From NBC's Suzanne Kianpour
Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite.

Orkin experts confirm bed bugs can be found in hotels, resorts, cruise ships, dorms and homes.

That's a phrase that parents and grandparents have been saying to young ones for years. But the words, unfortunately, are no longer just a bedtime formality.

As a bed-bug resurgence reaches national epidemic status, representatives from several government agencies -- including the Environmental Protection Agency's Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe --convened today at the Georgetown University Hotel and Conference Center in Washington, D.C. to kick off the second annual, two-day Bed Bug Summit.

Perciasepe delivered the opening remarks, re-telling his own personal encounter with bed-bug infestation at his daughter's apartment in New York City five years ago -- the beginning of the resurgence of the these blood-sucking insects. He said they "did not have a good approach" for dealing with this issue, and touched on the subsequent health, psychological and social tensions that emerged. His daughter at one point told him she thought she had lepresy. He acknowledged not only how it affected his daughter and family emotionally, but also how big of a problem it is "for our wallets."

Acknowledging the hefty price of thorough bed bug removal (it can range from several hundred to several thousand dollars) an application process is being opened up in the next few months for communities wishing to receive grants of up to $550,000 to alleviate the problem, especially in public housing and schools.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development hopes to solve the bed-bug problem by conducting outreach and promoting awareness. Steve Owens, assistant administrator of the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, says there are 300 products listed on their website, EPA.gov, that can be used on a bed-bug infestation. But Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs for the National Pest Management Association, says "only a handful" of those products can be used to actually exterminate bed bugs.

The summit will conclude tomorrow, after a two-hour session of formulating recommendations for a national strategy. These recommendations will serve as groundwork for the first steps in developing a national strategy for bed-bug control.

By the way, in case you were wondering, according to BedbugRegistry.com, there are no bedbug encounters on record at the hotel where the summit was held.

*** UPDATE *** Here is the video:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This is about as Ari Gold as DC gets. 

Freshman Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) was five minutes late to preside over the Senate yesterday, and that did not go down well with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. 

When Blumenthal showed up, Reid can be seen telling Blumenthal, per the Washington Times:

"You can't do this," Mr. Reid said in a stern whisper, audible to spectators in the public galleries above the chamber floor. "I need you here."

On video, Reid is seen gesturing sternly and shaking his head.

According to NBC Connecticut:

“A spokesperson for Blumenthal said the Senator was speaking with the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, which caused him to be a few minutes late to the Senate floor.”

From NBC’s Ken Strickland and Kelly O’Donnell
*** UPDATE *** Strickland reports that the repeal vote may take place today or tomorrow.

Democrats intend to introduce a "budget point of order" against the McConnell effort, using a procedural maneuver to prevent an up-or-down vote in favor of a kind of proxy vote instad.

In simple terms, there are several Senate rules that require certain bills to fall within specific fiscal constraints and not add to the deficit. The Congressional Budget Office says the new health care law reduced the deficit by about than $130-billion in the first ten years and a trillion dollars over the second decade. To repeal it, Democrats argue, would be to adding that money back to the deficit.

"It breaks the budget by a trillion dollars," Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer told reporters earlier today of the Republican effort to repeal the health care bill. "They don't show any way of making up that trillion dollars."

Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says all of his 47 members will vote for repeal, but Republicans would need to produce 60 votes to waive the point of order and advance to bill.

While it may not be the straight-up-or-down vote Republicans seek, GOP aides say it will serve some political purpose.

"Everybody will have the opportunity to be on [the] record," McConnell said. "I think it will be clear who is for repeal and who isn't."

From NBC's Ken Strickland and Kelly O'Donnell
GOP sources tell NBC News that Republican Leader Mitch McConnell will try to force a Senate vote on the House-passed motion to repeal the health care reform law this week.

As early as today, McConnell will offer the repeal as an amendment to an unrelated aviation bill that the Senate is slated to consider this afternoon.

McConnell has pledged to use the rules of the Senate to push for a vote on repeal, although Democrats have some procedural tools at their disposal that could be used to prevent a final vote.

While it’s unlikely that the GOP will gain the Democratic support needed to garner enough votes for the measure to pass (and Obama could veto the measure even if it did), a repeal vote would force Democrats who are up for re-election in 2012 to go on the record in support of legislation which may not be popular in their home states.

 Msnbc.com’s Carrie Dann contributed

From NBC's Catherine Chomiak
In an appearance this morning on 'The View,' former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) agreed with the Obama administration's response so far to the protests in Egypt, and he called for Egyptian President Mubarak to step down.

