"Obama will introduce Sebelius on Monday afternoon in the White House East Room," the AP reports. "The announcement of his health and human services secretary nominee comes just days before the president holds a White House summit on health care. Lawmakers from both parties and representatives of major interest groups, from insurers to drug companies to consumers, will attend."

The Washington Post writes that Sebelius' health-care priorities in Kansas suffered defeats. "As governor, Sebelius has tried twice to raise Kansas's cigarette tax to expand medical coverage. Both times she was thwarted by Republican legislators, who objected to the tax increases and wanted a more market-based solution… Still, Sebelius has enjoyed some victories on the issue. She was successful in having Kansas join a multistate consortium that allowed Kansans to order prescription drugs from Canada, Britain and Ireland, often at a lower price than in the United States. She also has added tens of thousands of children from low-income households to state health programs. And as Kansas's elected insurance commissioner, Sebelius achieved national recognition when she blocked the sale of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, which she was convinced would raise premiums."

The Post also brings up the abortion angle. "Antiabortion activists have criticized Sebelius, who was raised Roman Catholic, largely because she vetoed a bill that would have required doctors who perform late-term abortions to report a reason for the procedure. Opponents also criticized her for hosting a dinner that included George Tiller, a Wichita abortion provider." 

USA Today says Sebelius "would bring expertise as a former state health insurance regulator but not deep ties to the members of Congress who will decide the fate of the president's health care proposals."

The New York Times reminds us, "Ms. Sebelius's nomination comes nearly a month after Mr. Obama's first choice, former Senator Tom Daschle, withdrew upon revealing that he had owed $128,000 in back taxes and paid it only after being selected. The White House used the time not only to vet Ms. Sebelius, but also to make sure that the two Republican senators from Kansas, Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, would not oppose her confirmation."

Indeed, CBN's Brody speculates that Sebelius "may have just gotten the 'cover' she needs" after Brownback seemed "to signal his support for her in a joint statement he made with Kansas's other Senator Pat Roberts." 

The AP looks at the challenges ahead for Sebelius -- "A health care system overhaul, weak finances in Medicare, lapses in food safety."

The New York Times also looks at the difficulty of reforming the system in this current economic environment. (Then again, is there ever a good economic time to do this, politically?) "The powerful interests that dominate the health care industry could challenge even Mr. Obama's political deftness. To pay for any new plan, he would tax upper-income households and require new 'efficiencies' in health care. He has also proposed cutting federal payments to hospitals, insurers, drug companies and home health agencies, and that could turn powerful groups against him."

More: "Lobbyists for the industry say they are torn between their impulse to work with the president to win universal coverage and the need to fight against deep cuts. They are already on guard because of Medicare's precarious condition, warning the administration not to try to mend the program by reducing their payments."

"American International Group will gain access to $30 billion more in taxpayer money as part of another restructuring of its federal bailout, the company announced this morning. It marks the fourth time the government has stepped in to help the ailing insurance giant since September," the Washington Post reports. "The reworked plan is aimed in part at helping AIG avert a potential disaster as the company on Monday announced the biggest quarterly corporate loss in U.S. history -- a staggering $61.7 billion for the fourth quarter of 2008, due largely to the continued deterioration of credit markets and charges related to AIG's restructuring."

The New York Times: "Federal officials, who worked feverishly over the weekend to complete the restructuring, said they thought they had no choice but to prop up A.I.G., because its business and trading activities are so intricately woven through the world's banking system. But the deal also presents more financial risks to taxpayers at a time when the public and Congress have been sharply questioning the wisdom of risking federal money to bail out private enterprises." 

A source close the AIG deal tells First Read that it strengthens the company's restructuring efforts by protecting taxpayers from future losses and reducing the risk of further destabilizing the economy.

Per the Washington Post, Treasury Secretary Geithner and chief White House economic adviser Larry Summers have been busy men. "Last week alone, Geithner ran from meeting to meeting to craft a new rescue deal for Citigroup, talk with governors on the economic stimulus package, co-host a summit on the nation's fiscal issues, work with lawmakers on regulatory reform, refine a plan to help homeowners, discuss a major upcoming summit with his foreign counterparts and roll out the details of a 'stress test' for banks." 

The New York Times examines Adolpho Carrion's stint as Bronx borough president and attempts to judge whether he's ready for his new gig in the White House as director of urban policy. "Assessing Mr. Carrión's readiness to make that jump depends on whether his tenure as borough president is seen as a hard-fought success in an office with limited power or a failed opportunity to turn around a borough that, while no longer a symbol of urban blight, continues to struggle with crime, poverty, homelessness and deaths from AIDS."

