Palin Hits Obama on ‘Special Olympics’ Joke  —  Gov. Sarah Palin responded to remarks made last night by President Obama related to the Special Olympics on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”: … Well, after the way his allies went after her, he really couldn't count on a full-throated defense of a boneheaded comment.

GOP Pressed on Health Care  —  House Democrats Set September Deadline for Compromise  —  House Democrats, in consultation with the White House, will give Republican lawmakers until September to reach a compromise on President Obama's signature health-care initiative — otherwise …

THIS FEED IS CLOSED TO THE PRESS.  —  Huh, I wonder why Jake Tapper, press access warrior, has blocked me from following his Twitter feed.  —  Time for a blogger ethics panel?  —  UPDATE: Tapper has also blocked Talking Points Memo.  —  Bonus Tapper: His exchange with White House Press …

Joe the Plumber Wants to Make Love to Washington  —  The Republican's Working Man hero Joe the Plumber could barely contain himself last night before a crowd of adoring, media-bashing conservatives.  —  “God, all this love and everything in the room - I'm horny,” declared Joe, whose real name is Samuel Wurzelbacher.

Mass Hysteria Over AIG Obscures Simple Truths: Michael Lewis  —  Last September the U.S. government began to dole out the first of $173 billion to American International Group.  A big chunk of it passed right through to banks that had bought insurance from AIG against mortgage and corporate defaults …

Snowe To Dems: Grow A Pair  —  Congressional Democrats need to stand up for themselves when they disagree with President Obama, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) said on Thursday evening.  She was reflecting on the demise of her executive compensation provision, a move that allowed AIG to pay its top executives $165 million in bonuses.

How I botched the bonus story  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  The Washington ritual of the boiling scandal, with howls of outrage and frantic demands for a high-ranking scalp, is now in full swing over $165 million in bonuses for employees at failed insurance giant AIG.

Companies looking at options on card check  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - Starbucks Corp. and other companies are exploring alternatives to a bill that would make it easier for workers to unionize, but the idea of any compromise drew the wrath …

MSNBC In Discussions with Ed Schultz  —  The Observer has learned that MSNBC president Phil Griffin is in discussions with syndicated talk radio host Ed Schultz about possibly joining the network on a full-time basis.  It is unclear what exactly the job would entail should Mr. Schultz and MSNBC come to an agreement.

Tedisco: I'm focused on local interests  —  ONEONTA _ Political commentators may see the 20th Congressional District race as a contest of national consequence, but Republican James Tedisco, 58, is focused closer to home.  —  “Rush Limbaugh is meaningless to me,” Tedisco told the editorial board of The Daily Star on Thursday.

CNN's March Ratings So Far: More Lamb than Lion  —  More evidence that CNN is going to have to find a new strategy fast or risk becoming a cable news also-ran: In the month of March so far, the Time Warner-owned network has come in fourth place in prime time among adults 25 to 54 …

The Big Takeover  —  The global economic crisis isn't about money - it's about power.  How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution  —  It's over — we're officially, royally f**ked. no empire can survive being rendered a permanent laughingstock …

AIG  —  Preliminary thoughts on the tax bill:  —  1. It's not the way you should make policy — it's clumsy, and it will punish some innocent parties while letting the most guilty off scot-free  —  2. But — there wasn't much alternative at this point.  And for that I blame the Obama people.

McCain speaks up for Geithner  —  Tim Geithner, the embattled US Treasury secretary, should be given a chance to succeed, says John McCain, the former presidential candidate, who is the first prominent Republican to speak up in Mr Geithner's defence amid growing calls for his resignation.