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.

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?”

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).

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

Matthews Renews Contract at MSNBC  —  Chris Matthews, the usually garrulous host of “Hardball” on MSNBC, has quietly signed a new long-term contract to remain with the cable network through the next election, signaling that he had quit entertaining any plans to run for a Senate seat.

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.

Stimulus?  U.S. to buy Chinese condoms, ending Alabama jobs  —  Call it a condom conundrum.  —  At a time when the federal government is spending billions of stimulus dollars to stem the tide of U.S. layoffs, should that same government put even more Americans out of work by buying cheaper foreign products?

US to bypass Karzai with Afghan ‘PM’  —  White House plans new executive role to challenge corrupt government in Kabul  —  The US and its European allies are ­preparing to plant a high-profile figure in the heart of the Kabul government in a direct challenge to the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, the Guardian has learned.

Sweden Says No to Saving Saab, a National Icon  —  TROLLHATTAN, Sweden — Saab Automobile may be just another crisis-ridden car company in an industry full of them.  But just as the fortunes of Flint, Mich., are permanently entangled with General Motors, so it is impossible to find anyone …

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?”

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.

Unexpected Jump in Home Sales in February  —  Sales of existing homes rose from January to February in an unexpected lift for the slumping housing market as buyers took advantage of deep discounts on foreclosures.  —  The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales …

Trade Barriers Rise as Slump Tightens Grip  —  WASHINGTON — After repeated pledges by world leaders to avoid erecting trade barriers, protectionism is on the march, provoking nasty trade disputes and undermining efforts to plot a coordinated response to the deepest global economic downturn since World War II.