After their Sunday show appearances, Politico writes, "Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff aren't on the same page regarding Iran's nuclear capabilities." Gates said on Meet the Press: "They're not close to a stockpile. They're not close to a weapon at this point," he said. Mullen said that "Iran may have enough nuclear material to make a bomb, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told CNN's 'State of the Union' Sunday."

"The administration's top budget official, Peter Orszag, said Obama would sign the $410 billion spending bill despite a campaign pledge that he would reject tailored budget requests that let lawmakers send money to their home states," the AP writes. On the Sunday shows, both Orszag and Rahm Emanuel called the bill "last year's business."

Orszag also "said the White House would consider using a Senate procedural tactic so that only 50 votes would be required to pass major healthcare and energy reforms."

And here is the AP's table-setter on Clinton's trip to the Middle East. It notes that U.S. officials originally said it was giving $900 million to the rebuilding of Gaza. But now officials say $300 million is earmarked specifically for Gaza. Another $600 million is to go to the Palestinian Authority.

The AP looks at Roland Burris' lonely Senate life: "A week of lonely walks, calls for his resignation and cameras following his every move didn't seem to affect the new senator from Illinois. The opposite, actually: Burris spent most of his time digging in."

Even though the Senate last week passed legislation that would give DC (as well as Utah) a member of Congress, the Los Angeles Times looks at the obstacles ahead -- including reconciling an amendment regarding gun rights and a potential court challenge.

Speaking of Utah, the Washington Times has a potentially troubling allegation against Sen. Orrin Hatch -- regarding donations from the pharmaceutical industry to a charity Hatch started, as a well as the fact one firm has Hatch's son on payroll as a lobbyist.

At CPAC over the weekend, NBC's Abby Livingston reports, Romney won the presidential-preference straw poll for the third straight year, but he received just a tepid reaction when the results were announced. Just 55% said they were satisfied with the potential GOP 2012 field; 44% said they wished the Republicans had a better field.

When Romney returned to CPAC, it was to a place "where his 2008 presidential campaign was both birthed and buried," writes the Boston Globe's Issenberg, who also dubs Romney "a de-facto leader of an out-of-power party and a early, default front-runner for the 2012 nomination."

It's also pointed out that, "Romney appeared to be the subject of an inadvertent tribute by the National Rifle Association, whose exhibition-hall booth shoot-'em-up game 'Varmint Town' evoked Romney's famous 2007 description of himself as a lifelong hunter of 'small varmints, if you will.' An NRA official denied the booth had anything to do with Romney.

ILLINOIS: The New York Times looks at the scramble -- come November 2010 or earlier -- for the Senate seat currently occupied by Sen. Roland Burris. "The would-be contenders include Alexi Giannoulias, the state treasurer, who plays basketball with Mr. Obama… Other potential candidates are Representatives Mark Steven Kirk and Peter Roskam, Republicans from the Chicago suburbs who might benefit from the woes of the state's Democrats. And, according to 'a shocker' revealed in a Chicago Sun-Times gossip column late last week, yet another possible contender is William Daley, the brother of this city's mayor (and, perhaps less significantly around here, the commerce secretary in the Clinton administration)." 

Question: What happens if Team Obama's allegiances get split between those who are close to Alexi Giannoulias and Bill Daley?

PENNSYLVANIA: The AP looks at the latest tough spot for Arlen Specter – on the upcoming battle over the Employee Free Choice Act. "It is the latest tight spot for the 79-year-old Specter, a moderate who is used to being on the political rack, stretched between the wishes of an increasingly conservative party and an increasingly liberal state."

From NBC's Winston Wilde
WASHINGTON -- The last day of the Conservative Political Action Conference here saw Ann
Coulter back up to the podium to deliver some of the comic relief of
the afternoon.

She did not come to lend wisdom as to where the conservative movement
in America should be headed, and she did not mention policy
alternatives to contrast with those of the Democratic White House and
Congress.  

She came to do what she is arguably best at: highlighting any and all
ironies and inconsistencies she sees in the liberal agenda, and in its
new leader, President Obama.  

She wasn't the headliner (Rush Limbaugh would take that honor as the
last to speak at the conference), but Coulter's return appearance
yielded its fair share of sound bites, for sure.

