Congress Approves Budget  —  $3.5 Trillion Spending Plan Paves Way for Obama Goals  —  Congressional Democrats overwhelmingly embraced President Obama's ambitious and expensive agenda for the nation yesterday, endorsing a $3.5 trillion spending plan that sets the stage for the president to pursue his most far-reaching priorities.

Unanimous ruling: Iowa marriage no longer limited to one man, one woman  —  REGISTER STAFF REPORTS  —  The Iowa Supreme Court this morning unanimously upheld gays' right to marry.  —  “The Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause …

Palin calls for Begich's resignation  —  Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) called on Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska ) Thursday to step down from his seat and run in a special election in the wake of the Justice Department's decision to drop corruption charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).

Why is this man bowing?  —  The caption on the photo above reads: … What's wrong with this picture?  Americans do not bow to royalty.  In my view, when the royal is the ruling tyrant of a despotic regime, the wrong is compounded.  Putting aside the breach of American protocol …

A Rare Triumph of Substance at the Summit  —  International economic summits deserve to be regarded with skepticism: The most important decision to come out of them is usually the call for yet another meeting.  —  But yesterday's G-20 meeting in London was an exception.

Jobless Rate Hits 8.5% After 663,000 Jobs Lost in March  —  The American economy shed another 663,000 jobs in March, the government reported Friday, bringing the toll of job losses during the recession to 5.1 million.  —  The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the national unemployment rate climbed …

As Crisis Loomed, Geithner Pressed But Fell Short  —  Before Timothy Geithner became Treasury chief, he regulated major U.S. banks.  Now he says: “We're having a major financial crisis in part because of failures of supervision.”  —  In September 2005, Timothy Geithner made one of his most visible moves …

Churchill wins CU suit but awarded just $1  —  Ward Churchill won his case against the University of Colorado today as a Denver jury unanimously decided he was fired in retaliation for his controversial essay about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.  —  The jury gave Churchill $1 for past losses …

‘Congressman A’: Rahm Emanuel  —  Now Obama's top aide, ‘Congressman A’ had grant held up, indictment says  —  The White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel listens as President Barack Obama delivers remarks to open the White House Forum on Health Reform in the East Room of the White House.

The American Super-Bower  —  This picture is worth a thousand words.  So let me see if I understand American protocol in the age of Obama: The First Lady hugs Queen Elizabeth as if she's some granny at a seniors' center photo-op, but the President of this republic prostrates himself …

News Analysis: On the World Stage, Obama Issues an Overture  —  In his debut summit meeting, President Obama stressed the need for a united front to combat the downturn.

China's Dollar Trap  —  Back in the early stages of the financial crisis, wags joked that our trade with China had turned out to be fair and balanced after all: They sold us poison toys and tainted seafood; we sold them fraudulent securities.  —  But these days, both sides of that deal are breaking down.

Russia's Medvedev hails ‘comrade’ Obama  —  LONDON (AFP) - - Russia's Dmitry Medvedev hailed Barack Obama as “my new comrade” Thursday after their first face-to-face talks, saying the US president “can listen” — even if little progress was made on substance.

Murdoch says papers should charge on Web  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch, whose media company News Corp owns one of the few U.S. newspapers that makes people pay to read its news on the Web, said more papers will have to start doing the same to survive.

City of Burleson Tries to Cancel Tea Party  —  BREAKING NEWS: The City of Burleson, Texas is trying to shut down a Tax Day Tea Party planned for April 15th!!  —  According to local organizers, unelected “street supervisor” Ray Gonzales, informed them that he was going to prevent the event from happening.

Carville: Obama has best day as president  —  Editor's Note: James Carville, a Democratic strategist who serves as a political contributor for CNN, was the Clinton-Gore campaign manager in 1992 and political adviser to President Clinton.  He is active in Democratic politics and a party fundraiser.

Unemployed Journalists Key to Stimulus Oversight?  —  Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) suggested today that the team tasked with overseeing distribution of economic stimulus funds should consider hiring recently laid-off journalists to help craft the tone and message of the government's Recovery.gov Web site.

Video shows girl's flogging by Taliban  —  Mobile phone movie shows that militant influence is spreading deeper into Pakistan  —  A video showing a teenage girl being flogged by Taliban fighters has emerged from the Swat Valley in Pakistan, offering a shocking glimpse of militant brutality …

Burris adviser slams Dem leadership  —  A senior adviser to Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) slammed Democratic leaders Thursday evening, saying “they have tried their best to discredit” the new senator in the wake of his appointment by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Sources: Google In Talks To Acquire Twitter (Updated)  —  Here's a heck of a rumor that we've sourced from two separate people close to the negotiations: Google is in late stage negotiations to acquire Twitter.  We don't know the price but can assume its well, well north of the $250 million valuation …