The former Senate office manager for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly stealing some $75,000 through inflated disbursements from the office.

Latest poll out of Florida on the Senate GOP primary: Crist and Rubio tied with 43 percent each.

Reid assures Snowe that public option and Medicare Buy-In are both out.

Sen. Landrieu (D-LA) just released a statement on health care reform. The key graf …

“These are monumental gains that will help restore fiscal responsibility to a system that has run amok with waste, fraud and abuse. While there is still some work to do, I am confident that we have found enough common ground for the Senate to seize this historic opportunity. I look forward to moving this legislation forward before the holiday recess.”

Full statement after the jump … Read More

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) says he’s in for health care reform, even though his key initiative–the public option–and all of its alternatives, have been swept into the dust bin.

There’s some entertainment value watching the Tea Party movement ape some of the antics of the 60s era gonzo left. Yesterday was supposed to be the ironically conceived health care “die in” up on Capitol Hill. Alas, our reporter on the scene said it basically fizzled with no deaths, not even fake ones. It eventually degenerated into a Tea Party rendition of “Twelve Days of Obama.”

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) concedes that his effort to get Congress to overturn Washington D.C.’s legalization of gay marriage will be “exceptionally difficult.” That and the day’s other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.

In a new offer from the Chamber of Commerce you can get a free trip to Hooters for joining their online campaign against health care reform.

A Senate Democratic Chief of Staff weighs in …

I don’t pretend to know Joe Lieberman’s motivation, but it’s working to perfection if his goal is to divide Party leaders (Obama, Reid, etc.) from the Democratic progressive base. I don’t remember seeing this level of outrage from movement progressives before, and I wonder if the only possible way to quell it is to secure Snowe’s vote for reform and then remove Lieberman from his chairmanship. I’m not necessarily advocating that, but many people (including many on the Hill) believe that he is playing us for chumps (not waiting for the CBO score of the Medicare buy-in, opposing something he advocated a couple of months ago), and there need to be consequences. It’s not an easy decision, though, and I don’t envy Reid.

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) departs from the Dick Cheney script: Yes, we tortured detainees and we should do so in future. Watch.