BURRIS' SON GOT STATE JOB FROM BLAGO  —  The son of embattled Sen. Roland Burris is a federal tax deadbeat who landed a $75,000-a-year state job under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich five months ago, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.  —  Blagojevich's administration hired Roland W. Burris II …

President and His Inner Circle Have Earmarks in Omnibus  —  Funny how items show up in spending bills without any notice — like an earmark for a president who promised not to seek any.  —  President Obama, who took a no-earmark pledge on the campaign trail, is listed as one of dozens …

To Pay for Health Care, Obama Looks to Taxes on Affluent  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama will propose further tax increases on the affluent to help pay for his promise to make health care more accessible and affordable, calling for stricter limits on the benefits of itemized deductions taken …

U.S. Is a Vast Arms Bazaar for Mexican Cartels  —  PHOENIX — The Mexican agents who moved in on a safe house full of drug dealers last May were not prepared for the fire power that greeted them.  —  When the shooting was over, eight agents were dead.  Among the guns the police recovered …

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 …

DATING A BANKER ANONYMOUS...EXPOSED!  —  On January 25, the New York Times reported on the women of Dating a Banker Anonymous.  The Times reported: … On February 2, the Times appended a typical Times correction to the story: … The Times missed a tad more than the second “t” in Buffett's name.

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.

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.

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 …

GOP at risk of becoming party in the no  —  Another day, another no vote.  —  After near-unanimous Republican congressional opposition to President Barack Obama's stimulus package and a week dominated by headlines of GOP governors poised to reject stimulus funding, House Republicans followed …

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 …

Governor Jindal, Rising G.O.P. Star, Plummets After Speech  —  Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana has been a rising star in the Republican Party, but his stock took a hit as he was roundly panned for his televised response to President Obama's first speech to Congress on Tuesday night.

Drone Attacks Inside Pakistan Will Continue, CIA Chief Says  —  Panetta Calls Strikes ‘Successful’ at Disrupting Insurgents  —  CIA Director Leon Panetta said yesterday that U.S. aerial attacks against al-Qaeda and other extremist strongholds inside Pakistan would continue, despite concerns about a popular Pakistani backlash.

Obama's Iraq Plan Has December Elections as Turning Point for Pullout  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama's planned Iraq troop drawdown would leave the bulk of American forces in place until early next year while some combat units would remain in place in new roles even beyond a declared August 2010 target …

Christopher Hitchens and the Battle of Beirut  —  Last week Christopher Hitchens and I were attacked in Beirut.  Less than 24 hours after we landed at the international airport, a half dozen members of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party jumped us on Hamra Street when he defaced one of their signs.

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 …

667K new jobless claims; continuing claims top 5M  —  WASHINGTON - New jobless claims rose more than expected last week and the number of laid-off Americans continuing to receive unemployment benefits topped 5.1 million, fresh evidence the recession is increasingly forcing employers to shed jobs.

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.

Majority of Americans Back President on Afghanistan  —  About two-thirds of Americans support President Obama's decision to send approximately 17,000 additional U.S. military forces to Afghanistan, and, in stark contrast to the sour public reception of former president George W. Bush's “surge” …

GOP pins hopes on N.Y. House race  —  For Republicans beleaguered by losses in two election cycles, hope has come in the form of New York state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R).  —  Tedisco, running to fill Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's (D-N.Y.) old House seat, is becoming an obsession for national Republicans …

A Radical Presidency  —  When Barack Obama delivered his 44-minute acceptance speech in August among the majestic columns of Denver, it was apparent his would be an expansive presidency.  Some wondered whether his solutions for a very long list of problems was too ambitious.

The Negro Family: The Case For National Action  —  Office of Policy Planning and Research  —  Two hundred years ago, in 1765, nine assembled colonies first joined together to demand freedom from arbitrary power.  —  For the first century we struggled to hold together the first continental union of democracy in the history of man.