Daschle Knew of Tax Issues Over Car Use Last June  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama's choice for health secretary, Tom Daschle, was aware as early as last June that he might have to pay back taxes for the use of a car and driver provided by a private equity firm, but did not inform …

Robert E. Lee, confused  —  Obama appears tonight at the Alfalfa Dinner, a gathering of Washington's elite with Confederate roots, a fact on which the president remarked, according to excerpts from his prepared remarks:

Obama preserves renditions as counter-terrorism tool  —  The role of the CIA's controversial prisoner-transfer program may expand, intelligence experts say.  —  Reporting from Washington — The CIA's secret prisons are being shuttered.  Harsh interrogation techniques are off-limits.

Obama remakes political rules  —  Three months after his election, President Barack Obama continues to remake the political landscape—and there's no clearer example than Friday's election of Michael Steele as the Republican National Committee's first black chairman.

Recession Can Change a Way of Life  —  AS job losses mount and bailout costs run into the trillions, the social costs of the economic downturn become clearer.  The primary question, to be sure, is what can be done to shorten or alleviate these bad times.  But there is also a broader set …

Playbook - Presented by STARBUCKS - Newsweek's cover calls Afghanistan 'OBAMA'S VIETNAM' - BULLETIN: Adam Putnam leaving Congress  —  President Obama, at last night's closed-press Alfalfa Dinner, on the delay in getting a dog: ‘The labradoodle we picked has some problems with back taxes.’

Economic stimulus provisions reach far and wide  —  The $800-billion bill that cleared the House last week brings back big government: to school buildings, worker paychecks, electric lines and more.  Here's a look at where the money would go.  —  Reporting from Washington …

Herbert Hoover Lives  —  HERE'S a bottom line to keep you up at night: The economy is falling faster than Washington can get moving.  President Obama says his stimulus plan will save or create four million jobs in two years.  In the last four months of 2008 alone, employment fell by 1.9 million.

Palin lying low during Washington trip  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sarah Palin has firmly remained in the media spotlight since her bid for the vice presidency ended four months ago, but the Alaska governor embraced a decidedly lower profile when she traveled to the nation's capital this weekend.

The Nativists Are Restless  —  The relentlessly harsh Republican campaign against immigrants has always hidden a streak of racialist extremism.  Now after several high-water years, the Republican tide has gone out, leaving exposed the nativism of fringe right-wingers clinging to what they hope will be a wedge issue.