We Didn't Have to Lose Arlen Specter  —  IT is disheartening and disconcerting, at the very least, that here we are today — almost exactly eight years after Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party — witnessing the departure of my good friend and fellow moderate Republican …

U.S. Economy in 2nd Straight Quarter of Steep Decline  —  The American economy shrank rapidly in the first three months of the year, the government reported on Wednesday, a signal that the economy is likely to remain a dominant issue as the Obama administration looks beyond its first 100 days.

U.S. officials want ‘swine’ out of flu name  —  Source: Reuters  —  What's in a name?  U.S. pork producers are finding that the name of the virus spreading from Mexico is affecting their business, prompting U.S. officials to argue for changing the name from swine flu.

EXCLUSIVE: RNC's Steele may lose purse strings  —  A battle over control of the party's purse strings has erupted at the troubled Republican National Committee, with defenders of Chairman Michael S. Steele accusing dissident RNC members of trying to “embarrass and neuter” the party's new leader.

DeMint: Republicans Losing Because of “Forced Unionization”  —  When a party does badly in a couple of elections in a row and winds up losing a ton of seats, the natural consequence is to end up more concentrated in its regional base of support.  The Republicans did poorly in 2006 …

Obama's Stand in Auto Crisis Shows Early Resolve  —  WASHINGTON — By the time he sat down in the Oval Office to brief Michigan's Congressional delegation, President Obama had made up his mind.  Days earlier, he had decided to oust the head of General Motors and give it and Chrysler weeks to fix themselves.

Official Defends Signing Interrogation Memos  —  WASHINGTON — Judge Jay S. Bybee broke his silence on Tuesday and defended the conclusions of legal memorandums he had signed as a Bush administration lawyer that allowed use of several coercive interrogation practices on suspected terrorists.

Fed Is Said to Seek Capital for at Least Six Banks  —  At least six of the 19 largest U.S. banks require additional capital, according to preliminary results of government stress tests, people briefed on the matter said.  —  While some of the lenders may need extra cash injections from the government …

After the Great Recession  —  On April 14, President Obama gave a speech at Georgetown University, trying to explain why he was taking on so many economic issues so early in his administration.  He argued that the country needed to break its bubble-and-bust cycle and cited the New Testament …

U.S. Sets Fight in the Poppies to Halt Taliban Cash Flow  —  ZANGABAD, Afghanistan — American commanders are planning to cut off the Taliban's main source of money, the country's multimillion-dollar opium crop, by pouring thousands of troops into the three provinces that bankroll much of the group's operations.

Priceless  —  1.8 hours of flying two F-16 jets over Manhattan: $28,178  —  Three hours of flying Air Force 1: $300,658  —  Scaring the crap out of thousands of New Yorkers on a Monday morning: priceless.  —  There are some things money can't buy.  For everything else, there's government.

Former Barney Frank staffer now top Goldman Sachs lobbyist  —  Goldman Sachs' new top lobbyist was recently the top staffer to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., on the House Financial Services Committee chaired by Frank.  Michael Paese, a registered lobbyist for the Securities Industries …