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.

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.

Gibbs hints at ‘Reaganesque’ speech  —  President Barack Obama won't speak until prime-time, but his aides fanned out to the morning shows Tuesday morning to talk up his first speech before a joint session of Congress.  And the word they used to preview it: “Reaganesque.”

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.

McCain Confronts Obama On Marine One (VIDEO)  —  At the closing session of the president's fiscal responsibility summit on Monday, high-ranking members of Congress were asked to put on their reportorial hats, quizzing Barack Obama on various aspects of his economic priorities.

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 …

The Painfully Ridiculous End to the NYU Revolution  —  The final, farcical moments of the failed Revolutionary NYU Food Court Occupation were caught on film by one of the protesters.  And then shown to the world, despite being—by any standard—incredibly embarrassing.  —  “You may not come in here.

Rogue Financier Stanford Linked to Fund Run by Bidens  —  A fund of hedge funds run by two members of Vice President Joe Biden's family was marketed exclusively by companies controlled by Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, who is facing Securities and Exchange Commission accusations of engaging in an $8 billion fraud.

Yap trap: Pols talk, markets dive  —  It was a perfectly reasonable question, and on the surface it seemed like a perfectly reasonable answer.  But when Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd went on Bloomberg TV Friday and mused about the possibility of bank nationalization …

The 92 Percent Solution  —  Feel the anger - here is a website dedicated to the 92 percent of Americans who are making their mortgage payments.  The mission statement reads more like the Declaration of Independence; the intro:  —  The 92% Group Charter  —  1. The sole purpose …

Crunching credit  —  Via Tyler Cowen, I learn that American Express continues to aggressively deleverage.  This time, they're using the carrot instead of the stick: … I am willing to bet that the names of the people who got this offer were selected the same way that Amex controversially …

Burris and Durbin to meet Tuesday afternoon.  Scoop: Burris not resigning but signaling won't run in 2010  —  WASHINGTON—Embattled Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) meets with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Tuesday afternoon.  Burris understands that he needs to try to mollify Durbin and he will attempt to do that.

Gay Bloggers' Voices Rise in Chorus of Growing Political Influence  —  Only the blogosphere, perhaps, has room for Pam Spaulding — a black lesbian who lives in North Carolina, the only state in the South that has not banned same-sex marriage.  —  “California, Arizona and Florida …

Taxing pot could become a political toking point  —  An Assemblyman from San Francisco argues that it's time to tax and regulate the state's biggest cash crop in the same manner as alcohol.  Opponents say it would create new costs for society.  —  Reporting from Sacramento …

Jim Cooper Not Invited to Fiscal Responsibility Summit  —  digg it  —  Here's a weird one.  Obama agreed to host a “fiscal responsibility summit” because Jim Cooper was pushing for one in December, and it was a way to get Blue Dog support for the stimulus bill.

Recipe for Disaster: The Formula That Killed Wall Street  —  A year ago, it was hardly unthinkable that a math wizard like David X. Li might someday earn a Nobel Prize.  After all, financial economists—even Wall Street quants—have received the Nobel in economics before …

How politics works: Senator Christopher Dodd and his cosy Irish cottage  —  An intriguing item here from the dogged Kevin Rennie of the Hartford Courant that highlights a classic example of why ordinary citizens become cynical about politicians and the way business in Washington is conducted.

Liberals Use Supreme Court Gun Case to Bolster Other Rights  —  The Supreme Court's 2008 ruling in D.C. v. Heller was a constitutional earthquake, breathing life into the Second Amendment as a guarantee of an individual right to bear arms.  —  But the aftershock of that decision is beginning …

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 …

Tracking the Dow  —  Not only is it obviously stupid for political commentators to be assessing the quality of economic policy by tracking the ups-and-downs of the stock market but the fact that the commentators who want to do this keep wanting to specifically use the Dow Jones Industrial Average just highlights their ignorance.