The CBO analysis of the compromise health care reform legislation won't be officially released until 11am, but it's being leaked to various outlets.  Politico's topline summary:

The Congressional Budget Office has determined that the health reform plan will cost $940 billion over 10 years, but will trim the federal deficit by $130 billion in the first ten years and $1.2 trillion in the second ten years, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said. Those deficit numbers should help ease the worries of deficit hawks on the fence about supporting the bill.

According to Marc Ambinder, "the CBO says that the bill would reduce Medicare expenditures by about 1.4% per year, extending the solvency of the program by nine years. 32 million Americans will be covered -- about 95% of all those eligible."

Released late Wednesday:

Todd Akin sure looks silly in this new story from KWMU about House Republicans' very new outrage with "deem and pass" procedures: 

"It basically takes us down the primrose path of all these sniveling socialist states in Europe," says Akin. "They are struggling economically because they've got the government doing all these free hand outs and are a magnet for all kinds of immigrants from the Third World."

Despite the criticism the GOP is also no stranger to the "Deem and Pass" measure, using the same tactic dozens of times when they held congressional majorities.

Birther Rep. Ed Emery (R-Lamar) has an important message for the people of Missouri today: Barack Obama is more evil than you ever imagined. 

In this video Emery shared via Twitter and Facebook, I learned that Obama has subjugated the people; violated the constitution; confounded laws; seized private industry; destroyed jobs; perverted our economy; curtailed free speech; corrupted our currency; weakened our national security; endangered our sovereignty; compromised our nation's cultural, legal and economic institutions; ensured that our children will have terrible lives; stolen from cute children and murdered innumerable kittens. 

Emery calls this video a "solemn and profound reminder." Of what, I'm not sure.

The House Budget Committee is meeting tonight to start on what Allen Icet calls a "massive stack of amendments" to 2011 budget.

The Missouri Senate voted to ban the synthetic marijuana K-2.

Roy Blunt told Mike Ferguson and his radio audience on The Eagle yesterday that critics of his Washington record are confusing his "real record" with a "mythical record."  Blunt flatly rejected any criticism of his support for deficit spending and leadership during the Bush years, saying his record on spending is "pretty good."

FERGUSON: You mentioned the tea party activists, and the sorta fiscal conservative activism. And when looking back, there's a lot of criticism of you, not just for, like, the TARP vote and the bailout votes, but for your role in the leadership of the Republican Party at the time.  Do you regret any of those votes?  And what do you have to say to those folks who are skeptical -- at best -- because the Republican Congressional record on spending isn't all that great in recent years.

Ron Richard is The Man With A Plan. Before the legislative spring break, The Speaker told reporters he had a "plan" to "reform government top-to-bottom," but was unwilling to release it. Then Monday, House Budget Chairman Allen Icet said that House Republicans weren't even going to try to make the approximately $500M that will be required for next year's budget.

Some (including yours truly) thought this refusal to detail a full plan and reluctance to pass a reasonable budget meant that Richard was full of hooey.

But I was wrong, because Ron Richard does have a plan for cutting the state budget. In fact, his office has identified a whopping $787,000 in proposed cuts for FY11.  AND, Richard found $55,000 in savings for FY10 by eliminating cell phone reimbursements, and unspecified savings in reduced travel and photocopy costs. Impressive stuff! 

Senatus reports today that Sen. Claire McCaskill will lead the committee looking into four impeachment articles against Judge Thomas Porteous, who serves on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.  The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved the four articles of impeachment last week, which accuse Porteous of "taking money, expensive meals and other gifts from lawyers and a bail bond company with business before him and of making false statements in a personal bankruptcy filing."

The Times-Picayune has more.

"Stay in your seats, we're going to rip and rip."

Ron Richard advising his members of a busy schedule today

Ingrid Burnett opening today's session of the Missouri House of Representatives:

Orly Taitz, who represented Reps. Tim Jones and Cynthia Davis in their federal birther suit, has been ordered to pay $20,000 in sanctions for filing frivolous actions in a similar, but separate, lawsuit.

Jones has refused to comment publicly about his role in the lawsuit with Taitz, Davis and others, but Davis has proudly stood by her conspiracy theories.  Rep. Casey Guernsey signed on to help Taitz at one point as well. 

The U.S. Senate passed a $17.6 billion jobs bill today by a 68-29 vote, sending it to the White House for the President's signature. "The bill includes a payroll tax break for small businesses and highway funding designed to spur job growth," according to Politico.

The Missouri Democratic Party did a little digging and found that Roy Blunt and House Republicans used the "deem and pass" procedure -- a.k.a. a "self-executing rule" -- 112 times as the GOP Whip to pass legislation in the 106th, 107th and 108th Congresses.

But yesterday, Blunt told KMOX' Mark Reardon that the current discussion about using the rule to pass health care bills is "extraordinary." 

I don't think it's ever been done, and if it would have ever been done, you and I would know about it. We'd know that there would have been this level of concern...Now on something that no one really was concerned about it might have happened.

Blunt plays dumb when he's talking to Missouri audiences, but it was Republicans who "set new records" for using self-executing rules.

Southeast Missourian columnist Michael Jensen is misinformed.

Sensing the growing public opposition to runaway pork, both leading U.S. Senate candidates in Missouri -- Roy Blunt and Robin Carnahan -- this week pledged to curtail earmarks if elected. If that comes to pass, they would join Sen. Claire McCaskill, who swore off pork projects when she was elected...

Carnahan says she would oppose any earmarks period. Blunt goes beyond that and pledges to end the practice of earmarks and to introduce legislation to reduce the federal budget by $30 billion -- the amount spent on earmarks last year.

Blunt has not "pledged to end the practice if elected."  He only supports a 1-year ban --  one that would extend just beyond the November 2010 elections.