Treasury Department Releases Details on Public Private Partnership Investment Program  —  The Financial Stability Plan - Progress So Far: Over the past six weeks, the Treasury Department has implemented a series of initiatives as part of its Financial Stability Plan that …

I Was Followed, Harassed, And Ambushed By Bill O'Reilly's Producer  —  On March 1, ThinkProgress picked up on a story by News Hounds, which noted that Fox News host Bill O'Reilly — who has made controversial comments about rape victims in the past — was slated to speak at a March 19 fundraiser for the Alexa Foundation.

Tea Parties, Going Galt, Iraq, and Delicious Irony  —  I've been following the growing “Tea Party” and “Going Galt” movements with no small amount of amusement, in part because there is really just too much sweet, delicious irony surrounding both of these groups of people (who, I might add, are largely the same people).

HE'S NOT ‘PUNCH DRUNK’.... For a while, the lead story from Politico last night was the idea that President Obama chuckled a little too much during his interview with Steve Kroft on “60 Minutes.”  The headline on the piece read, “Kroft to Obama: Are you punch-drunk?”

JPMorgan Chase To Spend Millions on New Jets and Luxury Airport Hangar  —  Outraged Critics Decry the Proposal, Call For Bank To Abandon Plans  —  Embattled bank JPMorgan Chase, the recipient of $25 billion in TARP funds, is going ahead with a $138 million plan to buy two new luxury corporate jets and build …

Obama writes letter to Chirac - blogosphere goes crazy  —  Want to know how quickly rumors get spread on the Internet?  Here's a prime example.  —  The right side of the web is apoplectic this morning claiming that President Obama doesn't know who the French president is.

Inside Obama's Economic Brain Trust  —  It's not pretty at this moment.  —  Tim Geithner boarded the 6 a.m. US Airways shuttle to Washington last Wednesday at La Guardia, slid his rail-thin frame into seat 5C, then stared into the middle distance.  Geithner is invariably described as boyish …

The 50-Vote Senate  —  Could an obscure Senate rule free Barack Obama from the filibuster and enable health-care reform?  —  It's hard to imagine another town in which the most divisive thing you could do would be called “reconciliation.”  But this is Washington.

Texas School Board Set to Vote on Challenge to Evolution  —  The Texas Board of Education will vote this week on a new science curriculum designed to challenge the guiding principle of evolution, a step that could influence what is taught in biology classes across the nation.

Law Professor Who Advised Obama Says House AIG Bill May Be Unconstitutional  —  I just got off the phone with Harvard professor Laurence Tribe, who advised Obama during the campaign, and he says he's leaning towards seeing the new House bill to tax back all the AIG bonuses as unconstitutional.

Michele Bachmann on D.C.: “I'm a Foreign Correspondent On Enemy Lines”  —  During a Saturday afternoon interview on WWTC 1280 AM with The Northern Alliance's John Hinderaker and Brian Ward, Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann discussed her staunch opposition to several Democratic-led efforts …

Dodd's Wife a Former Director of Bermuda-Based IPC Holdings, an AIG Controlled Company  —  No wonder Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) went wobbly last week when asked about his February amendment ratifying hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to executives at insurance giant AIG.

Burris Seeks Permission to Establish Legal Defense Fund  —  Democratic Sen. Roland W. Burris has asked the Senate Ethics Committee to let him raise money to help deal with the cost of inquiries about his appointment by former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.  —  The committee and a prosecutor …

NY state senator indicted, accused of assault  —  NEW YORK - A freshman state senator sworn in to office despite allegations he slashed his girlfriend's face with broken glass in a jealous rage has been indicted on domestic assault charges, prosecutors said Monday.

500 miles later, I'm back in Madison.  —  Did you understand the previous post?  If not, the answer — along with much congratulations and debate — appears in the comments, notably here.  Let there be no doubt about it: A blogger — Althouse — is engaged to be married to a man who began …

IT'S THE PRICING, STUPID.  —  Here, in its simplest form, is what the administration seems to think (this comes from conversations I had with administration officials over the weekend).  It may be the case that these are mispriced assets rather than worthless assets.

This court brought to you by...ACORN  —  An ACORN fund-raiser on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals?  —  I'm kidding, right?  —  Nope.  —  And a GOP Senator approves of this?  —  I'm kidding, right?

SECOND TIME'S A CHARM  —  As far as the market is concerned, anyway, Tim Geithner's second shot at laying out a plan to rescue the nation's banking system is being received a lot better than his first.  At this moment, the Dow is up over four percent.  —  You can read the Treasury Department's description of the plan here.

Schumer Comes Out For Gay Marriage (Updated)  —  At a private risotto dinner last night with gay leaders and elected officials at Gramercy Tavern last night, Sen. Chuck Schumer reversed himself on the issue of same-sex marriage, saying he not only now supports it but also backs a full reversal of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Obama Sells Out a Friend From Connecticut  —  The thought has surely crossed Chris Dodd's mind more than once these past few days: is this how Barack Obama treats his friends?  —  When word spread a week ago that A.I.G. had used $165 million in federal bailout money to lavish bonuses …

Tempest of the ‘toldja!’ journalists  —  Entertainment bloggers turning facts into fights  —  The Internet has given birth to a new subset of entertainment reporting: Bloggers vs. bloggers.  —  In recent months there have been near daily eruptions of vitriol between prominent showbiz bloggers and online journos.

WOW, I NEEDED THAT  —  As part of their efforts to make the scale and scope of Bernie Madoff's crimes clear to Judge Denny Chin in deciding the terms of his plea, confinement and eventual sentencing, the folks at the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York submitted emails …

Give Obama more time.  Then give him hell  —  The president has had only two months - harsh judgments are premature  —  The former New York City mayor Ed Koch was renowned for strolling about Manhattan when he was in office, grabbing strangers by the lapel and asking, “How am I doing?”

Howard Dean To Become Regular CNBC Contributor  —  Former DNC Chair Howard Dean will become a regular contributor for the business news network CNBC, a source close to the former Vermont Governor confirms.  Dean started his new gig on Monday morning with a guest-hosting appearance on the station.