The agreement stopped there, however, as Romney called the federal health-care law unconstitutional.

"We need to communicate that we stand with the voices of freedom and democracy," Romney said about the situation in Egypt. "I think the administration has settled down to a message which is about right -- which is we would like to see a transition, we'd like to see the government ultimately move to one where there is greater representation on the part of the people."

These supportive comments put him at odds with other potential GOP presidential candidates, like former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who have been more critical of the administration's response.

Romney offered more advice, "I don't think the United States should go out publicly and call for the resignation of someone who has been our friend." Co-host Barbara Walters then asked if the advice behind the scenes would be for President Mubarak to step down -- to which Romney responded, "It could very well be."

If Romney runs for president, the health-care system he implemented in Massachusetts -- which is similar to the federal law that Obama and the Democrats wrote and passed -- will be something he has to address. Here's how he handled it today: "We addressed a problem in Massachusetts that was designed to solve problems for the people of Massachusetts. But it is wrong and unconstitutional to take what is designed for one state and say we're going to apply that in every state."

Anything he learned from his unsuccessful 2008 bid for the White House? "The challenge I had last time is that I answered every question. And sometimes you need to say, 'You know, let me quickly answer that question and then get on to what's really important.'"

From NBC's Chuck Todd and Mark Murray

Gov. Haley Barbour at his office in Jackson, Mississippi.

Courtesy of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Mississippi Gov. (and potential presidential candidate) Haley Barbour (R) is headed to Israel.

He'll be in the country from Feb. 5-9. Per a release from the RJC:

This will be the second time that the RJC has had the privilege of taking Governor Barbour to Israel. The organization also hosted him in 1994, when he was chairman of the Republican National Committee.

This trip will include briefings and meetings with senior leaders in Israel, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It will also include touring important sites in the country. In addition, given the Governor's strong interest in energy issues, there will be visits to several sites such as the Noble Energy offshore gas rig and the Better Place electric car facility outside Tel Aviv. The trip will conclude with Governor Barbour making a major address at the prestigious Herzliya Conference on February 9.

From NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro
The Democratic National Committee today announced the selection of Charlotte, NC, as the site of the party's 2012 convention, a clear sign that Democrats will once again target the Tar Heel State in the upcoming presidential contest.

It will be the first presidential-nominating convention to ever take place in North Carolina.

Barack Obama narrowly won the state in 2008, 50%-49% (or 2,142,651 votes to John McCain's 2,128,474) -- the first time a Democrat carried the state in a presidential contest since 1976.

By selecting Charlotte -- which beat out St. Louis, MO; Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN; and Cleveland, OH -- Obama and his political advisers will try to repeat their success in 2008, when they used the convention as an organizing tool to win the state in the general election. (In 2008, Denver hosted the Democratic convention, and Obama went on win Colorado, 54%-45%, the first time a Dem presidential nominee had carried it since 1992.)

It also should be no surprise that, demographically, the city is well represented with the voters who made up the coalition that propelled Obama to victory in 2008: 33% of its residents are black, 11% are Hispanic, nearly 40% have a bachelor's degree (the national average is 27.5%), and its median age is 33.2 years (the national average is 36.5). For the whole state, 21% of the residents are black, 7% are Hispanic, nearly 26% have a bachelor's degree, and its median age is 36.6.

But Charlotte also has potential drawbacks for Obama and the Democrats. For one thing, the city is closely associated with Bank of America, a recipient of the federal government's bank bailout. The bank's corporate headquarters are located in the city, and the Carolina Panthers' football stadium is named Bank of America Stadium.

Also, the local NAACP chapter has urged groups, including the Democratic Party, to boycott the city after it scheduled a make-up school day on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

And the city has faced some criticism from a prominent labor union because of its lack of union hotels.

The Democratic convention is scheduled for the week of Sept. 3, 2012. The Republican convention -- which will be held in Tampa, FL -- will occur the week before.

*** UPDATE *** A senior Democratic official emails First Read: "This selection should put to rest any notion that the presidential map in 2012 is going to shrink. President Obama will be very active in North Carolina and that, despite what some have speculated, we are going to go as big in 2012 as we did in 2008 -– and that means fighting hard for North Carolina, Virginia and all the states and more that helped elect President Obama in the first place."

