Looks like Congressional Democrats are about ready for Round Two. According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, today will see another vote on the State Children's Health Insurance Program increases that President Bush vetoed — and at the original $35 billion level, no less.

At issue within the noise being made about the Justice Department is whether that part of the Executive Branch and the immense powers contained within it have been used inappropriately by the Bush administration. As you might guess, the evidence points to that very brand of malfeasance.

Just yesterday I found myself wondering when this week's news story about the impending restoration of Perry-vetoed community college funds was going to show up. This morning, I saw why that story was delayed: because the restoration actually happened.

Via Harvey Kronberg's Quorum Report: Mikal Watts, citing familial concerns, has withdrawn his bid for the Democratic nomination for US Senate. Official statement below the jump. Update: Noriega's official statement also added.

The State Department finds it can't really account for just a bit over $1.2 billion in paid invoices to private firms, and Bush would like more money, including some for nonessential projects, even after vetoing children's health care.

For this episode of On The Record, we speak with Steve Richardson, Chair of the Gregg County Democratic Party.

Members of Congress and candidates for office all blog, as do pundits, reporters, and organizations. I suppose, then, it was only a matter of time before sitting Cabinet Secretaries started journaling through some administrative rage and joined us out here on the frontier.

You would think last night's Republican debate was subtitled "What To Do About Hillary?" And if that was the subtext, the main card would say "No One Is As Conservative As Me."

Fred Thompson says he's in it to win it, but in Iowa and New Hampshire, he has barely raised enough money to buy a car, let alone enough votes for a nomination.

Florida Senator Mel Martinez announced yesterday that he was resigning as chair of the GOP after nine months on the job. Mission accomplished?