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.

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 …

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:

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

Understanding the Game at a High Level  —  Yesterday, the Democrats stripped provisions of the stimulus package that would have provided family planning funding for Medicaid and money to refurbish the National Mall's lawn.  These were not necessary concessions, but acts of good will intended …

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 …

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.”

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 …

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.

Recruiting stand-down ordered  —  Probe of Houston suicides prompts wide-ranging action  —  Army Secretary Pete Geren has ordered a stand-down of the Army's entire recruiting force and a review of almost every aspect of the job is underway in the wake of a wide-ranging investigation …

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).

Iranian Leader Demands U.S. Apology  —  TEHRAN — A day after President Obama struck a conciliatory tone toward Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Washington on Wednesday to apologize for its actions toward his country over the past 60 years and said it was unclear whether …

Early Voting in Iraq Goes Smoothly  —  BAGHDAD — Thousands of soldiers, police officers, hospital patients and prisoners cast ballots on Wednesday as part of early voting in Iraq's provincial elections.  —  The day concluded with no major election-related disturbances and only scattered incidents of violence around the country.

FBI saw mortgage fraud early  —  Agents say they lacked resources to pursue it  —  The FBI was aware for years of “pervasive and growing” fraud in the mortgage industry that eventually contributed to America's financial meltdown, but did not take definitive action to stop it.

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.

Obama Tells Arabia's Despots They're Safe  —  America's diplomacy of freedom is officially over.  —  “To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect,” President Barack Obama said in his inaugural.  But in truth, the new way forward is a return …

It's the Economy, Girlfriend  —  The economic crisis came home to 27-year-old Megan Petrus early last year when her boyfriend of eight months, a derivatives trader for a major bank, proved to be more concerned about helping a laid-off colleague than comforting Ms. Petrus after her father had a heart attack.