Let's Hear Some Straight Talk  —  BEGIN TRANSCRIPT  —  RUSH: A new California poll taken just after Fred Thompson's withdrawal from the Republican primary shows Mitt Romney as leading big over McCain in California when it comes to which candidate best represents the Republican Party.

Jay Rockefeller's unintentionally revealing comments  —  (updated below - Update II - Update III)  —  As the Senate takes up “debate” today over granting the President new warrantless eavesdropping powers and granting immunity to lawbreaking telecoms, the individual who joined forces …

Some in Party Bristle At Clintons' Attacks  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign aired a new radio ad here Wednesday that repeated a discredited charge against Sen. Barack Obama, in what some Democrats said is part of an increasing pattern of hardball politics by her and former president Bill Clinton.

Tentative Deal on Economic Stimulus Plan  —  WASHINGTON — House leaders and the White House on Thursday reached a tentative agreement on an economic stimulus package of roughly $150 billion that would pay stipends of $300 to $1,200 per family and provide tax incentives for businesses to encourage spending.

Source at Fund-Raiser: Edwards Calls McCain ‘Crazy’ and Says Hillary Thinks There's More on Rezko  —  Before John Edwards let David Letterman mess up his hair on the Late Show last night, the former Senator was at a private fund-raiser in midtown Manhattan, also attended by Kevin Bacon …

Anti-Bush campaign planned  —  WASHINGTON - A liberal advocacy group plans to spend $8.5 million in a drive to ensure that President Bush's public approval doesn't improve as his days in the White House come to an end.  —  Americans United for Change plans to undertake a yearlong campaign …

Obama said oops on 6 state Senate votes  —  He pushed the wrong button, he asserted at the time.  Two of the admitted flubs were on hotly contested issues.  —  Barack Obama angered fellow Democrats in the Illinois Senate when he voted to strip millions of dollars from a child welfare office on Chicago's West Side.

Bill Gates Issues Call For Kinder Capitalism  —  Famously Competitive, Billionaire Now Urges Business to Aid the Poor  —  Free enterprise has been good to Bill Gates.  But today, the Microsoft Corp. chairman will call for a revision of capitalism.  —  In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos …

Business as Usual GOP  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — When House Republicans convene behind closed doors today (Thursday) at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.V., they have a chance to make two bold moves to restore their reputation for fiscal responsibility.

Help Rescue [Insert Name Here] from History's Dustbin  —  I have an old and dear friend* who asked me to ask my new and equally dear friends the following question: who's the most important — meaning influential, as in, could play the lead in the book or movie version of, [Insert Name] …