It has truly been an honor and pleasure to write for and interact with you. (Even the Ron Paul fanatics who hate us because we don't cover him enough.)

The Gate would have turned a year old next month, but we're pretty proud of the more than 1,700 posts we've churned out. Most memorable for me -- Jane Roh -- was covering the U.S. attorney firings investigation, which culminated with the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in August, and liveblogging the David Petraeus/Ryan Crocker hearings in September. It's been an intense and rewarding experience, and I'll always be grateful for those opportunities.

And then there's our campaign coverage, where I've gotten some witty and insightful assists from fellow Deputy Managing Editor Irene Tsikitas. The abundant and frequently silly MSM campaign coverage wore us out at times, but it's been a real honor covering what is likely the most pivotal presidential election of my lifetime. (Won't miss liveblogging those debates, though.)

You can tell by the accompanying photo that we had lots of fun along the way, too. Thanks to our online graphics team, Ryan Merrill and Reuben Dalke, for gamely producing myriad image requests.

As for me, I am leaving National Journal and moving on. I will still be participating in the Horserace '08 weekly radio roundtable on the campaigns, so look for me on air and online. To keep up with my whereabouts and reporting, visit me on Facebook. If you want to weigh in on the demise of The Gate, e-mail thegate[at]nationaljournal.com.

Thanks for reading along. I enjoyed writing for you.

-JANE ROH

While House Democrats have pushed through similar proposals this Congress with majority support, Senate Democrats have been unable to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.

Senate Democrats have mulled including an energy tax plan that repeals oil and gas company incentives to pay for extending and expanding renewable energy and efficiency incentives as part of a filibuster-proof budget reconciliation bill.

See CongressDaily (subscription) for the full story.

Administration. President Bush appointed the first U.S. special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference -- a Texas Muslim named Sada Cumber.

Courts. The Supreme Court yesterday heard arguments on Exxon Mobil's appeal of a $2.5 billion award to those harmed by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Congress. A bill that would more than triple the funding for the global AIDS initiative got a stamp of approval from both parties in the House as well as the White House yesterday.

Economy. During testimony on the Hill yesterday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers that he is concerned about the economic downturn and that the Fed would consider further cuts in interest rates.

Iraq. Turkey is ignoring U.S. demands to end its incursion into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq.

See Earlybird (subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.

Clinton called MSNBC's moderators out for going easy on Barack Obama, telling Brian Williams that she is used to always being tapped for the first question on any given topic. (Slate has a lengthy explanation of Clinton's comment about the SNL skit mocking the media for fawning over her rival.)

A question about the North American Free Trade Agreement sparked Clinton's comment last night at Cleveland State University. NAFTA is particularly delicate territory in bellwether Ohio, which has a high proportion of blue-collar workers concerned about jobs going overseas.

At The Corner, Kathryn Jean Lopez posted a tribute to the National Review's "dear friend, mentor, leader, and founder":

He died while at work; if he had been given a choice on how to depart this world, I suspect that would have been exactly it. At home, still devoted to the war of ideas.

As you might expect, we'll have much more to say here and in NR in the coming days and weeks and months. For now: Thank you, Bill. God bless you, now with your dear Pat. Our deepest condolences to Christopher and the rest of the Buckley family. And our fervent prayer that we continue to do WFB's life's work justice.

Buckley's final column, posted on NRO Feb. 2, is a recap of the preceding debate between Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama in Hollywood. Reflecting his love of the written word, the column is largely an homage to "Fowler's Modern English Usage."

In a Statement of Administration Policy [PDF], the Bush administration listed many items that it objected to in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's bill of direct aid and consumer-friendly initiatives designed to help homeowners who cannot afford to pay their mortgages because they took predatory loans. It said many of the provisions are "unnecessary, costly, and counterproductive."

The White House opposed a provision sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., that would allow a judge to change the terms of a primary mortgage that has entered into foreclosure. Durbin reworked his provision to pick up support, such as credit union lobbying groups that received a carve-out for members that made interest-only loans for those with good credit histories.

Congress. The Senate has renewed debate on the Iraq war, with Democrats pushing discussion on a bill that would cut off funding.

Iraq. The Turkish military's continued presence in Iraq after an incursion into the Kurdish-dominated north prompted Baghdad to call for an immediate withdrawal of Turkey's troops.

