WASHINGTON — A final agreement nearly in hand, President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders are about to embark on one last sales job that will determine the outcome of the president’s signature health care overhaul. It will come down to a phenomenal effort by congressional leaders and the White House to win over skittish lawmakers after a year of incendiary debate, even as Obama keeps up campaign-style appearances designed to fire up public support.

With Democratic Congressional leaders and the White House struggling on Wednesday to finalize the details of major health care legislation, House Democrats were desperately trying to prevent another of President Obama’s top legislative priorities – an ambitious overhaul of student loan programs – from becoming a casualty of the health care battle. But Democrats in the Senate, where the private student lending industry has strong allies, predicted on Wednesday night that the education bill would not be part of an expedited budget measure containing the final revisions to the health care legislation.

While all of Washington is in a frenzy over ex-Representative Eric Massa’s groping and tickling, some actual news (and actual progress, one would like to hope) is being made on the subject of ethics in Congress. Sure, it’s more fun to watch Massa’s implosion on nationwide television, or to come up with headlines that just write themselves (how about: “Weapon of Massa Self-Destruction”?), but we shouldn’t allow this sideshow to distract us from what could shape up this year as a contest between Democrats and Republicans over who can denounce earmarks the loudest. And not just denounce — but actually ban the practice

The ban, announced by House Democratic leaders, wipes out one of the most lucrative and controversial means of awarding no-bid contracts to private firms.

As we all know, when it comes to love, relationships, and even sex, being physically attractive to our partner is an important criterion. Yeah, you can “buy” attractiveness to a degree – the pole dancers at “Foxy’s Fun House” will pretty much make Quasimodo feel like a handsome stud – but for this article, we’ll focus more on actual attractiveness vs. the kind seen through the green haze of dollar bills

House votes for faster tax breaks for Chile gifts USA Today WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a bill that would allow taxpayers to write off charitable donations to Chile earthquake relief efforts when they file … and more

THE REVOLUTION WILL BE TELEVISED — Or at least the House-Senate conference on financial reform may be, according to POLITICO’s Victoria McGrane, who spoke with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.): “Republicans who moaned about President Barack Obama’s broken C-SPAN promises on health care negotiations, beware: Barney Frank plans to demand an old-school conference on financial reform. More on Financial Crisis