What the centrists have wrought  —  I'm still working on the numbers, but I've gotten a fair number of requests for comment on the Senate version of the stimulus.  —  The short answer: to appease the centrists, a plan that was already too small and too focused on ineffective tax cuts …

Steele's Campaign Spending Questioned  —  Agents Contact Sister After Ex-Aide's Claims  —  Michael S. Steele, the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, arranged for his 2006 Senate campaign to pay a defunct company run by his sister for services that were never performed …

No President Needs This Kind of Exposure  —  So far six audience members have stormed out midperformance of the Broadway show “You're Welcome America.  A Final Night with George W Bush,” the comedian Will Ferrell's lampooning of the 43rd president, according to those keeping count at the Cort Theater.

Two Sides of a Debate  —  THE $780 BILLION stimulus package deal reached by a bipartisan group of senators and the White House Friday was the culmination of a frenzied week that reflected two strains of politics.  One embraced President Obama's attempt to rise above the partisan squabbles that too often have paralyzed Washington.

FIDDLING.... Matt Yglesias has raised this observation a few times in recent weeks, but it's a good point that bears repeating. … Quite right.  There are differences of opinion about the merit of President Obama giving Congress a “deadline” on the stimulus package, but the fact remains …

Street artist arrested on way to event at ICA  —  Shepard Fairey, the controversial street artist riding a roller coaster of publicity with his red, white, and blue posters of President Obama, was arrested last night on his way to deejay an event kicking off his exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art.

It's No Time for Protectionism  —  WHAT approach will the Obama administration and the Democratic majority in Congress take on international economic policy?  It is too early to say for sure, but the signs so far are worrying.  —  Just before his confirmation as Treasury secretary …

CIA warns Barack Obama that British terrorists are the biggest threat to the US  —  Barack Obama has been warned by the CIA that British Islamist extremists are the greatest threat to US homeland security.  —  American spy chiefs have told the President that the CIA has launched …

Biden Addresses Munich Conference  —  Vice President Biden spoke to the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy this morning during his first overseas trip since taking office.  Below are his comments as released by the White House:  —  Mr. Ambassador, thank you very much.

Payroll Tax Cuts as Stimulus  —  It seems that J.M. Keynes himself thought this was a good idea.  And, indeed, it strikes me as indefensible that a stimulus package featuring hundreds of billions of dollars of tax cuts doesn't include any FICA provisions.  Payroll tax cuts wouldn't be my first choice …

Mark Steyn: Obama mythology could use some stimulus  —  Far from walking on water, president seems all at sea.  —  Recommend  —  In The Washington Post, E.J. Dionne tried to break it gently to us:  —  “No occupant of the White House has ever been able to walk on water.”

Compromise  —  There was bad news and then there was good news.  —  Yesterday we learned that in January, the country suffered its largest one-month job loss in 34 years.  —  But last night, the Senate struck a compromise on the economic recovery plan and put us on our way to giving …

What 3.6 Million Jobs Lost Over 13 Months Looks Like  —  This chart compares the job loss so far in this recession to job losses in the 1990-1991 recession and the 2001 recession - showing how dramatic and unprecedented the job loss over the last 13 months has been.

Palin's husband, aides found in contempt by Senate  —  TODD PALIN, OTHERS: No punishment urged in troopergate matter.  —  scockerham@adn.com  —  JUNEAU — The Alaska Senate voted Friday to find Gov. Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, and nine Palin aides in contempt for failing to show …

Back on World Stage, a Larger-Than-Life Holbrooke  —  Stashed in a drawer in his Manhattan apartment between snapshots of family vacations, a photograph shows Richard C. Holbrooke on a private visit to Afghanistan in 2006.  He is mugging atop an abandoned Russian tank, flashing a sardonic V …

Sources tell SI Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003 … In 2003, when he won the American League home run title and the AL Most Valuable Player award as a shortstop for the Texas Rangers, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids, four sources have independently told Sports Illustrated.

Watch the Tone in Washington  —  It took just two weeks for Washington's Kumbaya experiment in bipartisan civility to explode in turgid rants, finger-pointing and re-entrenchment.  —  Tuesday night, Obama did a speed-dating circuit with television anchors at the White House …