If Harry Reid had defended Lott, he should not resign for his remarks about Obama. Every word was true. A pass for truth?

It’s not quite clear whether he’s referring to Reid’s comments or Lott’s, but the safe assumption is Reid, and that gets at a reason why this flap isn’t having the same impact — there’s some amount of political research backing up Reid’s take on race and “dialect” and their effect on voters.

“[Lieberman] still wants to be a part of the Democratic Party although he is a registered independent. He wants to caucus with us and, of course, he enjoys his chairmanship of the [Homeland Security] committee because of the indulgence of the Democratic Caucus. So, I’m sure all of those things will cross his mind before the final vote.”

That’s the first time I’ve heard a congressional Democrat bring up Lieberman’s chairmanship as something the Connecticut senator might lose if he were to vote against a Democratic health bill.

A Clinton County District Court judge gave final approval Tuesday for a deal that resolves a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and ends with the retail giant paying up to $11 million.

The suit, which was started in 2001 by workers Sally Mussman and Ronda Harmon, included nearly 100,000 current and former Iowa workers at Wal-Mart who alleged that they were forced to skip breaks and lunches and were required to work overtime without pay. Although Wal-Mart has agreed to the $11 million deal, the company does not have to admit wrongdoing as a part of the settlement.

The Iowa case is one of more than 50 across the nation that was based on or included wage and hour violations. Last year Wal-Mart, which continues to be one of the few retailers amassing profits in a downturn economy, said it would use up to $640 million to settle the suits. At least 15 other suits are also nearing agreements, pending court approval.

At his 32nd annual Steak Fry fundraiser, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) was cheered by an enthusiastic crowd when he declared that a health care reform bill would pass both houses of Congress “by Christmas,” and that it would include a government-run, not-for-profit health insurance plan.

“Mark my word — I’m the chairman — it’s going to have a strong public option,” said Harkin, who last week replaced the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) as chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee.

“[It] now falls to me to pick up the torch” left by Kennedy, he noted.

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The National Organization for Marriage bought more than $80,000 in ads to support Burgmeier, an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage rights. Two other groups — Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Family Policy Center — seemed to play a central role in the Republican’s campaign, which spent more time criticizing Gov. Chet Culver and Democratic bigwigs than talking about Hanson.

Only 8,046 people voted in the election, which means NOM spent roughly $10 per voter on this ad:

NOM is claiming victory anyway for “making gay marriage an issue.”

Compared to some of the more hostile audiences that have made headlines recently, Loebsack’s town hall was relatively tame. Still, attendee Emma Nemecek drew cheers from the crowd when she held up this sign, a new spin on an old classic (after the jump):

“In the House bill, there is counseling for end of life,” Grassley said. “You have every right to fear. You shouldn’t have counseling at the end of life, you should have done that 20 years before. Should not have a government run plan to decide when to pull the plug on grandma”

Well, he did it again later in the day at a town hall in Panora, Iowa.

“When you couple this with all the other fears that people have, and you have what they do in England, then you get the idea that someone is going to decide grandma’s lived too long,” he said.

Grassley is adamantly opposed to any government involvement in end-of-life planning, even if it is simply to provide money making it possible, because those decisions should instead be made in church.

“I think the best thing to do if you want to get people to think about end of life, number one Jesus Christ is the way to start,” he said. “But after that, in the physical life as opposed to your eternal life, it ought to be done within the family and considered a religious and ethical issue and not something that politicians deal with.”

It’s probably worth noting that Grassley is up for re-election in 2010.

Sorenson posted a note on his Twitter account Sunday night claiming the legislation in question contains language giving power of choice over health care decisions to a “Health Care Commissioner.”

“Page 42 healthcare bill ‘Health Choices Commissioner’ will decide health benefits for you. You will have NO choice,” he tweeted.

His post is a nearly verbatim quote from a page-by-page analysis of the House health care bill contained in a chain e-mail currently circulating. PoltiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning site run by the staff of the St. Petersburg Times, has investigated each of the e-mail’s claims, including the health commissioner theory, and found most of them to be what they classify as “pants on fire” lies.

• Page 42: The “Health Choices Commissioner” will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None. Pants on Fire!: Section 142 outlines the duties of the Health Choices commissioner, who is charged with regulating insurers. The commissioner should seek insurers to offer different types of insurance, including basic, enhanced and premium. Individuals will be able to choose among competing insurers who are regulated via the exchange.

In other news, Sorenson is eagerly planning his retirement once the nice man from Nigeria transfers $2 million to his bank account.

The Norris endorsement comes just days after former Arkansas governor and Iowa Caucus winner Mike Huckabee formally endorsed Vander Plaats at a fundraiser in Spirit Lake. Norris was a big supporter of Huckabee’s presidential campaign. Vander Plaats was Huckabee’s Iowa chair.

In the column titled “3 Amigos Who Fight for America,” Norris also announced his endorsement of John Kasich in the Ohio gubernatorial race and Roy Moore — you remember him — in the Alabama governor’s contest.