The GOP's Alternative Budget  —  President Obama offers us the option of European big government.  —  Today, the House of Representatives will consider two budget plans that represent dramatically different visions for our nation's future.  —  We will first consider President Barack Obama's plan.

Barack Obama's gift for the Queen: an iPod, your Majesty  —  Barack Obama met the Queen at Buckingham Palace today and gave her a gift of an iPod loaded with video footage and photographs of her 2007 United States visit to Richmond, Jamestown and Williamsburg in Virginia.

Sources: Sen. Stevens Conviction To Be Voided  —  Audio for this story will be available at approx. 9:00 a.m. ET  —  · NPR's has learned that the Justice Department will drop all charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska.  —  A jury convicted Stevens last fall of seven counts …

Joe the Plumber stumped on Employee Free Choice Act: 'I don't know everything about everything.'  —  Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, better known as “Joe the Plumber,” is currently in Pennsylvania shilling against the Employee Free Choice Act on behalf of the anti-labor group Americans for Prosperity.

Democrats Predict 210-Vote Victory in NY-20  —  Venture capitalist Scott Murphy (D) will win the special election in New York's 20th district by 210 votes after all outstanding absentee and military ballots are counted, according to projections made by Democratic Party officials and obtained by the Fix.

PROMISES, PROMISES: Obama tax pledge up in smoke  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - One of President Barack Obama's campaign pledges on taxes went up in puffs of smoke Wednesday.  —  The largest increase in tobacco taxes took effect despite Obama's promise …

Barack Obama: Born in Hawaii  —  A fairly impressive internet industry has sprung up claiming that Obama was born in either Kenya or Indonesia.  This is nonsense which distracts from the broadly unexplored story of Obama's upbringing.  This kind of nonsense has emerged because the McCain campaign chose …

Twitter switch for Guardian  —  • Newspaper to be available only on messaging service  —  • Experts say any story can be told in 140 characters  —  Consolidating its position at the cutting edge of new media technology, the Guardian today announces that it will become …

Koh, No?  Critics Decry Obama Nominee for State Department Legal Adviser  —  Harold Koh, President Obama's pick to become one of the State Department's top lawyers, has ignited fury among critics who say his legal views are a threat to American democracy.  —  FOXNews.com

The Inevitable Triumph of the Neocons  —  Robert Farley expresses skepticism that Bill Kristol's new Foreign Policy Initiative is going to succeed: … I think that's way too optimistic.  The commanding heights of the information economy remain incredibly friendly to neocon perspectives.

Obama's Ersatz Capitalism  —  THE Obama administration's $500 billion or more proposal to deal with America's ailing banks has been described by some in the financial markets as a win-win-win proposal.  Actually, it is a win-win-lose proposal: the banks win, investors win — and taxpayers lose.

GM Bankruptcy?  Tell Me Another  —  The president isn't serious about reform for Detroit.  —  President Obama rightly says “sacrifices” must be made if GM is to emerge as a viable company.  But there's one sacrifice he won't make: his re-election chances, by leaving the fate of the UAW truly up to a bankruptcy judge.

BREAKING NEWS: Hundreds of Iowans thrown out of public hearing  —  More than 500 people who are upset with a plan to change Iowa's tax laws were cleared from a hearing tonight at the Iowa House after they interrupted multiple times.  —  House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque …

go to forum  —  Re: Oral Twittering (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)  —  Another blow to the Fire Mickey Kaus agenda?  —  Re: Oral Twittering (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)  —  I think the air went out of the Ezra Klein balloon when he was able to keep a straight face while claiming …

The Economist Group expands  —  Explore a clickable map of The Economist's new theme park  —  AS PART of a strategy designed to broaden the revenue base, leverage content over new platforms and promote The Economist brand to a young and dynamic audience, The Economist Group is delighted …

We're Not Keeping Score, but...  LONDON — Is President Obama trying to muzzle his press corps?  —  The standard form during “joint press availabilities” — bureaucratic lingo for press conferences where leaders from two different countries stand next to each other and take questions from reporters …

Tauscher to wed bin-Laden  —  (Reuters) Congresswoman and soon to be Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher (D-Alamo), shocked national and international diplomacy and fashion circles today when she announced she would wed Osama bin-Laden in a wedding to be held at a secret location in Nairobi this June.

What Is The Tea Party Manifesto?  —  Lefties have assiduously tried to paint the Tea Party movement as an “astroturf” campaign orchestrated behind the scenes by the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (notably in the retracted bogus Playboy story about the Koch Foundation; despite the retraction …

Dodd's AIG Ties, Cash Shortage Threaten Senate Re-Election Bid  —  Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd finds himself in an unlikely spot after three decades representing Connecticut: short on cash and bracing for a tough fight to keep his seat next year.

Obama lawyer: McCain hurting reform  —  A top adviser to President Barack Obama, whose rejection of public funding for his presidential campaign is widely considered to have killed the Watergate-era reform, is accusing Republican rival John McCain of damaging efforts to revive the system.

Barney: GOP suffers psych disorder  —  House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank was in quite a mood on the floor of the House today — questioning the sanity of Texas Republican John Culberson and other conservatives over their opposition to the new AIG bonus bill.

So Erick Erickson Says He Wants a Revolution  —  Erick Erickson is mad as hell and asks “at what point do people revolt?” … At issue here is . . . an environmental regulation relating to dishwasher detergent.  —  I think it's safe to say that we're not going to see violence in the streets over this one.