Senators Get Nasty: “You're Good” ... “Your Wife Said The Same Thing” (VIDEO)  —  Marking up budget legislation can be a brutal affair, often beginning early and lasting long into the night.  —  But buried within the hours of debate in the Senate on Thursday is an exchange you'd be more likely …

Reid: Roberts 'didn't tell us the truth'  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Friday that John Roberts misled the Senate during his confirmation hearings by pretending to be a moderate - and that the United States is now “stuck” with him as chief justice.

Touting Her Currency Conspiracy, Bachmann Insists: ‘This Is Not Michele Bachmann Being A Kook’  —  Earlier this week, right-wing fanatic Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) started peddling false conspiracy theories that the world was moving toward a unified global currency — and that the U.S. might join …

Transcript of Interview With White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs  —  Welcome to Voices Of Power, we are here at the White House with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.  Thank you for joining us Robert.  —  MR. GIBBS: How are you?  —  MS. ROMANO: I'm good.  And we are delighted that you can join our series Voice of Power.

Holbrooke Calls for “Complete Rethink” of Drugs in Afghanistan  —  This morning, after President Barack Obama unveiled his new Afghanistan policy, three senior administration officials held an on-the-record (but no cameras) briefing for White House reporters.

Kansas doctor acquitted in late-term abortion case  —  Dr. George Tiller was charged with violating a Kansas law that requires an independent second opinion on late-term abortions.  A six-person jury found Tiller not guilty on all 19 counts.  —  Reporting from Wichita …

BREAKING: UPS Announces It Will Stop Advertising On Bill O'Reilly's Show  —  In response to our Stop Supporting The O'Reilly Harassment Machine campaign, UPS told us yesterday that it was investigating whether to continue supporting O'Reilly's show.  “We are sensitive to the type …

‘FAST’ FLARE-UP RATTLES CNBC  —  THERE was high drama at CNBC yesterday as “Fast Money” anchor Dylan Ratigan quit — sources say today will be his last day on-air — and an insider is blaming his battles with network big Susan Krakower.  —  Krakower — the VP for strategic programming …

Conservatives embrace the Snuggie  —  “Never let it be said that conservatives and libertarians have no sense of humor,” says Americans for Tax Reform's Derek Hunter, who's been doing his best to photograph fellow conservatives sporting the trend of the moment: the Snuggie.

God Bless Bill Maher  —  And now, the award for best critical thinking by a television news commentator.  The nominees are (Drumroll): Bill Maher . . . and that's the only nominee.  He wins.  —  I watched Mr. Maher this weekend (March 20) on HBO's “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

Sundwall endorses Murphy  —  Libertarian congressional candidate Eric Sundwall has endorsed Democrat Scott Murphy.  —  In a letter to supporters posted on his campaign website, Sundwall writes, in part:  —  Faced with the prospect of spending much of the rest of campaign on the witness stand …

Obama on Afghanistan: Disappointing  —  27 March 2009  —  President Obama has just spoken on AfPak.  I closed my eyes and listened closely to his words, coming via the BBC from the other side of the world.  —  The President's words were disappointing.  He talked about our goal to reach …

ShamWow Guy In Slap, Chop Bust  —  TV pitchman battered hooker in South Beach hotel room brawl  —  Meet Vince Shlomi.  He's probably better known to you as the ShamWow Guy, the ubiquitous television pitchman who has been phenomenally successful peddling absorbent towels and food choppers.

Missouri Highway Patrol retracts controversial report on militia activity  —  The Missouri Highway Patrol this week retracted a controversial report on militia activity and will change how such reports are reviewed before being distributed to law enforcement agencies.

The ‘Freedom Tower’ Name Roars Back  —  For more than a year, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had been quietly backing away from the name “Freedom Tower” for 1 World Trade Center, not so much eliminating the coinage (by Gov. George E. Pataki) as lowering its profile.

On Spending and the Deficit, McCain Was Right  —  Barack Obama used to get very upset about federal budget deficits.  Denouncing an “orgy of spending and enormous deficits,” he turned to John McCain during their presidential debates last fall and said, “We have had, over the last eight years …

Baghdad in Fragments  —  Many third world cities look better at night than during the day.  Darkness hides shabbiness.  You have to imagine what the city actually looks like.  If you live in a first world city yourself, you might fill in the blanks with what you're familiar with.

Brazilian President Says Credit Crisis Caused by ‘White People With Blue Eyes’  —  Brazil's President, while meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Thursday, said the global financial crisis was caused by “white people with blue eyes.”  —  Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvamade made the comments …

Sarah Palin Adviser's Secret Scientology Plot to Take Over Washington  —  John Coale, currently advising Sarah Palin on running for president in 2012, is a Scientologist.  And according to a memo obtained by Gawker, Coale once plotted to use friendly politicians to advance the power-hungry cult's agenda.

When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking  —  The rapper 50 Cent is among the legion of stars who have recently embraced Twitter to reach fans who crave near-continuous access to their lives and thoughts.  On March 1, he shared this insight with the more than 200,000 people who follow him …

THE RNC POLLS ITS SUPPORTERS.... The Republican National Committee emailed a survey to its supporters this morning.  The questions are broken up into two categories: “Domestic and Social Issues” and “Homeland Security and Defense Issues.”  —  Of course, the wording a survey uses can have some influence on the results.

GOP Leadership Rivals Throw Mike Pence Under the Bus  —  I've seen a lot of people link to this Glenn Thrush Politico item, but I have a slightly different take on it: … To me the salient point here is that Pence's spokesman is almost certainly telling the truth here …

The Market Mystique  —  On Monday, Lawrence Summers, the head of the National Economic Council, responded to criticisms of the Obama administration's plan to subsidize private purchases of toxic assets.  “I don't know of any economist,” he declared, “who doesn't believe that better functioning capital markets …

Why Not Arbitrary Limits on Executive Pay?  —  Josh Marshall, in the course of making rather a different point, says: … Some people, as I understand it, just don't think inequality is a problem.  But for the egalitarians among us, I've never really understood the view that obscene executive compensation …