White House is reduced to spectator watching today’s protest in Egypt… Domino effect reaches Jordan: King Abdullah asks for a new cabinet… Have the country’s federal courts become as partisan as the halls of Congress?... On judicial activism and political P.R…. It looks like it’s going to be Tester vs. Rehberg in Montana’s Senate race… And Mitt Romney’s big media day.

AP

Demonstrators hold banners in Tahrir, or Liberation, Square in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday.

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Watching and waiting: Right now, the Obama White House has been reduced to a spectator watching today’s rally/protest in Egypt. As the New York Times puts it, “more than one hundred thousand people crammed into Cairo’s vast Tahrir Square on Tuesday, seeking to muster a million protesters demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. Their mood was jubilant, as though they had achieved their goals, even though Mr. Mubarak remained in power a day after the Egyptian military emboldened the protesters by saying they would not use force against them.” The biggest development on the U.S. side of things is that the White House, per a senior administration official, has dispatched former Ambassador Frank Wisner to go back to Cairo to consult with the Egyptian government on its behalf. So Wisner is the point of contact between the White House and Mubarak’s government and any potential "orderly transition," as Secretary of State Clinton put it Sunday.

*** The Domino effect reaches Jordan? And now NBC'S Moufaq Khatib in Amman has confirmed this Reuters report: “Close U.S ally Jordan's King Abdullah on Tuesday asked his former ex-military adviser Marouf Bakhit to form a new cabinet, an official said. The official said the monarch officially accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Samir Rifai, a wealthy politician and former court adviser, and asked Bakhit to form a new government.” Does this simply buy the King time, or will this have to be the first in a series of moves? And who's next? Yemen? Saudi Arabia? Syria?

AP

Senior U.S. District judge Roger Vinson in a May 2007 photo. Vinson declared the Obama administration's health care overhaul unconstitutional on January 31st.

*** On judicial partisanship: The most striking conclusion from the court rulings on the health-care law is that some of the country’s federal courts are almost as partisan as the halls of Congress. So far, two federal judges -- appointed by a Democratic president -- have found the law’s individual mandate constitutional, while two other judges -- appointed by Republicans -- have disagreed. In fact, yesterday’s ruling by Roger Vinson, a Reagan appointee, went as far as saying the entire law is unconstitutional. Of course, accusations of judicial partisanship are nothing new (see: Bush vs. Gore or even the overturned Illinois appellate ruling on Rahm Emanuel’s residency). As Politics Daily’s Jill Lawrence observes, “The ruling Monday … fuels the impression of a policy debate devolving into an ideological standoff in the courts. If the Supreme Court strikes down the law, it will be hard to escape the conclusion that elections have few consequences other than who a president puts on the bench.”

*** On judicial activism and political P.R.: By the way, we surely aren’t the only ones who’ve noticed that the folks who often complain the loudest about judicial activism celebrated yesterday’s court ruling. But the definition of judicial activism is a judge overturning decades of precedent -- whether it’s broad interpretations of the Commerce Clause or campaign finance -- on laws passed by elected representatives. (And, of course, one person's judicial activism is another person's strict constructionism.) But it’s also pretty clear that the Obama White House has a P.R. challenge on its hands. Just see these newspaper headlines (here, here, and here). Team Obama knew this lower-court decision was coming, but didn’t try to discredit it as politics before the ruling came out. And we can report that Senate Minority Leader McConnell is going to use the ruling as momentum to have a vote (even if it's a procedural motion) on repealing the health law perhaps in the next few weeks.

*** What’s next? In the short term, it appears the Obama administration is going to be forced to ask for some sort of stay in the Vinson ruling, because of the argument he made that appears would remove Florida -- and the other state plaintiffs -- from the law's jurisdiction. Don't be surprised if the 11th Circuit is asked to do this. And then, of course, at some point, the Supreme Court is going to have to rule. NBC's Pete Williams says it's unlikely the high court could hear it THIS term, so perhaps next year (in the run-up to the presidential election?). By the way, spend some time reading Vinson's ruling; he takes on the issue and powers of the Commerce Clause in a very accessible way. It's one thing for the Obama administration to lose this court case; it's another for their opponents to find a judge who makes the best argument to date against the use of the Commerce Clause, specifically on the issue of economic INACTIVITY. Then again, this inactivity argument wasn’t even in the mainstream of legal thought until the health law passed…

