Obama Budget Would Create $634 Billion Health-Care Fund  —  President Obama intends to release a budget tomorrow that creates a 10-year, $634 billion “reserve fund” to partially pay for a vast expansion of the U.S. health care system, an overhaul that many experts project will cost as much as $1 trillion over the next decade.

The Joe-the-Plumberization of the GOP  —  With CPAC upon us, I had wanted to write a state-of-the-movement piece, and describing what I felt had gone wrong.  But I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  It hit me like a ton of bricks when I saw this:  —  It could have been like any other of the hundreds …

Holder: Closing Gitmo won't be easy  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday the Guantanamo detention center is a well-run, professional facility that will be difficult to close — but he is still going to do it.  —  Holder visited the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay …

Lawmaker's HIV, promiscuity comments cause uproar  —  For the second time in three days at the state Capitol, a Republican senator's remarks about sexuality have caused offense.  —  Wednesday it was Sen. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, who opposed a bill requiring all pregnant women …

The Dead Tree Theory  —  Whenever a president gives a major address, like the one Barack Obama delivered to Congress this week, the opposition party delivers a rejoinder.  Which American citizens always ignore.  Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's speech was, therefore, a kind of triumph.

Bailout Hearings  —  Wow!  I work in the business jet industry.  This strip is posted all over.  2 Thumbs up!!!  —  Log in to flag this comment  —  This is bare none, the best Dilbert of all time.  —  Log in to flag this comment  —  User Name:  —  apease Feb 25, 2009  —  One of the best ever.

Rush: If you think Jindal reeked last night, I don't want to hear from you again  —  Sounds like Ace and I are now Republican personas non grata.  As are an awful lot of commenters in last night's megathread, I might add.  —  That's okay.  One of these days Andy Levy and I are going to start a secular …

ACLU sues city of Clearwater over tackle shop's fish mural  —  Herb Quintero, owner of the Complete Angler, and the ACLU's Becky Steele talk Tuesday after suing the city of Clearwater.  —  Times]  —  CLEARWATER — A fight over a fish mural has landed in federal court.

Obama's Straw Men  —  Why does he routinely ascribe to opponents views they don't espouse?  —  President Barack Obama reveres Abraham Lincoln.  But among the glaring differences between the two men is that Lincoln offered careful, rigorous, sustained arguments to advance his aims and …

Chris Matthews Explains “Oh, God!”  Utterance  —  Here's a bit of what Matthews will say, according to an NBC spokesperson: … Jindal has reportedly declined an invitation to appear on this evening's edition of Hardball.  —  FAQ: Comments and Moderation FAQ: HuffPost Accounts

Gov. Jindal's volcano remark has some fuming  —  (CNN) — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's swipe at federal spending to monitor volcanoes has the mayor of one city in the shadow of Mount St. Helens fuming.  —  “Does the governor have a volcano in his backyard?”  Royce Pollard, the mayor of Vancouver, Washington, said on Wednesday.

House Passes Spending Bill, and Critics Are Quick to Point Out Pork  —  WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday passed a $410 billion omnibus spending bill packed with pet projects requested by Democrats and Republicans alike.  —  The 245-to-178 vote came just a week after President Obama signed …

Limbaugh To Convene A ‘Female Summit’ To Figure Out Why Women Hate Him  —  Limbaugh To Convene A ‘Female Summit’ To Figure Out Why Women Hate Him  —  Women don't really like Rush Limbaugh.  On Feb. 23, Public Policy Polling released findings showing that only 37 percent of women hold …

Republicans' Day of Reckoning  —  After Tuesday night, no one should doubt Barack Obama's ambition.  His silent dismissal of the efforts of his immediate predecessors — he mentioned none of them — is only one indication of the extent to which he intends to be a new president breaking new ground in a new era.

In President's Budget Plan, Broad Agenda and a Few Gaps  —  President Obama's spending plan is built on the assumption that lawmakers can resolve some hugely contentious issues — and it relies on a few well-worn budget tricks.  —  The request he will deliver to Congress today proposes …

State of the presidents  —  Clinton 67 million, Bush 66 million, Obama 52 million.  —  So, our nation is in crisis, eh?  —  Worst recession since the Big One, Elizabeth — eh?  —  The people are looking to Washington for their next meal, eh?  —  Well, the audience for President Obama's …

FBI raids University of Florida nuclear power institute  —  GAINESVILLE - The FBI searched the offices of a University of Florida scientist Wednesday in a case alleging the professor and his family took “hundreds of thousands of dollars of illegally obtained government funds” from the nation's space agency.

Disentangling Layers of a Loaded Term in Search of a Thread of Peace  —  CAIRO — If President Obama is serious about repairing relations with the Arab world and re-establishing the United States as an honest broker in Middle East peace talks, one step would be to bridge a chasm in perception …

Deficit driven  —  Andrew calls George Bush “the most fiscally reckless president since FDR” and says we should name the tax increases needed to pay for the current deficits after him.  George Bush was indeed fiscally reckless, but the honor of most fiscally reckless president since FDR goes not to him …