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.

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.”

The Political Case For The Stimulus, If You're A Vulernable Republican  —  Over a 48 hour period when 100,000 job layoffs have been announced, Hill Republicans have decided to take a stand against the stimulus.  —  Now - President Obama's approval rating is about 70%;  —  Congressional approval is still around 20%;

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 …

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 …

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:

$335,000,000 FOR STD PREVENTION IN ECONOMIC STIMULUS BILL  —  Democrats may have eliminated provisions on birth control and sod for the National Mall in the “job stimulus” — but buried on page 147 of the bill is stimulation for prevention of sexually transmitted diseases!

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.”

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.

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 …

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).

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 …

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 …

Nadler transit amendment passes on voice vote  —  The House just approved Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY)'s amendment to add $3 billion in transit capital funding to the stimulus.  They approved it on a voice vote instead of a roll call.  —  According to Nadler's floor speech …

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 …

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 …

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.

Cornyn hedges on Bunning run  —  A day after Sen. Jim Bunning insisted he would seek a third term, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee said he still wasn't sure whether the Kentucky Republican would actually run.  —  “I don't think he's made a decision on whether to run …

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.

Ears Wide Shut  —  Toward the close of her recent “listening tour” in Morocco, Karen Hughes and her entourage of staffers, translators, and security agents barreled into Settat, an industrial town off the highway to Marrakech.  The six-car convoy roared down the empty, palm-lined avenues …

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 …