A 40-Year Wish List  —  You won't believe what's in that stimulus bill.  —  “Never let a serious crisis go to waste.  What I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things you couldn't do before.”  —  So said White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in November, and Democrats in Congress are certainly taking his advice to heart.

The case for doing nothing  —  Most of Washington has reached quick consensus: Government must do something big to shock the economy, and it should cost between $800 billion and $900 billion.  —  But dissident economists and investment professionals offer a much different take: Most of Washington is dead wrong.

EXCLUSIVE: Holder assures GOP on interrogation prosecution  —  President Obama's choice to run the Justice Department has assured senior Republican senators that he won't prosecute CIA officers or political appointees who were involved in the Bush administration's policy of “enhanced interrogations.”

Republicans all a-Twitter over the visit  —  Audiences usually treat presidents to a round of polite applause, but when President Obama addressed House Republicans on Tuesday, they started Twittering.  —  Just a week after being inaugurated and becoming the most powerful man in the world …

Gingrey comments on Rush misunderstanding  —  Congressman Phil Gingrey, MD (R-GA) made the following statement in response to an article that ran in Politico Newspaper about comments he made regarding conservative commentator, Rush Limbaugh and the Republican Leadership:

The Presider  —  One impression from Obama's interactions with the Republicans and Democrats in Congress: Obama clearly sees the presidency as a different institution than his immediate predecessor.  This is a good thing, it seems to me.  Bush had imbibed a monarchical sense of the office from his father and his godfather (Cheney).

Right attacking stimulus money for health programs  —  Matt Drudge already collected one scalp in the battle over the stimulus package that will be voted on in the House today.  After he highlighted money for family planning programs in the bill, Republicans started an outcry …

Russia ‘drops missile plans due to Obama change to US attitude’  —  Russia has dropped plans to install missiles near Poland after the Obama administration signalled a change in US attitude to the region, a Moscow military official has reportedly said.  —  The official suggested …

20 or 30 Years Ago?  —  “America was not born as a colonial power, and that the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago, there's no reason why we can't restore that.  And that I think is going to be an important task.”

State of the States: Political Party Affiliation  —  Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Hawaii, and District of Columbia are most Democratic  — USA - Democrats - Government and Politics - Party Affiliation - Republicans - Americas - Northern America … PRINCETON, NJ — An analysis …

School can expel lesbian students, court rules  —  An appeals panel finds California Lutheran High School in Riverside County is not a business and therefore doesn't have to comply with a state law barring discrimination based on sexual orientation.  —  Reporting from San Francisco …

For immediate release  —  The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to keep its target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent.  The Committee continues to anticipate that economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for some time.

Exclusive: CIA Station Chief in Algeria Accused of Rapes  —  “Ugly American”?  Spy Boss Allegedly Drugged Muslim Women, Made Secret Sex Videos  —  The CIA's station chief at its sensitive post in Algeria is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly raping at least …

Abdullah II: The 5-State Solution  —  In February 2002, I traveled to Saudi Arabia and interviewed the then crown prince, now king, Abdullah, at his Riyadh horse farm.  I asked him why the next Arab summit wouldn't just propose to Israel full peace and normalization of relations …

Hey Bam, that's not the door!  —  It looks like President Obama hasn't gotten acquainted to his White House surroundings.  On the way back to the Oval Office Tuesday, the President approached a paned window, instead of the actual door — located a few feet to his right.

Geithner names ex-lobbyist as Treasury chief of staff  —  WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner picked a former Goldman Sachs lobbyist as a top aide Tuesday, the same day he announced rules aimed at reducing the role of lobbyists in agency decisions.

STD flap nothing to clap about  —  The NRCC is banging the good old culture wars drum today, sending out a raft of press releases asking if rookie Dems from conservative districts back the inclusion of anti-sexually transmitted disease programs.  —  The title of the release …

Grassley launches porn inquiry  —  Chuck Grassley knows it when he sees it.  —  The “it,” of course, is pornography.  And Grassley has seen it deep in a demurely titled section of a report from the National Science Foundation — a report that says NSF employees have been spending significant amounts …

Prediction of zero votes from the GOP zeroes in the House  —  I know I sound like a broken record here, but is this a surprise?  The Republicans, under the leadership of George Bush, destroyed the American economy.  We're on the precipice — facing a depression.

Backlash Against Bush Apparent in RNC  —  Many Members Seek New Chairman to Steer Party in a Different Direction  —  As they begin meeting in Washington today, many members of the Republican National Committee are focusing their ire against what they considered George W. Bush's anti-conservative policies …

Most Say Tax Cuts Always Better Than Increased Spending  —  Paul Krugman, last year's winner of the Nobel Prize for economics and a regular columnist for the New York Times, recently wrote that you should “write off anyone who asserts that it's always better to cut taxes than to increase government spending …

Washington Post to End Book World as Stand-Alone Section  —  In another sign that literary criticism is losing its profile in newspapers, The Washington Post has decided to shutter the print version of Book World, its Sunday stand-alone book review section, and shift reviews to space inside two other sections of the paper.

Coleman's Supposedly Friendly Witnesses Backfire  —  We have seen the best thing that Norm Coleman's legal team has done so far in this election trial — and it ain't pretty.  —  This afternoon the Coleman team was bringing in rejected absentee voters to show that their ballots were improperly tossed.

James Hansen's Former NASA Supervisor Declares Himself a Skeptic - Says Hansen ‘Embarrassed NASA’, ‘Was Never Muzzled’, & Models ‘Useless’  —  UPDATE 1/28: Full text of Dr. Theon's letter has been post on the Senate website and below.  —  This is something I thought I'd never see.