Legislature adjourns with no budget; governor prepares to lay off 10,000  —  In addition to shutting down public-works projects, Schwarzenegger administration moves toward massive state layoffs as legislators again fail to garner the final GOP vote needed to pass a budget.

Cheney pushed Bush to grant Libby pardon  —  WASHINGTON - In the waning days of the Bush administration, Vice President Dick Cheney launched a last-ditch campaign to persuade his boss to pardon Lewis (Scooter) Libby - and was furious when President George W. Bush wouldn't budge.

Obama Gains G.O.P. Support From Governors  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama must wish governors could vote in Congress: While just three of the 219 Republican lawmakers backed the $787 billion economic recovery plan that he is signing into law on Tuesday, that trifling total …

Pope Benedict to meet Pelosi  —  In a move likely to stoke more controversy about whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights are in line with the church, Pope Benedict XVI has granted an audience to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  —  The Catholic News Agency confirmed Monday that Pelosi …

A ‘fraud’ bigger than Madoff  —  Senior US soldiers investigated over missing Iraq reconstruction billions  —  In what could turn out to be the greatest fraud in US history, American authorities have started to investigate the alleged role of senior military officers in the misuse of $125bn …

Sure the Israeli right won?  Peace lost?  Look closer  —  To judge solely from the gloating, the right conclusively won last week's election.  Hawkish politicians were swift to crow triumph.  Hardline analysts and legions of talkbackers have positively glowed in pronouncing the end of the left …

Historians rate Lincoln best president, Bush 36th  —  (CNN) — It's been 145 years since Abraham Lincoln appeared on a ballot, but admiration for the man who saved the union and sparked the end of slavery is as strong as ever, according to a new survey.  —  Lincoln finished first in a ranking …

Student sues L.A. City College district over gay-marriage speech  —  Weeks after Proposition 8 passed, student says, his public-speaking professor reacted inappropriately to his stance against same-sex unions.  His lawyer alleges religious discrimination.  —  A classroom dispute …

Revelations by Senator Are Raising Concerns  —  CHICAGO — Several Democratic lawmakers from Illinois said Monday that they were troubled by revelations about Roland W. Burris, the state's newest senator and a fellow Democrat.  And at least one called for Mr. Burris to come before the state legislature and explain himself.

Hoyer to Pelosi: Stand up to Senate  —  House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) is pushing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to take a harder line with the Senate after a trio of Republican senators forced Congress to trim billions from the $787 billion economic stimulus package.

Gillibrand removes guns from under bed  —  Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has moved the two rifles that she kept under the bed to protect her upstate New York home, her spokesman said Monday.  —  “Given that the location of the guns has been disclosed, they have been moved for security reasons …

Obama takes econ campaign to Denver  —  President Barack Obama has a busy week of travel ahead of him, including more campaign-style stops to boost his recently passed economic stimulus package, the rollout of his long-awaited housing plans and a quick hop over the border to Canada for his first foreign trip.

Israel launches covert war against Iran  —  Israel has launched a covert war against Iran as an alternative to direct military strikes against Tehran's nuclear programme, US intelligence sources have revealed.  —  It is using hitmen, sabotage, front companies and double agents to disrupt …

The story of the economic recovery package (photos)  —  As President Obama says, the economic recovery package is just one of three “legs of the stool” — a milestone, but an early one, the very beginning of the long process of fixing the economic crisis we inherited.

Are Honor Killings Simply Domestic Violence?  —  Spring 2009, pp.  61-69 … When a husband murders a wife or daughter in the United States and Canada, too often law enforcement chalks the matter up to domestic violence.  Murder is murder; religion is irrelevant.

Anti-terror code ‘would alienate Muslims’  —  The government is considering plans that would lead to thousands more British Muslims being branded as extremists, the Guardian has learned.  The proposals are in a counterterrorism strategy which ministers and security officials are drawing up that is due to be unveiled next month.

WSJ Op-Ed page plays dumb like it's nobody's business  —  Does any opinion outlet create, and then successfully demolish, more flimsy straw men than the diligent writers at the WSJ?  It's hard to imagine because it's almost if WSJ Op-ed editors require their conservatives opinionists construct lazy, intellectually dishonest arguments.

Evangelicalism vs Conservatism  —  The critical definition of conservatism, by which I mean that political tradition Burke founded, rests on a distinction between theoretical and practical wisdom.  Burke insisted that abstract ideas of the Truth should not be our guide in political thought and action.