Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, finally has some good news to announce: The committee's $19 million in debt inherited from the 2006 cycle has been fully paid off.

The NRSC still lags way behind the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, though — the NRCC had only $5.1 million on hand at the end of the February, compared to the DCCC's $38 million. But in a cycle that has seen a whole lot of GOP retirements, plus a scandal involving past embezzlement from the committee, any good news is good enough.