Survey Reveals Broad Support for President  —  President Obama is benefiting from remarkably high levels of optimism and confidence among Americans about his leadership, providing him with substantial political clout as he confronts the nation's economic challenges and opposition from nearly …

Santelli Claims The White House Is Threatening Him: ‘My Kids Are Nervous To Go To School’  —  CNBC's Rick Santelli appeared on at least two radio programs today to promote his “rant” against President Obama's housing program.  On G. Gordon Liddy's radio program, Santelli called attention …

WHY SOCIAL SECURITY IS NOT IN DANGER.  —  As a quick clarification to Jane Hamsher's post, no one at the White House ever mentioned the Orszag-Diamond plan to me.  I brought it up in this post as an example of the sort of thinking that administration members had done on Social Security in the past …

Say what?  —  I've been following the Franken-Coleman legal proceedings pretty closely and everything I've read suggests that Franken is getting the better end of it and will be certified in the next few months.  So where the hell does this come from? … Update: Murray did take this question from me, I'll give her that at least.

Meltdown on MSNBC: The Leg Tingle Is Gone?  —  I can hardly believe what I'm watching on MSNBC right now.  Chris Matthew is almost critical - no, not even almost, he's flat out critical of President Obama on the economic front.  He mentions an earlier conversation with CNBC's manic stock analyst Jim Cramer …

‘U.S. plans to pledge $900 million for Gaza’  —  Preliminary estimates put the damage in Hamas-run Gaza after Israel's offensive at nearly $2 billion.  —  Clinton's bid to get the $900 million could face an uphill battle in Congress where requests for Gaza will likely meet resistance …

A Strong Start for Obama - But Hardly a Bipartisan One  —  Sixty-Eight Percent Approve of Obama's Performance  —  Barack Obama's month-old presidency is off to a strong start, marked by the largest lead over the opposition party in trust to handle the economy for a president in polls dating back nearly 20 years.

Former Wash. Gov. Gary Locke Likely To Commerce  —  Former Washington governor Gary Locke, shown here in Jan. 2007, is expected to be named this week as President Obama's choice to head Commerce.  (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)  —  Former Washington State Gov. Gary Locke is the likely pick …

Arrest Made in Home Foreclosure Civil Disobedience Program  —  Police in Baltimore today made what is believed to be the first arrest in a civil disobedience program aimed at supporting homeowners who refuse to vacate their foreclosed homes.  —  An activist with ACORN …

Well Before the 2012 Season, Obama Kicks the GOP a Political Football  —  One month into the Obama presidency, the race for the 2012 GOP nomination appears very much underway.  —  Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, before heading to the National Governors Association annual meeting that started …

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.”

“Dear President Obama”: The President Reads 10 Letters a Day from the Public, With Policy Ramifications  —  The letter to President Obama came from a woman in Arizona whose husband lost his job.  He was able to find work, but the new gig came with one-third the pay; the family is struggling to make their mortgage payments.

Comedy gold: The end of the NYU occupation  —  Don't be daunted by the length.  This is 24 karat.  To set the scene: A student group holed up in the campus cafeteria last week for three days with a list of demands including, among various other items, scholarships for Palestinian students …

HSR LIE JUST WON'T GO AWAY.... Once a claim makes its way onto the approved list of Official Republican Talking Points, it's there to stay.  Even after a claim has been exposed as completely false — sometimes, especially after it's been proven false — GOP figures will just keep repeating it.

AIG Seeks More US Funds As Firm Faces Record Loss  —  American Insurance Group, the insurance giant that is 80-percent owned by the US government, is in discussions with the government to secure additional funds so it can keep operating after next Monday, when it will report the largest loss in U.S. corporate history, CNBC has learned.

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 …

Three envoys, three titles  —  The State Department, finally, announced the appointment of Dennis Ross, with the title “Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for The Gulf and Southwest Asia.”  —  Ross's portfolio seems , technically at least, keep him from stepping on George Mitchell's toes …

US lawmaker hosts anti-Islamic Dutch lawmaker  —  WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Jon Kyl is hosting a film screening at the Capitol building on Thursday for a far-right Dutch lawmaker who claims that Islam inspires terrorism.  —  Kyl is sponsoring the event for Geert Wilders …

CBS News' New Right-Wing PR Chief: “I Never Said Democrats Are Evil”  —  CBS News kicked up a big controversy over the weekend when the news broke that the network had hired as its new public relations chief one Jeff Ballabon, a conservative Orthodox Jew who helped Bush's reelection campaign in 2004.

Eleven States Declare Sovereignty Over Obama's Action  —  State governors — looking down the gun barrel of long-term spending forced on them by the Obama “stimulus” plan — are saying they will refuse to take the money.  This is a Constitutional confrontation between the federal government and the states unlike any in our time.