parties over the propriety of using the "deem and pass" strategy for the Senate health care bill, the GOP will introduce a resolution "ensuring an up-or-down vote" on the Senate bill following "at least one hour of debate" on the measure. Rep. Parker Griffith (Ala.) -- who switched from Democrat to Republican in December primarily because of his opposition to health reform -- is expected to introduce the resolution Tuesday, according to GOP aides. Democrats could move to table the measure or refer it to committee, but no matter what, lawmakers will have to take some sort of vote this week on the

By Garance Franke-Ruta The proposed House "deem and pass" vote strategy is already facing one of the most insidious enemies of contemporary political discourse: online mockery. Perhaps because of the resemblance of the phrase to #demonsheep, a hashtag given to a recent bewildering California U.S. Senate race ad, the deem and pass legislative procedure has been given one of its own by opponents on Twitter, where wits and wags have decided that they can play this game at home and #deem things done just by declaring them so. Some examples: @mkhammer: Good news. I #deem my work-out for the day already done even though I've sat on my tuchus all morning. @stevelutes Instead of filing a 1040, just gonna send a note to IRS #deem my taxes paid in full. #tcot @rightinillinois: I #deem that I can print my own money @Rschrim I hearby #deem my clothes clean. Whew I'm