The confirmed death toll from the tornado that hit Joplin, Mo., Sunday evening is 89, officials announced at a predawn press conference Monday.

Benjy Sarlin: “As even a cursory look at his career reveals, Gingrich has left behind a trail of intense rivalries, simmering grudges, and wafer-thin core support that has left him with few friends to carry out his campaign.”

Could robotic cars be the answer to the nation’s transportation infrastructure crisis? A scientist at Google says they could.

Scott Brown was praising Medicare phase out only a couple weeks ago and saying he’d vote for it. Then he hedged. And now he’s criticizing phase out in an oped in Politico and saying he’ll vote against.

Tomorrow is the first big special election of the post-2010 political environment. And Medicare is the specter haunting Republicans in New York’s 26th congressional district.

As you know it’s a three way race between a Republican, a Dem and a Tea Party candidate in what is normally a pretty Republican district — NY-26. The latest polls show a close race but with Democrat Kathy Hochul opening up a lead. Siena came out with a poll over the weekend that showed a four point spread. And a poll out today from PPP shows a 6 point spread. Just as important both polls show the Tea Party candidate’s support dropping fast while Hochul takes the lead — suggesting this is not simply a matter of a split Republican field giving the Dem an opportunity.

And here’s the key point: the race has revolved overwhelmingly around Medicare. Read More

Win or lose, tomorrow night’s result in NY-26 will be devastating to Ryan Medicare Phase Out plan.

We’re already seeing signs of congressional Republicans getting cold feet over supporting Rep. Paul Ryan’s Medicare Phase Out plan. But I feel the main signs will show up in the local press and perhaps out of the national media’s view. So I’d like to enlist your help.

If you see examples of members of Congress either withdrawing their support for the Ryan plan or — much more likely — getting more ambiguous in their support, please drop us a line. Just the basic details and a link to the source of the information. Send to the main comments email address at the upper right hand corner of the site.

Wisconsin Elections Board certifies Republican-backed Justice David Prosser as the winner in the hotly contested Supreme Court race.

Fmr. Dem Rep. Cynthia McKinney appears on Libyan state TV to speak up for Muammar Qaddafi.

Sens. Leahy (D) and Paul (R) team up to try to kill provisions of the Patriot Act.