RNC member calls on Steele to quit  —  Michael Steele should resign as Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman, according to a committee member from North Carolina.  —  In an e-mail to fellow RNC members obtained by The Hill, Dr. Ada Fisher, North Carolina's national committeewoman …

Gupta Steps Aside  —  Updated 7: 24 p.m.  —  Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, has told network officials will not leave his television career to become the U.S. Surgeon General, according to sources familiar with his decision.  —  Gupta, who had been described …

My Response To The White House  —  When I come to work each day, whether as a commentator for TheStreet.com or a host of Mad Money With Jim Cramer, I have only one thought in mind: helping people with their money.  —  I fight to help viewers and readers make and preserve capital.

THE BANALITY OF PROGRESS.  —  The speech ended.  “Let's get to work,” the President said.  The attendees — a mixture of congressmen, advocates, stakeholders, and analysts — filed down the long hall to their breakout sessions.  Another reporter turned to me.  “What did you think of the speech?”

Obama's safety net: the TelePrompter  —  President Barack Obama doesn't go anywhere without his TelePrompter.  —  The textbook-sized panes of glass holding the president's prepared remarks follow him wherever he speaks.  —  Resting on top of a tall, narrow pole, they flank his podium during speeches …

First Lady Michelle Obama shows even she has a gift for the gaffe  —  It was all going so well.  The dresses, the brains, the Vogue cover shoot - everything so far about Michelle Obama has left us wide-mouthed in admiration.  It seemed there was no end to her fabulousness.  Then Mr and Mrs Brown came to stay.

Treasury Aide Picks Withdraw  —  WASHINGTON — Two candidates for top positions at the Treasury Department have withdrawn from consideration, according to people familiar with the matter.  —  Annette Nazareth, who was expected to be tapped as deputy secretary, has taken her name out of the running, these people said.

Obama Preferred Over Reagan — In Fox News Poll  —  Are we still a center-right nation, as many Republicans continue to insist?  And can the GOP revive itself through a return to the spirit of Ronald Reagan, as Rush Limbaugh has said?  —  Check out this question from the new Fox News poll …

California Supreme Court signals mixed response to Proposition 8  —  As foes and supporters of the gay-marriage ban argue before the court, the justices appear ready to uphold the ban, but they also sound reluctant to invalidate same-sex marriages already performed.

Bachmann: GOP Must ‘Do Everything We Can To Thwart’ Obama From Securing ‘A Power Base...For All Time’  —  Conservative talker Bill Bennett interviewed Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) on his radio show this morning.  During the interview, Bennett asked, “Why [is Obama siding] …

Toomey to challenge Specter again  —  Former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) will challenge Sen. Arlen Specter in a primary for the second straight cycle, according to Pennsylvania GOP sources.  —  The Allentown Morning Call reported Thursday that two friends of Toomey's have said the Club for Growth chief has decided to enter the race.

GM is toast  —  After today's annual report, I don't think there's any question of GM's staying out of bankruptcy.  The company's revenue fell from $180 billion in 2007 to $149 billion in 2008, with the worst crash in the fourth quarter.  Car sales have continued to plunge into the new year.

Schumer Privately Tells White House He's Concerned About Freeman On Israel  —  Senator Charles Schumer has privately expressed concerns directly to White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel about Chas Freeman, the Obama administration's pick to head the group that prepares some of the intel community's …

French Toast  —  Roger Cohen is scared that Barack Obama wants to turn American into France: … Is there something about having a New York Times column that makes you lose your mind?  Obama wants to push taxes on the super wealthy back up to 2001 levels.

Minnesota Voters See Franken As Winner, Closely Divided Over Senate Race Revote  —  Forty-seven percent (47%) of Minnesota voters now believe Democrat Al Franken has been elected to the U.S. Senate in a race so close that it's been working its way through the state's court system for the last four months.

IS HE DOING IT ON PURPOSE?  —  There's a school of thought that the Obama administration is deliberately damaging the economy and gutting the stock market, on the theory that doing so will make more people dependent on the government and pave the way for a far-left regime.  Doug Ross makes the argument:

Sex Appeal May Have Hurt Sarah Palin  —  In a Sept. 4, 2008 column, just after Sarah Palin accepted the Republican nomination for vice-president, Will Wilkinson wrote admiringly of her “sexual power,” adding: “I think she is a tremendously sexy woman.  How this will affect the race, I have no idea, but it's just got to.”