Senators Reach Tentative Deal on More Than $800B Economic ‘Spendulus’ Bill  —  Senators Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Susan Collins of Maine have signed onto the bill, giving Democrats enough votes to move it forward.  —  FOXNews.com  —  Senators have reached a tentative deal on a version …

Reporter restrained after hearing  —  Following Leon Panetta's confirmation hearing Thursday, several reporters approached the CIA director-designate in the hallway outside room G-50 in the Dirksen Building.  —  There, CongressDaily reporter Chris Strohm — upon asking a question …

“Bristol”  —  I've given up counting, but I should note that none of her defenders on the right have really dealt with the documented fact of her repeated self-refutations and delusional assertions of “facts” that are indisputably non-facts.  Her unstable grip on reality, taken for granted in Alaska …

Newt: Obama speech was Carter-like  —  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich issued a sharp critique of President Barack Obama's speech before House Democrats in Williamsburg, Va.  —  “It shrinks his presidency,” said Gingrich Friday at the American Enterprise Institute.

Results in on Obama's grassroots appeal: It's a bust  —  WASHINGTON — Few supporters are answering President Barack Obama's call for nationwide house-party gatherings this weekend to build grass-roots support for his economic stimulus plan.  —  A McClatchy survey of sign-up rosters for a score …

Obama's ‘Naked’ Moment  —  The president stands exposed on the stimulus.  —  Every so often a president finds himself standing completely exposed—naked, so to speak—before the political class.  —  This first happened to George W. Bush in October 2005, when Bush nominated his White House counsel …

Congressman Twitters an Iraq Security Breach  —  A congressional trip to Iraq this weekend was supposed to be a secret.  —  But the cat's out of the bag now, thanks to a member of the House Intelligence Committee who broke an embargo via Twitter.  —  A delegation led by House Minority Leader John …

How Bad Is It?  —  This bad, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office shows us:  —  If you are having trouble reading the fine print: The blue line shows job losses in the 1990 recession; the red line is 2001, and the green line is the path we are on now.  —  UPDATE: To clarify, these are not projections.

KBR wins contract despite criminal probe of deaths  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - Defense contractor KBR Inc. has been awarded a $35 million Pentagon contract involving major electrical work, even as it is under criminal investigation …

CEOs, Bankers Used Corporate Credit Cards for Sex, Says New York Madam  —  Wall Street Exposed as Convicted Escort Boss Reveals Client List of 9,800  —  Wall street lawyers, investment bankers, CEOs and media executives often used corporate credit cards to pay for $2,000 an hour prostitutes …

Playbook: Closing in on the stimulus  —  Good Saturday morning.  AP's Ben Feller: “Barack Obama, who has spent most of his nascent presidency in the White House compound, is shifting into travel mode.  The rundown: Saturday and Sunday at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland …

Mamma Mia!  Putin denies mystery ABBA concert … Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's office moved on Friday to quash claims he attended a mystery concert featuring ABBA lookalikes singing to him from behind a veil at a military-style compound.  —  Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov reacted …

HHS rumors spark Bredesen backlash  —  Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen is under consideration by the Obama administration for health secretary, sources familiar with the process say - but talk of his possible appointment has sparked an outcry from the same advocates Obama would need to pass universal health care.

Obama meets with families of victims  —  President Obama's powers of persuasion seem to have won over some terrorism victims' family members who had been upset over his decision to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and suspend military trials for detainees there.

No, Seriously: Republicans Don't Get It  —  With this latest attempt to strip bike finding from the recovery bill, Republicans have once again demonstrated how out of touch they are with their pathologically short-sighted attacks on bicycles.  To their detriment, they are continuing their trend …

Why the Innocent Are Punished More Harshly Than the Guilty  —  The AP reports on a really tragic case of wrongful conviction: … The part of the story that caught my eye was the fact that Cole's insistence on his innocence is what led to his imprisonment and prevented his release on parole:

Pueblo manager for McCain campaign arrested on molestation charges  —  Jeffrey Claude Bartleson, 52, was arrested on separate charges of sexual assault on a child Jan. 28 and Feb. 4 in Pueblo.  (Photo/Pueblo County Jail)  —  Police arrested the former manager of Sen. John McCain's Pueblo …