Obama Claim: Done More in 30 Days Than Other Presidents  —  Economy Will Dominate Obama Speech Tonight  —  The Obama administration is going into tonight's pivotal speech to Congress with the belief that President Obama has accomplished more in the first 30 days in office than any modern president.

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.

Officials: Most troops out of Iraq in 18 months  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama plans to remove all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by August 2010, administration officials said Tuesday, ending the war three months later …

Obama: ‘Day of reckoning has arrived’  —  We have lived through an era where too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity; where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election.  A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth …

Solis Confirmed as Labor Secretary  —  The Senate this afternoon confirmed Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) as labor secretary, more than two months after she was nominated for the post by President Obama.  —  The Senate voted 80 to 17 to confirm Solis, after Senate Republicans today assured Democrats …

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 …

Northern Trust defends spending on PGA event, parties  —  Rep. Barney Frank said he's going to ask for the money back.  —  Phil Mickelson of USA plays his approach shot on the 10th hole during the final round of the Northern Trust Open at the Riviera Country Club February 22, 2009 in Pacific Palisades, California.

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 …

Hearst seeks changes at Chronicle  —  (02-24) 14:30 PST NEW YORK — The Hearst Corp. today announced an effort to reverse the deepening operating losses of its San Francisco Chronicle by seeking near-term cost savings that would include “significant” cuts to both union and non-union staff.

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” …

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.

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 …

WBAL-TV fires reporter over prank  —  John Sanders inserted a graphic phrase in a faked video that ended up on YouTube  —  WBAL-TV has fired a reporter who inserted a graphic phrase in a video for a prank — only to have the doctored version surface on Web sites nationwide.

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.

The Region: America, look behind you!  Turn around!  Turn around!  —  America: A freight train is heading your way and you're standing right on the tracks, looking in the wrong direction.  —  Or perhaps it is like a horror film in which the killer sneaks up behind the hapless victim while the movie audience yells: “Turn around!

Jindal accuses Obama of pessimism  —  The early excerpts of Bobby Jindal's response to Obama's State of the Union are largely standard fare, but the conclusion strikes an interesting note — one hinted at recently by Bill Clinton — accusing the president, basically, of pessimism.

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 …

Why Obama's Deficit-Spending Plan Will (Probably) Work  —  Will the Obama deficit-spending plan work?  Will throwing $800 billion—$500 billion in extra government spending, and $300 billion in tax cuts—at the economy produce a world in which production and employment are higher …

Obama: America ‘will emerge stronger’  —  President Barack Obama, striving to hold public support for massive government intervention in a staggering economy, vowed tonight that an embattled nation “will emerge stronger than before.”  —  With his first formal address as president …

Armed guards pulled from Cicero polls  —  Cook County Sheriff's police ordered armed security personnel hired by Cicero President Larry Dominick to leave polling places during today's primary election, according to the Cook County Clerk David Orr.  —  Cicero President Larry Dominick inside his election headquarters today.

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 …

Spain makes Guantanamo offer  —  Spain's foreign minister has said his country is prepared “in principle” to take in some inmates released from the Guantanamo Bay US military camp.  —  Miguel Angel Moratinos was speaking after a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington.