Obama skips major papers  —  During President Obama's second East Room news conference, he took questions from 13 reporters over about an hour — that's the same as during his first presser on Feb. 9.  —  But in quite a departure from the first presser — and White House protocol — Obama skipped over the nation's top newspapers.

Analysis: Teleprompter telegraphs Obama caution  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - What kind of politician brings a teleprompter to a news conference?  —  A careful one.  —  President Barack Obama took no chances in his second prime-time news conference …

Dems propose cutting Obama budget by billions  —  CNN Congressional Producer  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Hours before President Obama was to hold a prime-time news conference — in part to boost his $3.6 trillion budget plan — a key Democratic senator Tuesday unveiled a scaled-down budget proposal.

U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering newspapers  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.

Barak strives to keep Labor party united  —  Article's topics: Labor, Ehud Barak, Coalition Government, Likud, Binyamin Netanyahu  —  Labor chairman Ehud Barak will meet one-on-one with his opponents in the Labor faction on Wednesday to demand that they respect the decision …

Dear A.I.G., I Quit!  —  The following is a letter sent on Tuesday by Jake DeSantis, an executive vice president of the American International Group's financial products unit, to Edward M. Liddy, the chief executive of A.I.G.  —  DEAR Mr. Liddy,  —  It is with deep regret that I submit …

President Obama's News Conference  —  Following is a complete of President Obama's prime-time press conference on March 24, as transcribed by Federal News Service.  —  PRESIDENT OBAMA: Hello, everybody.  Please have a seat.  —  Good evening.  Now, before I take questions from the correspondents …

Stimulus idea: How about massive forgiveness of student loans?  —  Nothing on this yet from Congress or The One, but a Facebook group dedicated to the proposal has 138,000 members and counting.  No typo.  My sense of personal responsibility says no but my debt-crushed monthly budget cries proceed:

Newt Gingrich, guardian of Catholic values  —  FOX contributor Newt Gingrich is upset:  —  To which Matt Cooper replies:  —  That isn't really fair to Newt, though.  Gingrich has only been divorced twice so far.  There was Jackie, his former high school math teacher …

Why God Invented C-SPAN  —  In today's installment, Michele Bachmann saves us from a sneaky Chinese and Russian plot to achieve world domination through a global currency, but reveals that she was not at school the day they studied this in sixth grade:  —  Sphere Related Blogs & Articles

‘Global War On Terror’ Is Given New Name  —  The Obama administration appears to be backing away from the phrase “global war on terror,” a signature rhetorical legacy of its predecessor.  —  In a memo e-mailed this week to Pentagon staff members, the Defense Department's office of security review noted that …

Open for Questions: President Obama to Answer Your Questions on Thursday  —  Today, the President invited everyone to use a new feature on WhiteHouse.gov called “Open for Questions” to ask a question about the economy and rate other questions up or down.  Then, on Thursday morning …

Politicians Fret as Muslim Population Swells in Europe Amid Little Integration  —  BRUSSELS, Belgium — A clash of civilizations may be taking place on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, but it's also happening a lot more quietly in European cities.  —  Old Europe's population …

Specter delivers death blow to labor union bill  —  Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) announced Tuesday he will oppose card check, giving an apparent death blow to the most important congressional issue to organized labor.  —  Specter made the dramatic announcement in a floor speech.

Most electronic voting isn't secure, CIA expert says  —  WASHINGTON — The CIA, which has been monitoring foreign countries' use of electronic voting systems, has reported apparent vote-rigging schemes in Venezuela, Macedonia and Ukraine and a raft of concerns about the machines' vulnerability to tampering.

Bush Deficit vs. Obama Deficit in Pictures  —  President Barack Obama has repeatedly claimed that his budget would cut the deficit by half by the end of his term.  But as Heritage analyst Brian Riedl has pointed out, given that Obama has already helped quadruple the deficit with his stimulus package …

Justices Seem Skeptical of Campaign Law's Scope  —  WASHINGTON — A quirky case about a slashing documentary attacking Hillary Rodham Clinton would not seem to be the most obvious vehicle for a fundamental re-examination of the interplay between the First Amendment and campaign finance laws.

Senate Dems hold on to Madoff money  —  Scam financier gave $100,000  —  The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which received $100,000 in campaign contributions from disgraced financier Bernard Madoff, has yet to rid itself of the tainted funds that other Washington politicos …

Next Foreign Crisis Could Be Next Door  —  MEXICO CITY — Mexico's economy is being dragged down by the recession to the north.  American addicts have turned Mexico into a drug superhighway, and its police and soldiers are under assault from American guns.  Nafta promised 15 years ago …