U.S. Plans to Curb Executive Pay for Bailout Recipients  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is expected to impose a cap of $500,000 for top executives at companies that receive large amounts of bailout money, according to people familiar with the plan.

Analysis: Daschle debacle humbles Obama  —  WASHINGTON - Two weeks into his presidency, Barack Obama proved that even a clearly gifted politician cannot escape the gravitational pull of Washington forces that have humbled many of his predecessors.  —  The new president, seen by some as arrogant, was anything but on Tuesday.

Recount trial: Judges rule thousands of ballots can be considered  —  The court order applies to about 4,800 rejected absentee ballots and indicates that any that complied with state law should be counted.  —  Nearly 4,800 rejected absentee ballots may be reconsidered in the U.S. Senate recount trial …

President Obama to water down ‘Buy American’ plan after EU trade war threat  —  Obama seeks Russia deal to slash nuclear weapons 80 per cent  —  The European Union warned the US yesterday against plunging the world into depression by adopting a planned “Buy American” policy, intensifying fears of a trade war.

Senate Lacks Votes to Pass Stimulus  —  Democrats Trying to Trim $900 Billion Plan to Gain GOP Support  —  Senate Democratic leaders conceded yesterday that they do not have the votes to pass the stimulus bill as currently written and said that to gain bipartisan support …

Did WH encourage defiance of Pelosi?  —  Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) — one of the lead Blue Dogs — made a startling admission to lefty Liberadio on Sunday, suggesting the White House quietly encouraged him to buck House leadership on the stimulus.  —  Cooper was one of 11 Dems to vote no — joining every GOP House member.

IBM Offers To Move Laid Off Workers To India  —  Big Blue wants to help redundant U.S. employees relocate to developing markets, according to an internal document.  —  The climate is warm, there's no shortage of exotic food, and the cost of living is rock bottom.

Czar Mitt  —  President Obama could do worse.  Romney has a bad reputation among Congressional Democrats, so I can't imagine they'd cotton to this.  In fact, it's highly unlikely.  But what Romney, in a bipartisan fashion, was able to do in Massachusetts — even with caveats …

Ben Stein responds to UVM flap  —  Calls commencement flap ‘pathetic,’ denies he's anti-science  —  Ben Stein described the brouhaha over his selection as commencement speaker at the University of Vermont as “laughable” on Tuesday called the whole episode “pathetic.”

Obama HHS pick: Mikulski?  —  Unconfirmed rumors began seeping out of Capitol Hill late today that Maryland Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski is under consideration for the suddenly vacant position of Secretary of Health and Human Services.  —  A spokeswoman for Mikulski did not immediately return email …

Bank Rescue Would Entail Triage for Troubled Assets  —  The Obama administration's emerging rescue plan for the banking system would amount to financial triage, with the Treasury Department playing the delicate role of deciding which of the trillions of dollars in troubled assets plaguing the economy to buy …

Democrats' call for civility 8 years late  —  ANALYSIS/OPINION:  —  The day before Barack Obama's inauguration as president, “Purple Nation” columnist Lanny Davis pleaded on this page for a return to civility in our nation's politics.  —  Mr. Davis, a proudly self-professed liberal Democrat …

Naked Obama Unicorn-A-Rama  —  Via Boing Boing comes the single most disturbing Naked Obama/Unicorn pic yet.  In fact, it's so “right up against the line” that I'm actually going to stick it beneath the fold.  If you click through, don't say you weren't warned.

Mark Halperin, Chris Matthews and Anderson Cooper Skew Obama Ratings … It all started with Mark Halperin's brief note in Time Magazine, http://thepage.time.com/2009/02/03/ poll-obama-approval-rating-drops/ , which stated “Poll: Obama Approval Rating Drops”.

Rahm Emanuel's Illegal D.C. Basement Rental  —  He's the cheapskate of staff.  Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama's right-hand man, lives in a basement apartment on Capitol Hill rented to him by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro.  Just one problem: He's not allowed to live there.

Rod Blagojevich with David Letterman: ‘I sound like Christian Bale’  —  Set your TiVos, people!  On tonight's “Late Show with David Letterman” on CBS, Rod Blagojevich, the disgraced former governor of Illinois, jokingly compares himself to the tantrum-susceptible “Dark Knight” star Christian Bale.

It Gets Worse: Boxer/Inhofe to Request $50B More for Highways  —  Barbara Boxer and infamous global warming denier James Inhofe will present an amendment to the Senate stimulus plan that could funnel as much as $50 billion in additional funding to highways, Streetsblog has learned.

Vitter: GOP Senators are “scared to death” of Obama and his polling numbers  —  A quickie from this morning's chat with Laura Ingraham courtesy of her producer, Tom Elliott.  [...] Read the rest »

Yepsen Leaves The Register  —  Every presidential year since 1975, one political reporter — just one — catapults himself to the top of the profession.  David Yepsen, 58, spent twenty years as the chief political reporter for the Des Moines Register, 33 years as the host of Iowa's top television chat show …