Tax Day Becomes Protest Day  —  How the tea parties could change American politics.  —  Today American taxpayers in more than 300 locations in all 50 states will hold rallies — dubbed “tea parties” — to protest higher taxes and out-of-control government spending.

U.S. Planning to Reveal Data on Health of Top Banks  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is drawing up plans to disclose the conditions of the 19 biggest banks in the country, according to senior administration officials, as it tries to restore confidence in the financial system without unnerving investors.

The peasant mentality lives on in America  —  It took a good long while for news of the Teabag movement to penetrate the periphery of my consciousness — I kept hearing things about it and dismissing them, sure that the whole business was some kind of joke.  Like a Daily Show invention, say.

IRS workers see double standard on tax errors  —  The Treasury secretary, who oversees the IRS, didn't pay all his taxes.  Neither did five other top nominees for the Obama administration, or their spouses.  —  Now, as Wednesday's tax deadline looms, some Americans are wondering …

In Minnesota, a Battle Without End for a Senate Seat  —  ST. PAUL — Norm Coleman spends his days in the quiet living room of his small house here, thumbing through stacks of legal papers.  His United States Senate staff and offices vanished at the start of the year, as did his salary …

Obama Tilts to CIA on Memos  —  Top Officials at Odds Over Whether to Withhold Some Details on Interrogation Tactics  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is leaning toward keeping secret some graphic details of tactics allowed in Central Intelligence Agency interrogations …

Toomey announces GOP senate bid  —  Conservative Pat Toomey, a former Lehigh Valley congressman, this morning announced he is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in the 2010 election.  —  In a videotaped message on his new campaign website (www.ToomeyForSenate.com) …

Obama Report on “Right-Wing Radicals” Timed for Tea Parties  —  BEGIN TRANSCRIPT  —  RUSH: I had a report, I got this at 2:30 yesterday afternoon.  I just didn't have a chance to work it in yesterday.  It's this Department of Homeland Security report, it's nine pages, I've got the PDF here …

Ron Paul's plan to fend off pirates  —  A little-known congressional power could help the federal government keep the Somali pirates in check — and possibly do it for a discount price.  —  Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and a growing number of national security experts are calling on Congress …

This Tax Is for You  —  A levy on Joe Six Pack.  —  Today is the dreaded April 15, but at least in Oregon it's even going to cost you more to drown in your tax sorrows.  In their sober unwisdom, the state's pols plan to raise taxes by 1,900% on . . . beer.  The tax would catapult to $52.21 from $2.60 a barrel.

The Obama Administration Is Criminalizing Dissent?  Intimidating Its Ideological Opponents?  You Must Be Joking  —  The DHS screed that Jonah and some of our Marked Men (Steyn, Hemingway and Krikorian) have weighed in on is entirely predictable.  The only conceivable surprise is that it is so blatant and has happened so soon.

Pirates attack U.S. cargo ship but fail to board  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Liberty Sun, a U.S.-flagged cargo ship bound for Mombasa, Kenya, was attacked Tuesday by Somali pirates, according to a NATO source with direct knowledge of the matter.  —  The pirates never made it onto the ship.

Did McCain snub Palin on Leno?  —  (CNN) — Did John McCain snub Sarah Palin during an appearance Monday on NBC's The Tonight Show?  —  That's what some pro-Palin bloggers and other political observers claim after the former GOP presidential candidate left out his former running mate …

Protest stops Tancredo's UNC speech  —  CHAPEL HILL — UNC-CH police released pepper spray and threatened to use a Taser on student protesters Tuesday evening when a crowd disrupted a speech by former Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo opposing in-state tuition benefits to unauthorized immigrants.

Guantanamo captive phones TV office, claims abuse  —  MIAMI (Reuters) - A young Guantanamo prisoner from Chad was given permission to telephone a relative but instead called the al Jazeera television network and said he was being beaten and abused at the U.S. detention camp.

A Racial Shift in Drug-Crime Prisoners  —  Fewer Blacks and More Whites, Says Sentencing Project  —  For the first time since crack cocaine sparked a war on drugs 20 years ago, the number of black Americans in state prisons for drug offenses has fallen sharply, while the number …