There's been a remarkable amount of coverage of President Obama's appearance at the House Republican retreat today, but I haven't seen anyone focus on the President's rather stunning admission about the Democrats' health care legislation (Video):

The last thing I will say, though -- let me say this about health care and the health care debate, because I think it also bears on a whole lot of other issues. If you look at the package that we've presented -- and there's some stray cats and dogs that got in there that we were eliminating, we were in the process of eliminating. For example, we said from the start that it was going to be important for us to be consistent in saying to people if you can have your -- if you want to keep the health insurance you got, you can keep it, that you're not going to have anybody getting in between you and your doctor in your decision making. And I think that some of the provisions that got snuck in might have violated that pledge. [emphasis added]

If we take this statement at face value, President Obama is admitting the the health care bills passed by either the House or Senate (or both) contained provisions which were "snuck in" - presumably by Democratic members and perhaps on behalf of certain lobbyists - that would have in fact prevented people from keeping their current insurance and/or choosing the doctor they want.

This was one of the core debates on health care throughout last year: Would President Obama and the Democrats' legislation allow government to come between citizens and their choice of doctors and insurers? Obama promised it wouldn't. Republicans said it would, and this was one of the aspects of the legislation that led them to characterize it as a government takeover of health care - the same characterization that Obama chastized the GOP for today.

So it's a bit of shock to find out now - from the President himself, no less - that one or both of the bills that passed Congress late last year (the House passed its version in late November, the Senate on Christmas Eve Day) contained language that would have violated this pledge.

Why is David Shuster back in the studio today? Wasn't he supposed to be on scene in Louisiana sleuthing out Watergate Jr.?

ABC News reports:

In his first public comment about the massive safety crisis surrounding his company, the President and CEO of Toyota apologized to his customers for causing them so much worry.

"I am deeply sorry," said Akio Toyoda in a brief interview with the Japanese network NHK as he left his hotel in Davos, Switzerland. After the interview he was seen leaving in a black Audi.

To a man, they would have been horrified at the spectacle of a President pugnaciously dressing down a Supreme Court, as Obama did last night in his animadversion upon the Citizens United ruling.

Even dear old Justice Ginsburg seemed nonplussed and disapproving, though no doubt she seems much the same way when she's watering plants or eating a sandwich. - Colby Cosh, Maclean's.

North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, considered one of the most vulnerable Republican senators, leads national Democrats' favored candidate Cal Cunningham by 16 points, according to a new Rasmussen poll (Jan. 27, 500 LV, MoE +/- 4.5%). Against Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, however, Burr's support drops below 50% and margin to 10 points.

Burr 50
Cunningham 34
Und 11

Burr 47
Marshall 37
Und 10

One thing holding Cunningham, a former state senator, back is that more than a third of voters don't know enough about him to hold an opinion of him. Meanwhile, 56% of voters hold a favorable impression of Burr and 41% view Marshall favorably.

In the state, President Obama has a 48% job approval rating with 52% disapproving.
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Statement by Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors Christina Romer on the advance news about Q4 GDP growth:

Today's GDP report is the most positive news to date on the economy. The data show that the total output of the U.S. economy increased strongly in the fourth quarter of 2009. Real GDP (that is, GDP adjusted for inflation) increased at an annual rate of 5.7 percent. The change from the first quarter of 2009, when GDP fell at an annual rate of 6.4 percent, is truly extraordinary; indeed, the three-quarter swing in growth rates was the largest since 1981.

While positive GDP growth is a necessary first step for job growth, our focus must remain on getting Americans back to work. That GDP rose strongly in the fourth quarter of last year while employment fell and the workweek increased only slightly emphasizes the need for policy actions designed to help spur private sector job creation. The President is announcing today the specifics of his plan for a small business jobs and wages tax cut. This policy is designed to encourage businesses to respond to rising demand and output by taking the plunge and hiring new workers again.

Part of the rapid growth in real GDP was due to a substantial rise in inventory investment. This inventory bounce, though likely to be transitory, is a normal part of healthy recoveries. As firms' confidence in the future increases, their desire to run down inventories wanes. This change in behavior is often a powerful force for growth early in a recovery. Other components of GDP also rose strongly: business investment in equipment and software rose at an annual rate of 13 percent and residential investment rose at a 6 percent rate. And consumer spending rose at a rate of 2 percent. This broad-based rise in GDP was surely fueled in part by the tax cuts and investment spending in the Recovery Act and other rescue actions, but some appears to be the result of private sector demand returning.

As always, it is important not to read too much into a single report, positive or negative. There will surely be bumps in the road ahead, and we will need to continue to take responsible actions to ensure that the recovery is as smooth and robust as possible. Nonetheless, today's report is a welcome piece of encouraging news.

With the support of some three-in-10 Illinois Senate Democratic primary voters, Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias leads his closest opponent by just 8 points, according to a new Rasmussen poll. Trailing Giannoulias is David Hoffman and Cheryle Jackson, with a quarter of voters still undecided. The Democratic and GOP primaries take place Tuesday.

Democratic Primary (Jan. 25, 300 Dem LV, MoE +/- 6%)
Giannoulias 31
Hoffman 23
Jackson 13
Und 24

On the Republican side, Rep. Mark Kirk holds a 35-point lead over Patrick Hughes heading into Tuesday's primary.

Republican Primary (Jan. 25, 527 GOP LV, MoE +/- 5%)
Kirk 53
Hughes 18
Und 18
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Video here.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg lobbed a pre-State of the Union surprise for the White House yesterday, reversing course on the administration's plan to hold the Khalid Shaikh Mohammed trial in a lower Manhattan courthouse. Today, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) introduced legislation that would cut off funds for such a trial.

On board Air Force One today en route to Tampa, deputy White House press secretary Bill Burton signaled the administration has no intention of changing plans. From the print pooler on board:

The White House has not changed its view on the decision to prosecute Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in New York City, despite new criticism from Mayor Bloomberg and others in Manhattan.

“Let me start by saying that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is a murderous thug who has admitted to some of the most heinous crimes ever committed against our country,” Mr. Burton said. “The president is committed to seeing that he's brought to justice. He agrees with the attorney general's opinion in November that he and others can be litigated successfully and securing in the United States of America, just like others have – like Richard Reid. Currently our federal jails hold hundreds of convicted terrorists and the president's opinion has not changed on that.”

Burton also was asked about Justice Samuel Alito's much-talked about reaction to the president's comment on last week's Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance.

"One of the great things about our democracy is that powerful members of the government at high levels can disagree in public and in private,” Burton said. “This is one of those cases. But the president is no less committed to seeing this reform.”

David Drucker of Roll Call reports that centrist Senate Dems Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana say President Obama failed to "change the dynamic" on health care with his SOTU last night.

Landrieu was particularly pointed in her critique, saying:

“I think the president should have been more clear about a way forward on health care last night. You know, he just can't — I think he should have been more clear. I'm hoping that in the next week or two he will be. Because that's what it's going to take, if it's at all possible to get this done,” Landrieu told reporters. “Mailing in general suggestions, sending them out of the transom, is not really going to work.” [snip]

“Senate Democrats who give the Senate — moderate Senate Democrats who give the Senate the 60 votes come from states that have to appreciate a broad range of ideas,” Landrieu said. “And I think the president since he ran on a bipartisan, changing, working with Republicans, doesn't do a great service to then say, ‘Everything the House Caucus passes without any Republican votes is then something the Senate should just take.'”