Obama's bank plan could rob the taxpayer  —  The Geithner-Summers plan, officially called the public/private investment programme, is a thinly veiled attempt to transfer up to hundreds of billions of dollars of US taxpayer funds to the commercial banks, by buying toxic assets from the banks at far above their market value.

GOP gloves off for budget brawl  —  House Republicans have begun unveiling detailed alternatives to President Barack Obama's policies — a concerted effort to push back against Democratic efforts to label them “the Party of No.”  —  On Wednesday, it was a housing plan.

Rahm Emanuel's profitable stint at mortgage giant  —  Short Freddie Mac stay made him at least $320,000  —  Before its portfolio of bad loans helped trigger the current housing crisis, mortgage giant Freddie Mac was the focus of a major accounting scandal that led to a management shake-up …

Bold claims of stimulus jobs can't be measured  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - If space exploration were conducted like the job forecasts under the government's new stimulus law, man surely would have missed the moon.  But this isn't rocket science.

U.S. Accused Of Killing 39 In Sudan Strike  —  A government minister in Sudan is accusing the United States Air Force of killing dozens of people in that north African country this past January - but the semi-official American version of the story is very different.

Palin in Anchorage  —  Peter Hamby picks up a candid Sarah Palin speech to the Alaska GOP last week, in which she expressed her unhappiness with the media and her alienation from the McCain campaign: … The rest of the speech is here.  —  Also, Palin's PAC says it wasn't polling Iowa …

Steele On Rush Flap: “It's All Strategic”  —  Michael Steele just doesn't know how to stop.  —  Steele appeared on CNN this afternoon, and was asked by host Don Lemon whether he's ever considered running for president, and right off the bat he managed to give the sensible, correct answer …

Geithner to Propose Vast Expansion Of U.S. Oversight of Financial System  —  Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner plans to propose today a sweeping expansion of federal authority over the financial system, breaking from an era in which the government stood back from financial markets …

Cities Deal With a Surge in Shanty Towns  —  FRESNO, Calif. — As the operations manager of a outreach center for the homeless here, Paul Stack is used to seeing people down on their luck.  What he had never seen before was people living in tents and lean-tos on the railroad lot across from the center.

Is the Bonus Tax Unconstitutional?  —  The Supreme Court defers too much to Congress.  —  Bills now winding their way through Congress would tax between 70% and 90% of bonuses paid to any executive earning in excess of $250,000, if he or she is employed by a business that received more than $5 billion from U.S. bailout funds.

AIG Fights a Fire at Its Paris Unit  —  Executives' Resignations Put Billions in Contracts at Risk of Default  —  Amid the flap over bonuses at American International Group Inc. two of the company's top managers in Paris have resigned.  Their moves have left the giant insurer …

Threats to AIG: “We Will Get Your Children”  —  The anger in the threats against AIG executives is palpable.  —  “Get the bonus, we will get your children,” someone identified only as “Jacob the Killer” hauntingly writes in an e-mail.  —  His is one of dozens of threats against AIG …

Obama 2.0 Volunteer Effort: Still a work in progress  —  Organizing for America, the Democratic National Committee-based group that took over for Barack Obama's prodigious grassroots campaign organization released the results of their weekend canvassing effort in support of Obama's budget proposal.

Senate race is a broken record  —  The old record was set by the 1962 governor's election between DFLer Karl Rolvaag and incumbent Republican Elmer L. Andersen.  —  Minnesota's U.S. Senate race set a record Wednesday for delay.  No election for statewide office in Minnesota has dragged …

Cutting Deficit Will Require Tax Increases  —  The debate on the budget is phony, the howling on deficits a charade.  Few politicians want to acknowledge that if you really are concerned about long-term deficits, you have to support tax increases.  —  That's why the most significant moment …

Death before this honor  —  Why have Iraq and Afghanistan produced only 5 Medal of Honor recipients, none living?  —  The number of Medal of Honor recipients from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan can be counted on one hand.  —  Each of the five acted spontaneously and heroically to save the lives of comrades.

Why I Called Justice Scalia A Homophobe  —  While responding to questions from journalists about my characterization of Justice Antonin Scalia as a homophobe, I realized that the fact that I made that comment in conjunction with a potential lawsuit about the Defense of Marriage Act created …

Obama's online town hall: ‘Wisdom’  —  The president is answering a lot of questions about the economy these days.  —  Today, he will answer them online - opening an Internet “town hall” session from the White House - where President Barack Obama will respond to the most “popular” …

Dems warn against first lady bill  —  House Republicans are pressing for a change in federal law that could force Michelle Obama and future first ladies to do more of their policy work in public.  But Democrats warn President Obama may take the attempt personally “as an attack on his wife.”

Learning How to Think  —  Ever wonder how financial experts could lead the world over the economic cliff?  —  One explanation is that so-called experts turn out to be, in many situations, a stunningly poor source of expertise.  There's evidence that what matters in making a sound forecast …

Obama defends strategy of tackling many issues  —  President Barack Obama defended his strategy of tackling multiple challenges instead of focusing solely on fixing the U.S. economy in a return on Wednesday to the political fund-raising that helped elect him.

The Fierce Urgency of Peace  —  Pressure on President Obama to recast the failed American approach to Israel-Palestine is building from former senior officials whose counsel he respects.  —  Following up on a letter dated Nov. 6, 2008, that was handed to Obama late last year by Paul Volcker …

Slain Man Had Been Contractor for CIA  —  A Loudoun County man slain while out for an early morning walk with his wife worked as a contractor at the Central Intelligence Agency for several years until 2000, the CIA confirmed yesterday, and investigators said they want to meet with agency officials …

Obama plans tough line with carmakers  —  The White House plans to take a tough line with U.S. carmakers, forcing painful restructuring before releasing more bailout funds, according to industry sources.  —  The Obama administration has repeatedly said the auto industry needs a …

Fargo Works to Hold Back Rapidly Rising River  —  FARGO, N.D. — Just as city officials here thought that they had built a wall of sand high enough to hold back the swiftly rising Red River, weather forecasters on Wednesday delivered a worrisome forecast: The river was rising higher than predicted …

A Legal Adviser Worthy of the Job  —  In the Bush administration, the Office of Legal Counsel gave a green light to many objectionable policies, from a lawless expansion of executive power to the use of torture.  President Obama has nominated Dawn Johnsen to lead the office …