Sessions to take over top GOP slot on Judiciary  —  Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) will take over the ranking member position on the Senate Judiciary Committee after striking a deal with his more senior colleagues over the weekend, sources confirm to The Hill.  —  Sessions and Sen. Chuck Grassley …

Q & A: ‘Joe the Plumber’  —  Samuel Wurzelbacher was launched into the public arena after Senator John McCain used him as an example of an average American during a presidential debate last fall.  “Joe the Plumber” quickly became a celebrity because he questioned then-candidate Barack Obama …

Criminal charges filed against ACORN, two employees  —  Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Secretary of State Ross Miller announced Monday that voter registration fraud charges have been filed against an organization that works with low-income people and two of its employees in its Las Vegas office.

Ridge Trails Pennsylvania's Specter By 3 Points, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; New Democratic Senator Tops Toomey By 20 Points  —  Newly-minted Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter would whip old Republican rival Pat Toomey 53 - 33 percent if the 2010 Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race were held today …

US Soldiers in Afghanistan Told to “Hunt People for Jesus... So We Get Them into the Kingdom” (Video)  —  Military officials at Bagram are caught on tape urging US soldiers to evangelize in the Muslim country.  —  New video evidence has surfaced showing that US military forces in Afghanistan …

Obama criticism shuts down conversation  —  Parties were more fun when George W. Bush was president.  You could debate, argue even, praise and condemn, throw darts and laurels and solve the world's problems over a bottle of wine.  —  No more.  At least not in my circles.

When Reporters Rise For The President  —  Some people noticed that many reporters rose from their seats last Friday when President Obama unexpectedly entered the White House briefing room, but the same courtesy was not always extended in the past when President Bush would make an appearance.

A VERY WEIRD FORM OF CONSISTENCY.  —  Not to fill the blog with Arlen Specter related content this morning, but this bit from Meet the Press deserves to be quoted. … The thing about the Wyden-Bennett plan — the aspect that actually makes it different from virtually every other plan on offer …

RE: Resurgent Republic: Stan Greenberg's Open Letter to Ed Gillespie, Founder of Resurgent Republic, on Their Initial National Survey  —  To: Ed Gillespie Founder, Resurgent Republic  —  From: Stan Greenberg Greenberg Quinlan Rosner  —  RE: RESURGENT REPUBLIC

Sonia Sotomayor's IQ  —  Sonia Sotomayor seems in many ways like exactly the sort of person Barack Obama would appoint to the Supreme Court.  She was born to a working class Puerto Rican family in the South Bronx, and went from Cardinal Spelling High School to Princeton and Yale Law.

Obama official Kareem Dale confirms White House's love for MSNBC  —  For some inexplicable reason having to do with who knows what, a widespread impression has grown among many politics fans that MSNBC and its crowd of talkers — including Chris “Thrill Up My Leg” Matthews, Norah …

Amazon Plans Kindle for Textbooks  —  Amazon.comInc. on Wednesday plans to unveil a new version of its Kindle e-book reader with a larger screen and other features designed to appeal to periodical and academic textbook publishers, according to people familiar with the matter.

MONSTERS, INC.  —  Amid the blizzard of economic data that the government puts out every week, last Tuesday's report analyzing G.D.P. industry by industry got little notice.  But it contained one very interesting piece of data: in 2008, for the first time in sixteen years, the finance and insurance industry shrank.

Chace Crawford to Attend White House Correspondents Dinner  —  Mr. Crawford is going to Washington!  —  Usmagazine.com has exclusively learned that Gossip Girl star Chace Crawford has been invited to be the guest of the Fox News Channel at Saturday's White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C.

More Banks Will Need Capital  —  Stress Tests Identify About Ten; Wells, BofA, Citigroup Face Order to Refill Coffers  —  WASHINGTON — The U.S. is expected to direct about 10 of the 19 banks undergoing government stress tests to boost their capital, according to several people familiar with the matter …

As Foreclosures Surge ...  The Obama administration sat by last week as 12 Senate Democrats joined 39 Senate Republicans to block a vote on an amendment that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to modify troubled mortgages.  —  Senator Obama campaigned on the provision.

What George Will missed: The decrepit state of the California GOP  —  George Will's latest column on the sagging economy of California and the upcoming slate of massive tax-hike initiatives on the ballot only scratches the surface of what's rotten in the formerly Golden State.  —  The state GOP is a basket case.

Michele Bachmann: Obama Led Spending “Orgy,” Government “Spent Its Wad” (VIDEO)  —  Rep. Michele Bachmann is on a roll.  Less than a week after suggesting a link between the swine flu outbreak and Democratic control of the U.S. government, the Minnesota Republican penetrated a heretofore unseen zone …

Dodd Likens Bush Administration To Nazis  —  Just.  Wow.  —  Are you kidding me?  Water boarding is the same as incinerating 6 million Jews and being responsible for 55 million lives lost.  Really?  —  Well, I'll say this for the Democrats, they know how to pander to their base even when in office.

Emanuel: Thwarting Iran hinges on Israeli-Palestinian talks  —  Article's topics: Rahm Emanuel, Iran, AIPAC  —  Thwarting Iran's nuclear program is conditional on progress in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, according to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Someone needs to give Jane Harman an award for this  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about one of the most shameless and absurd spectacles to appear in Washington in some time: the self-righteous, self-obsessed rage expressed by Blue Dog Rep. Jane Harman …

Justices Agree to Take Up Sentencing for Young Offenders  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to consider whether the reasoning that led it to strike down the death penalty for juvenile offenders four years ago should also apply to sentences of life without the possibility of parole.

Obama celebrates Cinco de Mayo a day early  —  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is celebrating Cinco de Mayo a little early.  —  On the eve of the Mexican holiday, Obama on Monday had an event in the East Room of the White House with Mexico's Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan (sahr-oo-KHAN').

Swine flu cases rise worldwide as Mexico lowers its alert level  —  GENEVA, Switzerland (CNN) — The number of confirmed cases of swine flu jumped to 1,025 on Monday, comprising 20 countries, the World Health Organization said.  —  The death toll climbed as well as Mexico's health minister announced …

Governor supports abortion initiative  —  CONSENT: Voters, not lawmakers, would decide if doctors had to tell a parent of a girl younger than 18.  —  scockerham@adn.com  —  Gov. Sarah Palin is backing a ballot measure to bypass the Legislature and make it illegal for teenagers to get an abortion without telling their parents.