Lone GOP vote came after call from President Obama

Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao was the only Republican to vote in favor of the Democratic health care bill that passed the House late Saturday, a vote that came after President Obama called to personally to ask for his support, Cao told CNN.

The president dialed the freshman congressman from Louisiana around noon on Saturday, hours before a vote on an amendment offered by anti-abortion Democrats that banned most abortion coverage from the public option and other insurance providers in the insurance "exchange" the legislation would create. That measure passed later in the evening.

Cao said he explained to the president he could not support the health care bill without the amendment, but said he would support the bill if the abortion measure passed. It was a sentiment he also expressed to House GOP leadership ahead of the vote, he said.

Obama, Netanyahu to meet Monday, White House says

President Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday evening after a rough stretch in U.S. efforts to settle the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The White House announced the meeting on Sunday.

Netanyahu has resisted Obama administration calls to halt Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the heart of a future Palestinian state, though he announced his government would limit construction of new settlements.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced last week that he would not run in the next Palestinian elections, set for January, amid open frustration among Palestinian leaders with Washington.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fueled Palestinian anger last week when she described Netanyahu's decision to restrict -- but not halt -- West Bank settlements as "unprecedented."

Clinton later clarified that the United States "does not accept the legitimacy" of building Israeli housing on occupied Palestinian land. But she was unable to persuade Abbas to resume talks with Israel.

Netanyahu is scheduled to address a conference of Jewish groups in Washington on Monday, but no meetings had been scheduled between the U.S. and Israeli leaders as of late last week, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday.

Obama, Netanyahu to meet Monday, White House says

President Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday evening after a rough stretch in U.S. efforts to settle the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The White House announced the meeting on Sunday.

Netanyahu has resisted Obama administration calls to halt Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the heart of a future Palestinian state, though he announced his government would limit construction of new settlements.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced last week that he would not run in the next Palestinian elections, set for January, amid open frustration among Palestinian leaders with Washington.

Really, they shouldn't have given Obama the Nobel Prize

It slipped out as I gazed upon the news -- Barack Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize.

A strange reaction, since I like the guy, generally, voted for him, think he's doing an OK job in the face of strong, sometimes crazy opposition.

But I'm not a foaming devotee, not the false stereotype those who hate him like to conjure up to give themselves something to sneer at. Obama's too political for my liking, too cautious, deferential to his party, timid on gay rights.

But he's trying, and his job just got harder with this goofy prize. Not just because the Nobel Peace Prize will churn up his foes like piranhas in bloody water. Anything involving him sets them off.

But here they have a point -- the Nobel Peace Prize is tainted fruit. The Swedes give out the real Nobels -- in chemistry, in physics. The Peace Prize is given out by the Norwegians, and they are famous for doing a botch job. Three names: Henry Kissinger, Yasser Arafat, Jimmy Carter.

Which leads to the obvious question: "Where has Obama brought peace in nine months in office?" The award cites "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." That speech in Cairo? A masterful job, but worth the Nobel Peace Prize?

If he's indeed going to eventually accomplish something in the area of peace -- and I hope he might -- then they should have saved it. What happens if he actually brokers peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians? Will they give him the Mega Nobel Peace Prize? Nobody wants an honor they didn't deserve, and I would think that being elected president of the United States is honor aplenty for one year. This is just premature, at best, and weird at worst.