Steele backs off abortion remarks  —  RNC Chairman Michael Steele said today that despite telling an interviewer he supports “individual choice” and state-level decisions on abortion, he in fact opposes abortion and supports a Constitutional ban.  —  Steele said in a statement through an RNC spokesman:

The Country's Loss  —  The Obama administration has just suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the lobbyists the president vowed to keep in their place, and their friends on Capitol Hill.  The country has lost an able public servant in an area where President Obama has few personal credentials …

FBI raids office of D.C. tech officer  —  Federal agents this morning are searching the office Washington, D.C.'s Chief Technology Officer.  —  The search of the office at 1 Judiciary Square is part of “an ongoing investigation,” said a spokeswoman for the FBI's D.C. Field Office, Lindsay Gotwin, said.

Obama's honeymoon bliss fading  —  President Obama's honeymoon is beginning to fade.  —  Members of Congress and old political hands say he needs to show substantial progress reviving the economy soon.  —  Some Democrats have started to worry that voters don't and won't understand …

Madoff Life in Prison Means Inmates Who Blame Money Man for Crash  —  Bernard Madoff, scheduled to plead guilty today to masterminding the largest Ponzi scheme in history, may have to fight off prison inmates who want to squeeze him for money or blame him for the Wall Street crash.

Young Miss Palin  —  A mere ten weeks or so after the birth of their baby, Bristol Palin and her co-parent, Levi Johnston, have split up.  There will be no marriage.  According to the AP, and Mr. Johnston, it was a mutual decision.  The same article manages to note that Bristol is devastated.

New Limbaugh billboard slogan announced - creativity was not considered  — E-mail a friend - Print this - Letter to the Editor - Republish - - Get e-mail alerts - RSS  —  Setting a world record today for beating a dead horse, the Democratic National Committee will announce they've selected …

Obama: Troop move to Mexican border under consideration  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama weighed in Wednesday on the escalating drug war on the U.S.-Mexico border, saying that he was looking at possibly deploying National Guard troops to contain the violence but ruled out any immediate military move.

Obama Makes Use of Signing Statements  —  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama signed a $410 billion spending bill Wednesday that includes thousands of pet projects inserted by lawmakers, even as he unveiled new rules to restrict such so-called earmarks.  —  At the same time …

The most technologically progressive decade of the 20th century  —  Can you guess?  According to economic historian Alexander Field, it is (controversially) the 1930s.  Opening paragraph:  —  Because of the Depression's place in both the popular and academic imagination …

Iraqi jailed for Bush shoe attack  —  An Iraqi journalist hailed as a hero in the Arab world for throwing his shoes at former US President George W Bush has been jailed for three years.  —  Muntadar al-Zaidi had pleaded not guilty as his trial resumed in Baghdad, telling the judge: “My reaction was natural, just like any Iraqi.”

How Low Can The Stock Markets Go?  —  The answer: Lower ... much lower.  —  For the last six months, I have been arguing that, in spite of the sharp fall in U.S. and global equities, there were significant downside risks to stock markets.  Thus, repeated bear market rallies would fizzle …

Christie Opens 9-Point Lead Over Corzine In NJ Gov Race, Quinnipiac University New Jersey Poll Finds; Prosecutor's Experience Helps Challenger  —  Christopher Christie, the Republican challenger in this year's New Jersey Governor's race, leads Democratic incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine 46 …

Chris Dodd's Irish ‘Cottage’  —  The Senate Ethics Committee has been looking into possible conflicts of interest in Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd's 2003 mortgages.  Now questions about another Dodd real-estate adventure, this one in Ireland, should keep the Ethicists even busier.

Defensible Missile Defense  —  IN his recent letter to President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia, President Obama offered to modify the previous administration's plans for a missile defense system in Europe.  He was right to do so.  A continued impasse with Russia might have prevented future arms reductions …