To begin, Coulter was quick to acknowledge that President Obama had become a larger-than-life figure, and she began her remarks by highlighting some of the iconic and archetypal figures with whom Obama seems the present incarnate.  

She began with Jesus Christ, grounding herself in the TIME magazine article written by Nancy Gibbs on Nov. 5th, 2008. The metaphor in Gibbs' article is fleeting at best, but Coulter's barbs were relentless.
 
"As leader of 12 Apostles, even Jesus had more executive experience than Obama," she said. … "Apparently [the media] like carpenters -- it's plumbers that they hate."

She continued her odyssey against the media in her next topic: that Obama is the incarnate spirit of Abe Lincoln, this time citing the Newsweek cover story, "Obama's Lincoln."

"So marks the end of Obama's honeymoon with the press: he's been downgraded from Jesus to Lincoln," she quipped.

It is a step down, yes, but Coulter acknowledged that, like Lincoln, one of Obama's best qualities is that he brings people together. From Newsweek, she read, "Two thin men from rude beginnings, relatively new to Washington, but wise to the world, bring the nation together to face a crisis."

He hears all sides, he brings the likes of rivals into his Cabinet, and he brings a breath of fresh air to Washington. Perhaps, she said, but Coulter had her counterpoints --  that change would not come so swiftly to the District.

"I'm not sure reaching out to the Clintons and buying their entire Cabinet at fire-sale prices constitutes reaching out to rivals," she said. … "If [Obama] thinks people want to change in 2008... wait 'til 2012!"

Coulter read a quoted selection from a soaring campaign speech, which resonated a message of change throughout. She didn't mention that this was a selection from the Clinton campaign years ago until she was done reading and let the Obama-esque words set in. A classic comic misdirection.

But, in Coulter's 'war of many fronts' over ironies in Washington, she wasn't without a few herself. Though many individuals in Obama's Cabinet are from the former Clinton administration (Rahm Emanuel, Larry Summers and Leon Panetta, to name a few), Coulter omitted that a Clinton herself constitutes a rival.

And in the ironies of ironies, she made clear that the Democrats, winning an election 12 years after Clinton's victory, shouldn't just yet boast of "an end to the Republican Party" with this retort: "I don't think I'd be hanging the Mission Accomplished sign just yet."

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro and Abby Livingston
For the third straight year, Mitt Romney won the CPAC presidential preference straw poll with 20% of the vote. Bobby Jindal finished with 14%, just ahead of Ron Paul and Sarah Palin, who got 13% each.

CPAC over the years has drawn a younger crowd of student activists. (57% of the respondents to the Fabrizio-McLaughlin poll were between 18 and 25.)

Newt Gingrich finished with 10%, Mike Huckabee 7%, Mark Sanford 4%, Rudy Giuliani 3%, Tim Pawlenty 2%, Charlie Crist 1%, and 9% said they were undecided.

Just 55% said they were satisfied with the potential GOP 2012 field; 44% said they wished the Republicans had a better field.

To show just how conservative this crowd was, 95% said they disapproved of the job President Obama was doing -- 80%, in fact, said they "strongly disapproved."

Of the job Republicans are doing in Congress, 70% said they approve.

The results were announced just before Rush Limbaugh delivered the closing speech to the conference. When the results were announced, a very small number stood up when it was announced Romney had won. They clapped and cheered, but it was a tepid reception.

From NBC's Athena Jones and Domenico Montanaro
President Obama has picked Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius
to be his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services,
according to an administration official. The pick will be announced
Monday afternoon at the White House, the official said.

Obama offered the position to her Saturday evening, and Sebelius accepted, the official said.

Sebelius, in the middle of her second term as governor, is barred from
running for a third term. Many Democrats had hoped she would run for
the U.S. Senate seat being vacated in 2010 by Republican Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. Kansas has not sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1932.

It has been thought for a couple of weeks now that Sebelius was the
leading candidate to fill the HHS role, originally offered to former
Sen. Tom Daschle before he withdrew his name from nomination
after it was revealed he hadn't paid about $140,000 in taxes for a car
and driver provided by an employer.

But Sebelius has faced her own opposition, as anti-abortion rights groups have staunchly lobbied against her nomination, particularly "because she once had a reception attended by a late-term
abortion provider who now faces criminal charges," per the Associated
Press. Sebelius will face some opposition, but not likely enough to derail her confirmation.

The Obama administration likely faces another pending abortion fight, when the president is faced with making his first Supreme Court replacement pick.