*** Tester vs. Rehberg: Per Roll Call, Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg (R), the state’s lone congressman, will announce on Saturday that he’s challenging Sen. Jon Tester (D). “It’s happening Saturday,” a knowledgeable Montana GOP political operative told the Capitol Hill newspaper. “He’s running. There is a lot of support and enthusiasm back home, and Denny knows he can win.” Rehberg’s entry will undoubtedly set up one of the more competitive Senate contests of the 2012 cycle. It’s also another coup for John Cornyn’s NRSC, which has recruited top challengers in Nebraska (Jon Bruning) and Virginia (George Allen). This will be a toss-up to the end, pure and simple. By the way, the opening of the Rehberg House seat does give Democrats a shot at a pickup if they find a decent recruit. Montana is a MUCH more competitive state between the two parties than folks may realize. It seems as if no party ever holds every major office in the state at the same time.

Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney is seen in Dallas in this November photo.

*** Mitt’s big day: While Mitt Romney has kept a relatively low profile the past few months, that changes today when he appears today on “The View,” CNN, and Letterman (where he unveils the daily Top 10 list). A Romney adviser tells First Read that this mini-PR blitz is tied to the paperback release of Romney’s book, “No Apology.” In other 2012 news, Rick Santorum is in New Hampshire… Tim Pawlenty is in Georgia on his book tour… And Newt Gingrich and Howard Dean debate at 7:00 pm ET at George Washington University.

*** Romney criticizes federal health law: By the way, Romney already appeared on ABC this morning, saying that President Obama’s needs “to ‘press the pause button’ on the federal health care overhaul in the wake of a judge's decision declaring it unconstitutional,” the AP writes. Romney said, "We don't need the government imposing a one-size-fits-all system" on the states. But “Romney acknowledged that his own health care law in Massachusetts contained the same kind of individual insurance mandate that a judge in Florida found unconstitutional in the federal law, but says he isn't apologizing for it.”

Countdown Chicago’s mayoral election: 21 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 280 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 370 days

* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

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The New York Times: “A second federal judge ruled on Monday that it was unconstitutional for Congress to enact a health care law that required Americans to obtain commercial insurance, evening the score at 2 to 2 in the lower courts as conflicting opinions begin their path to the Supreme Court.”

More: “But unlike a Virginia judge in December, Judge Roger Vinson of Federal District Court in Pensacola, Fla., concluded that the insurance requirement was so ‘inextricably bound’ to other provisions of the Affordable Care Act that its unconstitutionality required the invalidation of the entire law.”

The Washington Post looks at the controversy whether Vinson’s ruling means that the health law is now invalid in the 26 states that filed the lawsuit. “David Rivkin, a conservative lawyer in Washington who represents the plaintiffs, said that the 26 states that are party to the lawsuit are no longer subject to any of the law's requirements - unless the federal government obtains a stay of Vinson's order from an appeals court. White House officials firmly rejected that view. ‘Implementation will proceed apace,’ one senior White House official said in a background briefing for reporters.”

“Mohamed ElBaradei, a 68-year-old former head of the United Nations body that enforces a key nuclear arms treaty, is emerging as an unlikely pivotal figure in the bid to force President Hosni Mubarak to resign,” the Boston Globe reports, adding, “ElBaradei’s history of standing up to the United States on issues such as the Iraq war during his tenure at the UN agency earned him respect in Egypt and across the Middle East. ‘It may be that his track record of being independent of the United States, and willingness to be critical of the US, might help him now in Egypt,’ said R. Nicholas Burns, under secretary of state for political affairs from 2005 to 2008.”

NBC’s Brian Williams interviewed ElBaradei on “TODAY.”

The Boston Globe’s editorial page says it’s time for the U.S. to disavow itself of Mubarak: “Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have called for an orderly transition in Egypt. This is a coy way of hinting that the administration is already looking beyond Mubarak without explicitly calling for his departure. But even if Obama does not feel comfortable saying overtly that the United States wants Mubarak removed — for fear of the effect on other Arab rulers who have partnered with Washington — the president ought to spell out what he means by an orderly transition. Doing so would show Egyptians that America wants what they want for their country.”

