Democrats Resisting Obama on Social Security  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama is eager to seek a bipartisan solution to ensure the long-term solvency of Social Security, people who have spoken with him say, but he is running into opposition from his party's left and from Democratic Congressional leaders …

Assessing Obama's Job Approval at the One-Month Mark  —  Receives solid approval, but not extraordinary in historical terms  — USA - Government and Politics - Presidential Job Approval - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America  —  PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama remains …

Forget change: GOP eyes retro strategy  —  Republicans are hatching a political comeback by dusting off a strategic playbook written nearly two decades ago.  —  Its themes: Unite against Democrats' economic policy, block and counter health care reform and tar them with spending scandals.

Auto team drives imports  —  Fed task force has few new U.S. cars  —  WASHINGTON — The vehicles owned by the Obama administration's auto team could reflect one reason why Detroit's Big Three automakers are in trouble: The list includes few new American cars.

The Myth Of The Filibuster: Dems Can't Make Republicans Talk All Night  —  Hoping for a C-SPAN spectacle of GOP obstruction, some impatient Democrats are urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to call Republicans on their filibuster bluff.  —  House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer …

Rick Santelli: The Man Who Talked Back  —  Which, do you suppose, would be the bigger draw right about now: a) a Barack Obama house party supporting the housing bailout package, or b) a Rick Santelli-inspired “Chicago Tea Party” opposing the bailout package?

Banking on the Brink  —  Comrade Greenspan wants us to seize the economy's commanding heights.  —  O.K., not exactly.  What Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman — and a staunch defender of free markets — actually said was, “It may be necessary to temporarily nationalize …

Hey, lady, your $800,000 house is NOT my problem  —  Repeat after me: Property value-preservation is not a civil right.  —  Craig Meister at the Examiner.com points me to this typical CNN sob story clip of a bus driver named Minta Garcia who is demanding that President Obama halt all foreclosures.

No rest for Rahm at the movies  —  A surprised fellow moviegoer passes on word that Rahm Emanuel took time out Saturday night to see The Wrestler at the E Street Cinema last night with a Secret Service Agent.  —  It was not a quiet night out.  —  “The guy sitting next to Rahm …

The 10 most influential D.C. Twitterers  —  When you talk about Twitter, you might as well be talking about the Snuggie: People around you swear that it's actually useful, but you can't help thinking it silly and declaring, “I just don't get what all the buzz is about.”

Wired for Progress  —  Building a National Clean-Energy Smart Grid  —  Our electricity transmission and distribution grid has been largely unchanged for generations.  We need an energy grid to meet today's challenges.  —  Background: Energy grid 101  —  Infographic: Building …

Legal Experts Propose Limiting Justices' Powers, Terms  —  If we had it to do all over again, would we appoint Supreme Court justices for life?  Allow the chief justice to keep the job forever?  Let the court have the final word on which cases it hears and those it declines?

The Obama Administration Sacrifices Israel  —  The cover-up on Durban II's anti-Semitic agenda.  —  The Obama administration's decision to join the planning of the U.N.'s Durban II “anti-racism” conference has just taken a new twist: cover-up.  On Friday, State Department officials …

REMOVING ALL DOUBT.... Five years ago, Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ken.) won re-election despite odd and erratic personal behavior.  Now, in advance of another re-election fight, Bunning is acting strangely again.  —  Last month, Bunning decided not to show up for work for a while, and refused to say publicly where he was.

Dispatches: Greenberg vs. Penn  —  Of the many stories in Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg's new book, Dispatches from the War Room, the most newsworthy may be his slashing condemnation of Mark Penn, the pollster that displaced him within the inner circles of both President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Harry Reid: Economy starting to turn around  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Monday that the banking industry is “very close” to being stabilized and the nation's economy is starting to rebound.  —  “We tend to talk about the negative. ...

Obama Taps Biden to Oversee Stimulus Package Implementation  —  With Vice President Joe Biden at the helm, $15 billion from the recovery package will be freed up Wednesday for state Medicaid programs, President Obama says.  —  FOXNews.com  —  President Obama has turned to his own vice president …

In Latest Plan for Banks, U.S. Could Demand a Voting Stake  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration put the nation's biggest banks on notice Monday that the government could become their biggest shareholder if regulators decide they are not strong enough to weather a deeper-than-expected downturn in the economy.

VOTER, BEWARE  —  The Voting Rights Act, which passed in 1965, stands as one of the great monuments to civil rights in American history.  The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, purported to give Americans the right to vote regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude …

Rename Law?  No Wisecrack Is Left Behind  —  WASHINGTON — Two years ago, an effort to fix No Child Left Behind, the main federal law on public schools, provoked a grueling slugfest in Congress, leading Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, to say the law had become “the most negative brand in America.”

Pelosi sees bankruptcy bill this week  — Pelosi sees bankruptcy bill this week  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leader of the U.S. House of Representatives said on Monday lawmakers expect to begin debating legislation this week that would let judges erase some mortgage debt for borrowers who file for bankruptcy.

Editor's Note  —  The headline, illustration and text of “Below the Beltway,” a column in The Washington Post Magazine today, may cause offense to readers.  The magazine was printed before a widely publicized incident last week in which a chimpanzee attacked and badly mauled a woman in Stamford …

Mormon Milk Author to Gay and Lesbian Kids: “God Does Love You” … At last night's Academy Awards America met the God to whom many progressives pray—the God who is justice and love.  —  Anyone who believes that all of God's children are created in God's image is likely celebrating …

Rove ignores House Judiciary Committee subpoena.  —  Pursuant to a subpoena issued earlier this month, Karl Rove was due to appear for a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee today.  But as CongressMatters reports, despite being “expected” to appear this time, Rove was a no show.

Citigroup's Clever Plan to Screw Taxpayers Again  —  From The Business Insider, Feb. 23, 2009:  —  So Citigroup (C) has proposed that the US taxpayer and other preferred shareholders convert up to $75 billion of preferred stock into common stock, thus bolstering the company's tangible equity …