Netanyahu to Obama: Stop Iran—Or I Will  —  In an interview conducted shortly before he was sworn in today as prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu laid down a challenge for Barack Obama.  The American president, he said, must stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons—and quickly …

Court to count up to 400 ballots in Senate recount trial  —  The absentee ballots are far fewer than Norm Coleman sought and appear to include many that Al Franken had identified as wrongly rejected.  —  In a potentially decisive ruling, a panel of three judges today ordered up to 400 …

BREAKING: NY-20: Tedisco Preps for Loss, Files Motion to Overturn Election Results Before Polls Even Close  —  Republican Jim Tedisco may be running for the House in a district where Republicans outnumber Democratic voters by some 70,000, but with the polls closing in a matter of hours, Tedisco's campaign is prepping for a loss.

Republican may vote for Obama budget plan  —  Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La.) may buck his party when the House votes on President Obama's budget proposal later this week.  —  The freshman lawmaker told The Hill that his constituents are split, adding that he wants more information before deciding whether …

Sebelius: Budget reconciliation on the table  —  President Obama's nominee to be secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) reaffirmed Tuesday that the administration is leaving the door open to using a controversial partisan procedural tactic to pass health reform.

Exclusive: Biden Daughter Cocaine Video Was a Setup  —  It was a setup.  —  The video purporting to show Vice President Joe Biden's daughter Ashley snorting cocaine was preplanned by a man trying to get rich selling the tape, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.

With GM's Wagoner Ousted, Should Union Head Have Met the Same Fate?  —  Even though UAW President Ron Gettelfinger argues that his workers have made significant concessions in recent years, analysts say the offerings were too little, too late.  —  FOXNews.com

Beyond AIG: A Bill to let Big Government Set Your Salary  —  It was nearly two weeks ago that the House of Representatives, acting in a near-frenzy after the disclosure of bonuses paid to executives of AIG, passed a bill that would impose a 90 percent retroactive tax on those bonuses.

Partying like it's 1931  —  I'm detecting a trend in commentary that I find slightly ominous.  Some of the economic news lately has been slightly better than expected, which was bound to happen at some point (on average, after all, half the news should be better than expected).

“Slightly smaller than Oregon”: a White House briefing on Britain  —  So here's what the White House is telling American reporters - and by extension the American people - about Britain.  It's laid out in an inch-thick “press kit”, with the Seal of the President of the United States emblazoned on the cover …

YOUR WORLD IN GRAPHS: THE SENATE IS BROKEN EDITION.  —  Congressional expert Norm Ornstein's has a nice article arguing that the Senate is an increasingly broken and incapable institution.  It's anchored by this graph tracking the rise in filibusters over time.

Nicolas Sarkozy's threat to walk out of global summit  —  Anglo-Saxon gibe strains relations with Obama  —  Charles Bremner in Paris and Philip Webster  —  President Sarkozy yesterday threatened to wreck the London summit if France's demands for tougher financial regulation are not met.

Beware the cult of Obama  —  You've met them.  They may be friends of yours, or family members.  You may even be one of them (in which case you'll hate this column).  I'm referring to those who've heard the Call of Obama.  —  Tucker Carlson compares it to a dog whistle: Inaudible to most, but irresistible to those who can hear it.

Hersh: Cheney ‘Left A Stay Behind’ In Obama's Government, Can ‘Still Control Policy Up To A Point’  —  In an interview on NPR's Fresh Air yesterday, host Terry Gross asked investigative journalist Seymour Hersh if, as he continues to investigate the Bush administration, “more people” were …

New York Special Election Is Special Case  —  WASHINGTON — Voters in a House district in New York will elect a replacement on Tuesday for Kirsten E. Gillibrand, the Democrat who replaced Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Senate after Mrs. Clinton became secretary of state.

Rangel dropped $777 a month from office account for lease on Cadillac … Best Of NYDN.com

El Rushbo to New York: Drop Dead  —  BEGIN TRANSCRIPT  —  RUSH: Now, let's see.  In New York, they've been going back and forth at the state level on budgets.  They are over-budget.  They have a deficit in the double-digit billions, and they've been going back and forth in the State Assembly in New York over whether to raise taxes.

The GOP's House Hottie  —  Meghan McCain: Can the Best Abs in D.C. Save the GOP?  —  The Daily Beast  —  Web  —  Blogs and Stories  —  Meghan McCain sizes up the youngest congressman, Aaron Schock, and his appeal to minorities, wise use of paparazzi, and what the best abs in D.C. can do for the future of the Republican Party.

U.S. to Join U.N. Human Rights Council, Reversing Bush Policy  —  The Obama administration decided Tuesday to seek a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, reversing a decision by the Bush administration to shun the United Nations' premier rights body to protest the influence of repressive states.

Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Fell by a Record 19%  —  Home prices in 20 U.S. cities fell 19 percent in January from a year earlier, the fastest drop on record, as demand plummeted and foreclosures rose.  —  The S&P/Case-Shiller index's decrease was more than forecast and compares with an 18.6 percent decrease in December.

Prof. Krugman, Meet Prof. Krueger  —  When Princeton Professors collide!  In one corner we have Nobel Laureate, Princeton economics professor and Bush-basher supreme Paul Krugman:  —  So in 2007 the Pension Benefit Guarantee [sic] Corporation — which stands behind corporate pensions …

Public anger leads to Ayers cancellation  —  Naperville North High School won't let 1960s radical speak to students after outcry  —  On second thought, Dr. William Ayers won't be coming to Naperville after all.  —  After a weekend of hostile e-mails from area residents …

Life in Mendota, Calif., where the jobless rate is 41 percent  —  MENDOTA, Calif. — The customer seemed interested in a black blouse offered for $1 at the thrift store.  But instead of buying it, she set it on the front counter.  —  Maybe tomorrow, she told the cashier, she would have the money.

Most Americans Don't Blame Obama for Economy, Poll Finds  —  The number of Americans who believe that the nation is headed in the right direction has roughly tripled since Barack Obama's election, and the public overwhelmingly blames the excesses of the financial industry, rather than the new president …

Projection: Breitbart's new conspiracy theory is something Conservatives (like John McCain) have been doing to us for years  —  Andrew Breitbart tries to whip up the right wing bloggers into a frenzy over his new conspiracy theory about “comments” put by liberals on right-wing blogs which appears in the Moonie Times.

GM's Problems are 50 Years in the Making  —  Let's take something of a 30,000-foot view on the condition of General Motors.  The chart below details GM's operating margin — its profits divided into its revenues — over the past 50 years:  —  I haven't provided the dates on the chart because they aren't important.

Matthews: Palin like a “mail-order bride”  —  Remember when Hillary Clinton supporters accused Chris Matthews and MS-NBC of sexism in their coverage of the Democratic primaries, as the network became the Barack Obama Channel in 2007?  Matthews has apparently decided to pick an easier target …

The Man Who Ate the G.O.P.  —  In an ailing radio industry, with a graying audience and a pro-government landscape, Rush Limbaugh should be shuffling off into irrelevancy.  Instead, his ever more outrageous attacks have everyone debating whether he's the G.O.P.'s de facto leader, while the party shapes its ideology to fit his needs.

Taliban Chief Vows ‘Amazing’ Attack on Washington ‘Soon’  —  DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — The commander of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Tuesday for a deadly assault on a Pakistani police academy and said the group was planning a terrorist attack on the White House that would “amaze” the world.