The Washington Post is the latest to note the U.S. government's delicate balancing act on Egypt. "The Obama administration, after initially underestimating the force and determination of anti-government demonstrations in Egypt, appeared Monday to have settled on a public and private course of action that officials hope will lead to President Hosni Mubarak's departure from office sooner rather than later. Senior officials moved to further define the "orderly transition" they called for over the weekend, and made clear in public statements that they were not impressed by the steps Mubarak has taken to respond to the protests." http://wapo.st/f9mNfq

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the Senate will take up the Federal Aviation Administration funding bill beginning at 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday and that senators wishing to offer amendments should approach the floor managers Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V) and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas.),” The Hill writes.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) calls for Mubarak to go in a column in The Hill: “Mr. Mubarak will have to go – but not without an exit strategy that prevents the government from falling and leaving the door open for extremists. … Mubarak must immediately open these elections to international observers and give his written assurance that his name won’t appear as a contender.  I believe this could help quell the protests.”

Where are the jobs? “So much for House Republicans not taking up social issues this year,” Roll Call writes. “House GOP leaders may not have intended on pushing a social issues agenda — they basically ignored such thorny topics in their ‘Pledge to America’ majority-making document last year. But that isn’t stopping rank-and-file Members from looking for opportunities to advance measures dealing with red-meat subjects such as English as the national language, abortion funding and the practice of allowing ‘anchor babies’ citizenship.” 

DANIELS: “Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels may not be a household name, but the potential 2012 Presidential contender beat out better-known politicians in a straw poll of Washington state GOP activists over the weekend,” the Seattle Times writes. In the Roanoke Conference straw poll, “Daniels led with 31 percent, well above second-place finisher Mitt Romney of Massachussetts (14 percent.)”

“Daniels is reportedly close to making a decision regarding whether he will leave office in order to seek the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination,” The State column writes. “’I think I have got to make up my mind fairly soon,’ Daniels said Friday.”

GINGRICH: The Wall Street Journal editorial page excoriates Newt Gingrich’s pro-ethanol speech at Iowa’s Renewable Fuels Association summit, calling it a “pious tribute to the fuel made from corn and tax dollars.” More: “Some pandering is inevitable in presidential politics, but, befitting a college professor, Mr. Gingrich insists on portraying his low vote-buying as high ‘intellectual’ policy. This doesn't bode well for his judgment as a president. Even Al Gore now admits that the only reason he supported ethanol in 2000 was to goose his presidential prospects, and the only difference now between Al and Newt is that Al admits he was wrong.”

HUCKABEE: Israeli “Deputy Minister for Galilee and Negev Development Ayoub Kara (Likud) told visiting former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a likely Republican US presidential candidate, that Obama needed to understand that ‘supporting the masses carrying out a revolution in Egypt is like support for the Muslim Brotherhood which is likely to take Mubarak’s place,’” the Jerusalem Post writes. “Kara told Huckabee he was ‘disappointed by Obama’s turning his back’ on Mubarak.”

HUNTSMAN: “U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, a Republican with potential presidential ambitions, submitted a letter of resignation to the White House on Monday announcing he intends to leave the post April 30, a senior administration official said,” the AP writes, adding: “Huntsman also wouldn't be the first U.S. envoy to China to seek the White House: President George H.W. Bush served that role under President Gerald Ford. Huntsman's allies suggest he would stay in Beijing through April, set up an exploratory committee and make an announcement in early summer, perhaps after the close of the second-quarter fundraising records are released in July. By then, Republican primary voters will have had a chance to assess the early entrants in the GOP field and may clamor for another option.”

“Jon M. Huntsman Jr., the charismatic former Republican governor of Utah who appeared to put his presidential ambitions on hold when he became President Obama's ambassador to China, abruptly resigned his post Monday and appears likely to take a shot at ousting his boss,” the Washington Post says. “White House officials said they were miffed about Huntsman's shift and said late Monday that they doubted he could make a successful run at the presidency.”

The Post also points out some of its poll numbers on whether Americans would vote for a Mormon for president (the poll centered on Mitt Romney’s ambitions, but Huntsman is also Mormon). “In Dec. 2007, 22 percent of Americans said they would be less apt to vote for a Mormon presidential candidate… But also notable is that the percentage turning away from a Mormon candidate dropped significantly - by 13 percentage points - between Dec. 2006 and Dec. 2007.”

Former New Hampshire GOP Chairman Fergus Cullen said Huntsman’s service in the Obama administration won’t necessarily hurt him with Republican voters. ‘He was doing national service,’ says Cullen, who is neutral in the presidential race so far. ‘It’s like serving in the military in a Democratic administration. It doesn’t do him any dishonor’ to be linked to the Obama White House this way,” the Salt Lake Tribune writes.