Nation. The number of deportations of illegal immigrants is on the rise.

Courts. The Supreme Court ruled yesterday on a job-discrimination case about bias in corporate culture.

See Earlybird (subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.

Judging by the New York Times' account of the intensely emotional concert, we can't even begin to imagine how "Slowhand" will be received. That is, by those North Koreans who have actually been permitted to listen to the British guitar icon's music.

FT reports that Clapton agreed to a concert "in principle," although his reps have yet to confirm it. Rock and pop are banned in North Korea. Some will have fun imagining Kim Jong Il rocking out to "Cocaine" -- but AP reports that his son, Kim Jong Chol, is the family's Clapton fan.

The answer is supplements, supplements, supplements, in the form of "freelancing" campaign work for their bosses or acting as corporate consultants. A new Web site called LegiStorm has compiled the personal financial disclosure forms of staffers required to file them -- those with salaries higher than $111,675 in 2007. Per the site, about 15 percent of the 16,000 congressional aides fit the bill.

Obama claimed that he'd "heard from an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon" that was sent to Afghanistan grossly undermanned and underequipped. "They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief," Obama said during Thursday night's debate.

Lindsey Graham, who lately has been stumping hard for Republican John McCain, relayed the story to Army Secretary Peter Geren and Army Chief of Staff William Casey during the hearing. "Has Sen. Obama talked to you or anyone in the department about this?" the South Carolina Republican asked.

"I have not discussed this with Sen. Obama," Geren replied, before handing the baton to Casey.

"As we looked into this, the best we could tell was this incident occurred back in 2003 and 2004," Casey said. "We talked to the brigade commander, looked at readiness reports. The brigade was manned over 100 percent and stayed 100 percent manned when they were there."

The situation presents problems for both McCain, whom Democrats are accusing of defying the same campaign finance regulations he has championed, and Obama, who is seeing a hold he placed on an FEC nominee used in a bid to undermine his claims of working in a bipartisan manner.

McCain's problem, meanwhile, is generating calls for the White House or Senate Democrats to blink in their battle over FEC nominees.

"When you talk about the FEC, people's eyes glaze over.... But there will be increasing public pressure to do something as more and more people understand" the situation, said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Her group called Friday for Republicans to compromise to end the standoff.

Health care. A new study shows government spending on health care could double to more than $2 trillion by 2017.

Congress. Indicted Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., told FOX News yesterday he would not resign and would fight the federal fraud charges that have been brought against him.

Nation. Attorney General Michael Mukasey is asking police officers to join him in opposing the expected early release of about 1,500 convicted crack cocaine offenders.

World. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is pressing for six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program during a tour of East Asia this week.

See Earlybird (subscription) for more of this morning's headlines.

"It is the opinion of the House that Canada should continue a military presence in Kandahar beyond February 2009 to July 2011 in a manner fully consistent with the U.N. mandate on Afghanistan," said Royal Galipeau, the Conservative deputy chair of Committees of the Whole House.

The Canadian House of Commons is debating that country's lead role in the Afghanistan mission. Support for the ongoing mission has dwindled among Canadians, who have seen a disproportionately large number of casualties in the Afghan conflict.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has bristled at what it sees as reluctance among the other large NATO members to contribute resources and manpower to the fight against the resurgent Taliban. The patchwork-style NATO mission -- with Canadians, Britons, Dutchmen and Americans doing the lion's share of security and reconstruction work -- is facing Taliban fighters who have adopted tactics used by al-Qaida and insurgents in Iraq (e.g., suicide bombings) and a rampant opium trade that Afghan farmers are reluctant to abandon.

Ahead of a contentious NATO meeting in Lithuania early this month, Harper's government threatened to bring the Canadian mission to an end if other NATO countries did not increase their contributions. That threat still holds as the Canadian parliament hammers out its Afghanistan timeline.

Seriously.

(In case you were wondering, Halperin finds Daniel Day-Lewis "wolfishly handsome" and Klein's a "sucker" for women like Tilda Swinton.)

The complaint was filed last summer by the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which argued that the strong copyright warnings are aimed at intimidating rather than educating consumers.

For the full story, see this afternoon's CongressDailyPM.