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.

RNC-YA  —  Washington, DC — Two years ago I left a prominent technology company in Silicon Valley to join the Republican National Committee as e-campaign director to elect the next Republican president.  We lost, but there was more than a software glitch that contributed to our November 2008 defeat.

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 …

Top Treasury Candidates Pull Out  —  Nazareth, Atkinson Decline to Endure Vetting Process, Adding to Geithner's Strain  —  WASHINGTON — Two candidates for top jobs at the Treasury have withdrawn their names from consideration, complicating already troubled efforts by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner …

Obama the Cheapskate: 25 DVDs for Gordon Brown?  —  The British have begun to worry about the “special relationship” in the Anglosphere since the election of Barack Obama.  First, the visit from Gordon Brown failed to get the usual Rose Garden joint-presser treatment from the White House this week.

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] …

Bank Charges May Surge as Mortgages Marked to Market  —  Patricia Greenberg's townhouse in Irvine, California, was losing about $10,000 a month in value when she received a letter in February 2008 that looked too good to be true: An investor was offering to cut her $472,000 mortgage by 26 percent and her monthly payment by a third.

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 …

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.

PLEASE GROW UP  —  There's often a lot of game-playing in getting appointees approved by the senate.  But this requires more attention.  The senate Republicans are refusing to give a vote to two of President Obama's key (hopefully soon to be) economic advisors — Austan Goolsbee and Cecilia Rouse.

Dr. Gupta Withdraws Name for Surgeon General  —  CNN Doctor Prefers to Stay at the Network, Leaving Another Unexpected Vacancy for Obama Team  —  Sanjay Gupta says he is no longer in the running to be the nation's next surgeon general, CNN reported today, as President Obama brought health care to center stage.

Thanks to All of Our Defenders  —  BEGIN TRANSCRIPT  —  RUSH: Rush Limbaugh, on a roll.  The Last Man Standing.  Defending conservatism against the onslaught — happily, by the way.  —  I want to take a moment here and thank some people who this week have come to my defense …

Rape row sparks excommunications  —  A Brazilian archbishop says all those who helped a child rape victim secure an abortion are to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church.  —  The girl, aged nine, who lives in the north-eastern state of Pernambuco, became pregnant with twins.

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.