Poll: Obama's rating at all-time high  —  NBC/WSJ poll shows gap between popularity of president and his policies  —  WASHINGTON - After Barack Obama's first six weeks as president, the American public's attitudes about the two political parties couldn't be more different, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds.

White House Knocks Jim Cramer For Calling Obama Budget “Greatest Wealth Destruction By a President”  —  NBC's Tom Costello, on duty at the White House today, asked press secretary Robert Gibbs about some comments made by his CNBC colleague Jim Cramer.  On the Today show this morning …

Moderates uneasy with Obama plan  —  Moderate and conservative Democrats in the Senate are starting to choke over the massive spending and tax increases in President Barack Obama's budget plans and have begun plotting to increase their influence over the agenda of a president who is turning out to be much more liberal than they are.

Democratic Revolt May Slow Obama Agenda  —  Democratic Reps. Jim Matheson of Utah and Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona have joined a quiet revolt in the House that could slow some of President Obama's fast-moving priorities.  —  The two are among 49 Democrats from congressional districts …

Geithner Touts Tackling Tax Evaders After Failing to Pay Own Taxes  —  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the House Ways and Means Committee Tuesday that the Obama administration, which has been riddled with tax problems, is mounting plans to go after tax evaders.  —  FOXNews.com

Stage of Fools  —  If only Shakespeare had known how to Twitter.  —  There was a bit of King Lear in the scene on the Senate floor, a stormy, solitary John McCain on “this great stage of fools,” as the Bard wrote, railing against both parties and the president in fiery speeches and rapid-fire tweets.

Russian President Won't “Haggle” Over US Missile Defense Plans  —  Russian President Dimitry Medvedev's comments came in response to a New York Times report that US President Barack Obama had written a secret letter to his Russian counterpart offering to halt the planned missile shield …

Conservative group funds ads in race to replace Gillibrand  —  (CNN) - A conservative group has launched an ad campaign in support of Republican Jim Tedisco's fight for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's former House seat.  —  The conservative Our Country Deserves Better Committee, an independent PAC …

Job Losses Show Breadth of a Recession  —  What does the worst recession in a generation look like?  —  It is both deep and broad.  Every state in the country, with the exception of a band stretching from the Dakotas down to Texas, is now shedding jobs at a rapid pace.

What Are the Odds of a Depression?  —  International evidence suggests there is a 20% chance our stock-market crash will lead to much worse.  —  Central questions these days are how severe will the U.S. economic downturn be and how long will it last?  —  The most serious concern …

You're Dead?  That Won't Stop the Debt Collector  —  MINNEAPOLIS — The banks need another bailout and countless homeowners cannot handle their mortgage payments, but one group is paying its bills: the dead.  —  Dozens of specially trained agents work on the third floor of DCM Services here …

Limbaugh declares Ed Henry a “butt boy,” but “Jake Tapper is the one guy that's outside of the butt boy bubble in the White House press room”  —  You are right, I dont hear you saying any of those things.  But what I do hear you saying is things are better than they are.  —  You are wrong Rush.

Wall Street on the Tundra  —  Iceland's de facto bankruptcy—its currency (the krona) is kaput, its debt is 850 percent of G.D.P., its people are hoarding food and cash and blowing up their new Range Rovers for the insurance—resulted from a stunning collective madness.

How Quigley claimed Democratic nomination in Rahm Emanuel race  —  Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley claimed the Democratic nomination to replace Rahm Emanuel in Congress by carrying liberal areas close to the lakefront and doing well enough in many Northwest Side precincts …

Ex-Leaders at Countrywide Start Firm to Buy Bad Loans  —  CALABASAS, Calif. — Fairly or not, Countrywide Financial and its top executives would be on most lists of those who share blame for the nation's economic crisis.  After all, the banking behemoth made risky loans to tens of thousands of Americans …

Obama Signals Backing for Union Law  —  MIAMI — President Barack Obama told AFL-CIO union leaders Tuesday in a videotaped address that the controversial Employee Free Choice Act will pass, signaling his full backing for legislation that makes union organizing easier.