Officials: US troops to exit Iraq by August 2010  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama plans to order that all U.S. combat troops be withdrawn from Iraq by August 2010, administration officials said Tuesday …

OBAMA'S HEALTH CARE PLAN EXPECTS AN INDIVIDUAL MANDATE.  —  I've now been able to confirm with multiple senior administration sources that the health care proposal in Obama's budget will have a mandate.  Sort of.  —  Here's how it will work, according to the officials I've spoken to.

Scandal-plagued Republican says Burris should resign  —  Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R), who survived a 2007 sex scandal, called on Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) to resign Tuesday for his ethical shortcomings.  —  Vitter was connected with a prostitution ring two years ago and dismissed …

GOP governor: Congressional leadership ‘inconsequential’  —  S.A. Miller and Stephen Dinan, THE WASHINGTON TIMES  —  NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW:  —  The Republican governor of Utah on Monday said his party is blighted by leaders in Congress whose lack of new ideas renders them so “inconsequential” …

Michael Steele Threatens To Withhold RNC Funds From GOP Senators Who Backed Stimulus  —  This one passed unnoticed last night, but it's definitely noteworthy — yet another measure of the degree to which the Republican Party has bet all its chips on opposing the stimulus package.

Rove to local GOP: ‘You have a pretty easy message’  —  Karl Rove, the political brain trust of former President George W. Bush, told Northwest suburban Republicans they can win back the state if they don't rip the party apart in the primaries early next year.

Bailout Bank Blows Millions Partying in L.A.  —  A bank that received $1.6 billion in bailout money just spent a fortune last week in L.A. hosting a series of lavish parties and concerts with famous singers ... and TMZ cameras caught it all.  —  Northern Trust, a Chicago-based bank …

STATEMENT FROM RUPERT MURDOCH  —  As the Chairman of the New York Post, I am ultimately responsible for what is printed in its pages.  The buck stops with me.  —  Last week, we made a mistake.  We ran a cartoon that offended many people.  Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted.

Soldier doubts eligibility, defies president's orders  —  ‘As an officer, my sworn oath to support and defend our Constitution requires this’  —  A U.S. soldier on active duty in Iraq has called President Obama an “impostor” in a statement in which he affirmed plans to join as plaintiff …

Bunning: ‘I would have a suit’ if Republicans recruit an opponent  —  Sen. Jim Bunning is vowing to fight back as his feud with Republican leadership over his 2010 re-election bid spills into the national political scene.  —  If Republican campaign organizations tried to recruit another candidate …

Obama Selling a New Deal, but Promising It Will Be Brief  —  It was only 13 years ago that Bill Clinton declared before a joint session of Congress that “the era of big government is over.”  President Obama's challenge on Tuesday night is to declare that, out of ugly necessity …

Bernanke: Recession may end in '09; Stocks climb  —  NEW YORK (AP) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has steadied Wall Street by telling Congress the recession could end this year.  —  In his semiannual report to the Senate Banking Committee, Bernanke predicts the economy is likely …

Schumer on governors rejecting recovery funds: The package is not ‘multiple choice.’  —  In response to several Republican governors declaring their intention to reject portions of the recently signed economic recovery package, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sent a letter to OMB Director Peter Orszag …

Killing (or Maiming) a Sacred Cow: Home Mortgage Deductions  —  Edward L. Glaeser is an economics professor at Harvard.  —  The Great Depression provided an opportunity to rethink old policies in a major way.  In the current morass, everything should, once again, be open for debate.

Politics in the Guise of Pure Science  —  Why, since President Obama promised to “restore science to its rightful place” in Washington, do some things feel not quite right?  —  First there was Steven Chu, the physicist and new energy secretary, warning The Los Angeles Times that climate change …

Newsom sneaking around and sipping out of a bottle?  —  Is the Green Mayor holding out on us?  —  This week, the City Insider spotted an almost empty case of bottled water in the back of Mayor Gavin Newsom's hybrid sport utility vehicle as it was parked in front of City Hall.

Obama Job Approval Dips Below 60% for First Time  —  Fifty-nine percent now approve as more express no opinion on his performance  — USA - Government - Government and Politics - Leadership - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America  —  PRINCETON, NJ — For the first time since …

Senate Confirms Hilda Solis as Labor Secretary  —  Hilda Solis is the new secretary of labor.  After Republicans backed away from an expected filibuster and agreed to stop their weeks of delaying tactics, the Senate this afternoon approved Solis's nomination by an 80-17 vote.

‘Liberal bias?’  IU professors find network TV election coverage favors Republicans  —  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  —  Broadcast media: To arrange a live on-camera, studio interview with the professors via Indiana University's broadcast facilities, please contact George Vlahakis at 812-855-0846 or gvlahaki@indiana.edu.

Plus, J. Edgar Hoover on how to spot a homosexual.  —  When Bill Moyers left his show Now With Bill Moyers at the end of 2004, he told the Associated Press that his immediate project would be a book about the year he worked for Lyndon B. Johnson.  Upon returning to PBS in the spring of 2007 …

Join Us Tuesday Night for O-BINGO!  —  On Tuesday at 9:00 PM Eastern, President Obama will address a joint session of Congress.  To help get you through the 50-minute speech, use our handy Bingo card to check off terms and phrases likely to be used.  As a bonus, print out the different versions …

Newsflash: McCain Lost the Election!  —  Why are Republicans taking so many pages out of their failed candidate's campaign playbook?  —  The Republican Party has been using a grab-bag of strategies to counter Obama's policies over the past month.  They rail against the stimulus package for its (supposed) pork.

HOLDER IS TONIGHT'S STAY-AWAY  —  From NBC's Pete Williams  —  Attorney General Eric Holder is the cabinet member who will not attend tonight's presidential speech.  —  By custom, one member of the cabinet is designated to go to — as we say these days — “a secure location,” …