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 …

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.

Question that flummoxed great orator  —  Barack Obama, the World's Greatest Orator (™all news organisations), didn't exactly cover himself in glory when the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson asked him a question about who was to blame for the financial crisis.

Jobless Rate Hits 8.5% as March Payrolls Fall by 663,000  —  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 …

‘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.

Palin, Ruedrich call for Begich resignation  —  WASHINGTON — The head of the Alaska Republican Party today called on Sen. Mark Begich to step down from the U.S. Senate, saying that the state's voters would have re-elected former Sen. Ted Stevens had they known the U.S Department of Justice would abandon its prosecution of him.

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.

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.

Obama's Ultimate Agenda  —  Five minutes of explanation to James Madison, and he'll have a pretty good idea what a motorcar is (basically a steamboat on wheels; the internal combustion engine might take a few minutes more).  Then try to explain to Madison how the Constitution he fathered allows …

Little Change in Negative Images of Bush and Cheney  —  Favorable ratings for both are at or near their all-time lows  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Neither George W. Bush's deliberate silence about the Obama administration nor Dick Cheney's ready criticism of it appear to have altered U.S. public perceptions about either man.

Obama underlines al-Qaeda threat  —  President Barack Obama has urged better use of Nato resources in Afghanistan, saying al-Qaeda is a greater threat to Europe than to the US.  —  Speaking before a Nato summit co-hosted by France and Germany, he said the US wanted to see a stronger Europe.

CASH-STARVED TIMES COMPARED TO DARFUR  —  NEW York Times Execu tive Editor Bill Keller equated the Gray Lady to a PBS pledge drive, claiming readers have offered to donate money to keep the Times alive.  —  Keller was speaking at Stanford University to dedicate a new building for the campus newspaper …

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 …

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 …

CEO Pay Sinks Along With Profits  —  The robust rise of CEO pay reversed in 2008 as shrinking profits led to smaller bonuses.  —  The median salaries and bonuses for the chief executives of 200 big U.S. companies fell 8.5% to $2.24 million, according to an analysis for The Wall Street Journal by Hay Group …

SayfieReview.com/PowerPlay poll: Sink/McCollum in dead heat for governor; Crist strong for Senate  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A new poll released by SayfieReview.com/PowerPlay shows that Florida CFO Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum are essentially tied in a potential race for Governor in 2010 …

CDC: Rocket fuel chemical found in baby formula  —  ATLANTA - Traces of a chemical used in rocket fuel were found in samples of powdered baby formula, and could exceed what's considered a safe dose for adults if mixed with water also contaminated with the ingredient, a government study has found.

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.

Greenwich Democrat Explores Challenge to Dodd in Connecticut  —  A Democratic challenge to Senator Christopher Dodd emerged today when Greenwich, Connecticut Democrat Roger Pearson told me he has formed a committee to explore a run for his party's 2010 nomination.

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 …

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 …

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.