PAWLENTY: “Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) sharpened his political rhetoric on Monday, calling President Obama ‘chicken’ when it comes to the issue of entitlement spending,” The Hill writes. “‘He's got all this soaring rhetoric, but the fact of the matter is he's chicken to address the real issues,” Pawlenty said on Fox News, adding, “Don’t confuse nice with being weak.”

ROMNEY: On ABC, Romney said President Obama’s needs “to ‘press the pause button’ on the federal health care overhaul in the wake of a judge's decision declaring it unconstitutional,” the AP writes. Romney said, "We don't need the government imposing a one-size-fits-all system" on the states. But “Romney acknowledged that his own health care law in Massachusetts contained the same kind of individual insurance mandate that a judge in Florida found unconstitutional in the federal law, but says he isn't apologizing for it. Romney, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, sought to make a distinction between the options that a state might choose under the 10th Amendment compared with Washington deciding the policy for all states in a single legislative act.” Romney, per Politico: "I'm certainly indicating the things I'd do differently," he said. "But I'm not going to apologize for the rights of states to craft plans on a bipartisan basis to help their people."

He also said the administration needs to urge Mubarak to “step out of the way.”

“Former governor Mitt Romney, in a new introduction to his book, strongly criticizes President Obama, writing that ‘my worst fears about the president have come true’ and that his policies ‘are smothering the American dream,’” the Boston Globe reports. “‘Rather than focusing his energy and political capital on solving the economic crisis, he exploited it to promote his extreme liberal agenda,’ Romney writes in the new paperback version of ‘No Apology,’ according to excerpts provided to the Globe. Romney is expected to expound on such a line of attack in a round of radio and television interviews today and tomorrow.”

“Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney raised a total of $6.3 million between his federal and state-based political action committees in 2010, ending the year with $1.4 million cash on hand,” The Hill writes. “Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's PAC totals lag behind both Romney and Palin. Huckabee's PAC raised just shy of $35,000 to close out the year, ending 2010 with $137,660 cash on hand. In all, Huckabee raised $979,000 in 2010.”

SANTORUM: “Mr. Santorum's media strategist, John Brabender, said the Republican will likely announce the hire of a well-known national political consultant this week,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. 

Charlie Cook writes that after three-straight “change” elections, 2012 could be a “normal” one. “Some fairly exotic and politically problematic Republicans got elected in 2010 and might lose in 2012, but some of those losses might be offset by Republican gains due to redistricting. In short, it would take something of a wave for Democrats to secure the 25-seat net gain needed to win a House majority. It’s not impossible, but it is fairly unlikely in the absence of the kind of wave that Democrats enjoyed in 1964 when President Lyndon Johnson pummeled Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz. Short of Republicans nominating former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as their presidential nominee, or shutting down the government, it would be hard to see Democrats having that kind of year… In short, the odds are a lot higher for this to be a ‘normal’ election than we have seen since 2004 and not the time to fight the last war.”

MISSOURI: “Ed Martin, a former chief of staff to Gov. Matt Blunt, said Monday that he will run for the U.S. Senate in Missouri next year,” the Kansas City Star reports, adding, “Martin, a lawyer who ran a competitive but ultimately unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. House last year against Democrat Russ Carnahan, joins Republican Sarah Steelman, a former state treasurer, in the GOP field.” Others considering a run: former party chair Ann Wagner and Rep. Sam Graves.

Roll Call says Jim Talent’s (R) decision not to challenge McCaskill has opened up the GOP nomination to a free-for-all that’s opened the way for the Tea Party.

MONTANA: “Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) will announce Saturday he is challenging Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.),” Roll Call writes, adding, “Rehberg’s status as a well-known at-large Congressman immediately pushes the matchup between the two Big Sky State politicians to among the most competitive Senate races in the country. Recent polling conducted for the Rehberg campaign bears that out. The operative offered some internal Rehberg polling numbers showing the Montana Republican in a statistical tie with Tester in a prospective 2012 matchup.” 

“Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus took the job with $23 million in debt and cut a third of the staff he inherited from his predecessor, the controversial and gaffe-prone Michael Steele,” the AP writes. “In year-end federal finance reports on Monday, the GOP central committee showed that $2 million of its debt came during Steele's final two weeks as he sought to keep hold of his chairmanship.” 

Barbara Bush, former President George W. Bush’s daughter, like her mom backs gay marriage. In an online video released by an advocacy group last night, Barbara Bush says, per the New York Daily News: "New York is about fairness and equality, and everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love.”