Latest Cuts To The Stim Package: Head Start, Child Nutrition, Food Stamps Public Transit  —  I've just obtained an internal Senate committee memo detailing the latest cuts being eyed by the gang of Senators being led by Dem Ben Nelson and GOPer Susan Collins.  Here is what's being eyed in the bill right now:

“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 …

On the Edge  —  A not-so-funny thing happened on the way to economic recovery.  Over the last two weeks, what should have been a deadly serious debate about how to save an economy in desperate straits turned, instead, into hackneyed political theater, with Republicans spouting …

REPORT: GOP Lawmakers Outnumber Dem Lawmakers By Almost 2 To 1 In Cable News Stimulus Debate Again  —  Last week, ThinkProgress released a report showing that, in the debate over the House economic recovery bill on the five cable news networks, Republican members of Congress outnumbered …

Exclusive Interview: Conservative Evangelical Leader Tony Perkins Sours on the GOP  —  Doing some reporting on how the religious right is greeting the election of Michael Steele—who's been portrayed as squishy on some social issues—as Republican Party chairman, I called Family Research …

THE GOP'S WAR ON SOLIS.  —  Republican senators have a modest proposal for Hilda Solis: that if she's confirmed as Labor Secretary, she recuse herself from any advocacy for the Employee Free Choice Act.  —  That's quite the suggestion.  Rather like asking Robert Gates not to advocate for the armed forces …

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 …

Obama's Preemptive Strike  —  President Obama's desire to talk — and talk, and talk — to the American public could cost broadcast networks millions, and millions, and millions of prime-time TV dollars.  —  Broadcasters are bracing themselves for the likelihood of three prime-time interruptions …

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.

Obama vs McCain: ‘We had an election’  —  One curious contretempts of the stimulus debate is the conflict between Sen. John McCain, the losing Republican nominee for president, and President Barack Obama, the winner of an electoral landslide in an election which Obama portrayed as a matter of “change.”

Liberals, Ideology, and Big Government  —  Several years ago, in a piece that's long since vanished into The New Republic's world-devouring archives, Jon Chait suggested that liberalism was, by its very nature, more pragmatic and less ideological than conservatism.

The Fierce Urgency of Pork  —  “A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe.”  —  Catastrophe, mind you.  So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared “we have chosen hope over fear.”  Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill.

Thank You, Readers  —  Thank you to the readers of the Huffington Post for voting me the “Hottest Freshman” of the 111th Congress.  It's about time politicians from Illinois were known for something other than bad haircuts or having the ability to walk on water.

Japan's Big-Works Stimulus Is Lesson  —  HAMADA, Japan — The Hamada Marine Bridge soars majestically over this small fishing harbor, so much larger than the squid boats anchored below that it seems out of place.  —  And it is not just the bridge.  Two decades of generous public works spending …

Bracing Ourselves  —  America prepares for the worst, and Republicans suddenly seem serious.  —  All week the word I kept thinking of was “braced.”  America is braced, like people who are going fast and see a crash ahead.  They know huge and historic challenges are here.

Cher: Republican Rule Almost ‘Killed Me’  —  (CNSNews.com) - Grammy award-winning singer and Academy award-winning actress Cher told CNSNews.com that living under Republican rule almost “killed” her, and she does not understand why anyone would want to be a Republican.

Is Support for the Stimulus Plan Falling?  —  Is support for the economic stimulus legislation falling?  Three polls provide data on point this week: Gallup says support is flat, while CBS News and Rasmussen Reports say support is declining.  —  While it is easy to plot the trends in a chart (as above), caution is in order.

McCain blasts Obama  —  Sen. John McCain took his most direct shot at President Barack Obama since the presidential campaign on Friday morning, using a Senate floor speech to criticize the president for mocking the Republican concerns over the massive economic stimulus package.

Panetta takes back remarks on detainee rendition  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will continue to hand foreign detainees over to other countries for questioning, but only with assurances they will not be tortured, Leon Panetta told a Senate committee considering his confirmation as CIA director.

Please Raise My Taxes  —  I'M the chief executive of a publicly traded company and, like my peers, I'm very highly paid.  The difference between salaries like mine and those of average Americans creates a lot of tension, and I'd like to offer a suggestion.  President Obama should celebrate our success …

2 face death over Quran translation  —  4 more jailed over pocket-size book deemed a mistranslation of God's word  —  KABUL - No one knows who brought the book to the mosque, or at least no one dares say.  —  The pocket-size translation of the Quran has already landed six men in prison …

GOP Opposes Pay Limits On Bailed-Out Bankers  —  Wall Street bankers, with their $18 billion in bonuses, private jets and gaudy conferences, are causing headaches for the GOP.  —  President Obama has proposed capping compensation for executives at banks that take taxpayer bailout money at $500,000.

Earmark-Free Stimulus Bill Lacks Spending Direction  —  Listen Now  —  · When congressional leaders began to assemble the mammoth economic stimulus bill, top Democrats and the Obama administration decided that there would be no earmarks: no “special projects,” no pork-barrel spending.

Diane Feinstein “Reserves The Right To Vote Against” Stimulus Bill—UPDATED  —  Is Diane Feinstein an obstructionist?  —  It occurs to me that Barack Obama campaigned in language that made him sound like a small government guy.  No wonder people hate the Stimulus Bill.

Tax Court Takes Swipe at Daschle-Geithner-Killefer-Solis in Making Koko Taylor Sing the Tax Blues  —  I previously blogged the sad case of Grammy-winning blues singer Koko Taylor, who is 80 years old and in poor health: … The Tax Court yesterday held that the IRS did not abuse its discretion …