Obama Allies Launch New Ad Directly Attacking GOP Leaders — White House Told In Advance  —  President Obama's allies on the left, AFSCME and the labor-backed Americans United for Change, are ramping up with a massive advertising blitz containing the most direct and hard-hitting attack yet …

Why Markets Dissed the Geithner Plan  —  Here's how he should handle the banks.  —  One of the cool things about being Treasury Secretary is that you get your signature on dollar bills, giving them authority, defending their honor.  Timothy Geithner's plan to save the struggling banking system probably does …

Dems' ethical troubles reminiscent of GOPers' headaches as majority  —  Despite President Obama's repeated pledge to usher in a new, more ethical climate in Washington, House Democrats' ethical troubles have begun to resemble those the GOP had when it occupied the majority just three years ago.

CONGRESS $HOPPING CARTS  —  WASHINGTON - “Fore!”  —  The federal government is preparing to spend millions to purchase a fleet of small electric vehicles that critics compare to golf carts.  —  The $838 billion economic stimulus bill that passed the Senate yesterday contains $300 million …

Analysis: Election arithmetic puts Netanyahu in the driving seat  —  For all the confusion prompted by the near parity of Kadima and the Likud in Tuesday's election, and even before final adjustments necessitated by Thursday's release of soldiers' votes and the complex surplus-vote distribution …

A rocky first few weeks  —  Obama sputters out of the gate — but don't fear yet.  Plus: Buxom foodies, frocks for the ages, and the eternal appeal of Mary McCarthy and Justin Timberlake.  —  Money by the barrelful, by the truckload.  Mountains of money, heaped like gassy pyramids in the national dump.

Bailed-Out Firms Distributing Cash Rewards: “Please Do Not Call It A Bonus”  —  Two Wall Street firms that received at least $60 billion in government bailout funds will be rewarding their financial advisers with controversial retention payments, the terms of which one senior executive described as …

As Mainstream Exits D.C., Niche Media Tide Rises  —  The growing exodus of mainstream reporters from the nation's capital has ceded much of the turf to a new, more specialized kind of journalism.  —  Just as newspaper, magazine and television bureaus here are shrinking or shutting …

Where does the conservative movement go from here?  —  ANALYSIS/OPINION:  —  The conservative movement has a simple and almost certainly successful future if it does three things:  —  1. Advocate first principles with courage, clarity, persistence and cheerfulness.

FIRST THOUGHTS: NEGOTIATING TIME  —  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro  —  *** Negotiating time: This is Susan Collins', Olympia Snowe's, and Arlen Specter's world, and we're all just lucky to live in it, right?  With House and Senate negotiators working with the White House …

How to Save the Suburbs: Solutions from the Man Who Saw the Whole Thing Coming  —  For a half century, it's been easy to mock suburbia for being too comfortable, white-bread and conformist.  That's all changed in the last 18 months as many suburbs have abruptly taken on a sense of tragedy …

Hillary's incredible, shrinking role  —  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is finding that her job description is dissolving under her feet, leaving her with only a vestige of the power she must have thought she acquired when she signed on to be President Obama's chief Cabinet officer.

The president ran his prime-time press conference like a grad-school class.  —  The East Room of the White House has to be the fanciest room in which Professor Obama has ever held class.  But for an hour Monday night, he didn't seem to notice as he held a graduate seminar on the first 20 days …

For senators, tax questions are taxing  —  When Timothy Geithner appeared before the Senate Finance Committee last month, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) accused the soon-to-be treasury secretary of “dancing around” questions about his taxes.  —  When news broke that Tom Daschle had failed …

Israel: What a Center-Right Nation Looks Like  —  I read some folks in comments yesterday suggesting that somehow the outcome of the Israeli elections debunks my preference for parliamentary systems.  Indeed, I recently heard Hubert Védrine, the former Foreign Minister of France …

Fighting over bipartisanship  —  There's been some back-and-forth about whether it was worth it for Obama to take such a publicly, determinedly “bipartisan” tack, inviting Republicans over for cookies and, yesterday, campaigning with a Republican governor — when he's been totally unable …

Obama Paints America's Choice as His Plan or Nothing  —  President Obama likes to portray the battle over the economic stimulus package that passed the Senate on Tuesday as a stark choice between his approach and that of those who would “do nothing.”  —  “Nothing is not an option.

On War Criminals' Trail, NBC News Stirs Criticism  —  NBC News, which teamed up with local police officers to trap sex offenders for its successful but scandalous “To Catch a Predator” series, is now using similar tactics to hunt bigger game: war criminals.  —  But one of the first efforts …

Group pledges to fight GOP senators who support stimulus  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — An influential conservative political action committee is pledging to support primary challenges to any Republican senator who backs the economic stimulus package — the latest public show of dissatisfaction …

Agent Claims Evidence on Stevens Was Concealed  —  WASHINGTON — An F.B.I. agent who worked on the investigation of Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, who was convicted on ethics charges, has said in a stunning formal complaint that a fellow agent and prosecutors contrived to improperly conceal evidence from the court and the defense.

Big Lessons in Finance From a Little Bank You've Never Heard Of  —  Wall Street is not pleased.  —  Hunkered-down executives and hyperactive traders were more than a little disappointed with what they heard from our straight-shooting new Treasury secretary as he unveiled his plans for Bank Bailout 2.0.

Strickland opposes Senate bailout bill  —  Proposal would hurt states, he says  —  WASHINGTON — Gov. Ted Strickland says the $827 billion stimulus package the Senate is expected to approve today would be “hugely harmful” to Ohio.  —  Because the revamped measure reduces money for states …

Solicitor general nominee says ‘enemy combatants’ can be held without trial  —  Elena Kagan tells a senator she agrees with Attorney General Holder that the U.S. is at war and therefore may detain suspected terrorists indefinitely.  —  Reporting from Washington — Harvard Law Dean Elena Kagan …

Best President?  Lincoln on Par With Reagan, Kennedy  —  However, Lincoln has unique bipartisan appeal  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Less than a month into Barack Obama's presidency, Obama's desire to emulate Abraham Lincoln can be found in his speeches, his bipartisan gestures, and his “team of rivals” approach to picking a cabinet.

10-Year-Old Spaniel Completes Comeback  —  At 10 years old, Stump the Sussex spaniel should be well into his dotage.  Instead, the dog who technically retired four years ago took home Best in Show on Tuesday at the 133rd Annual Westminster Kennel Club show at Madison Square Garden, becoming the oldest to win the award.