BREAKING NEWS: Ridge won't run for Senate  —  After much speculation, former Gov. Tom Ridge today announced that he would not seek the GOP nomination for Senate next year.  —  In a statement, Ridge said he had been heartened by the support and encouragement he received from within the party …

Obama's Budget Knife Yields Modest Trims  —  Plan Likely to Face Tough Fight on the Hill  —  President Obama has said for weeks that his staff is scouring the federal budget, “line by line,” for savings.  Today, they will release the results: a plan to trim 121 programs by $17 billion …

Republicans in the Wilderness: Is the Party Over?  —  These days, Republicans have the desperate aura of an endangered species.  They lost Congress, then the White House; more recently, they lost a slam-dunk House election in a conservative New York district, then Senator Arlen Specter.

The ‘Free Choice’ Act Is Anything But  —  George Meany and binding arbitration.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The recent news that Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter has become a member of the Democratic caucus has given new life to legislation that many thought had been put to rest for this Congress …

New Deal: Specter Gets a Subcommittee Chairmanship  —  Senate Democratic leaders have reached agreement with Sen. Arlen Specter to partially restore the party switcher's status on the Judiciary Committee, by granting Specter the chairmanship of the Crime and Drugs Subcommittee.

National Security Adviser Jones Says He's ‘Outsider’ in Frenetic White House  —  President Obama's national security adviser, James L. Jones, looks for rare opportunities to ride his bike from his McLean home to work at the White House.  On occasion, he has pedaled back across the Potomac River for lunch.

Franken schools heckler  —  Politicians and stand-up comedians both get plenty of hecklers.  And it looks like Al Franken, as both a comedian and the still-disputed senator from Minnesota, is getting his fair share these days.  —  On Tuesday night, at Bobby Van's on 15th Street near the White House …

Judge takes step to air his views  —  UNLV fellow, Bush memo author seeks to meet Titus  —  WASHINGTON — As criticism of federal appellate court Judge Jay Bybee mounts for authorizing harsh interrogation techniques as a Bush administration lawyer, the Nevada jurist has reached out to members …

How We Tested the Big Banks  —  THIS afternoon, Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve will announce the results of an unprecedented review of the capital position of the nation's largest banks.

Is Anyone Reading the News?  —  This remark, from David Simon as reported by Adam Serwer, seems to me to have the correct focus for fretting about the future of journalism: “The day I run into a Huffington Post reporter at a Baltimore zoning board hearing is the day I will no longer be worried about journalism.”

ACORN workers charged with forging voter registrations  —  Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala today charged seven employees of ACORN — the left-leaning Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — with forgery and election law violations, saying they filed hundreds …

Dem centrists press Pelosi to shelve climate bill  —  Democratic centrists are pressing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to set aside a flagging climate change bill to focus on what they think is a more achievable goal: overhauling the nation's healthcare system.  —  But those close to Pelosi …

Newspaper Narcissism  —  Our pursuit of glory led us away from readers  —  American journalism is in trouble, and the problem is not just financial.  My profession is in distress because for more than a decade it has been chasing the false idols of fame and fortune.

Free cars for poor fuel road rage  —  Gov. Deval Patrick's free wheels for welfare recipients program is revving up despite the stalled economy, as the keys to donated cars loaded with state-funded insurance, repairs and even AAA membership are handed out to get them to work.

Band of centrists forming for Senate GOP in 2010  —  For those writing Republican centrism's obituary after Arlen Specter's party switch, holster your quills.  —  In fact, if the next few weeks go well for the GOP, it might pave the way for a whole new chapter in the left flank of the right-leaning party.

EXCLUSIVE: Records violations dog housing nominee  —  Office handed largest fine in U.S. history  —  President Obama's choice for the government's No. 2 housing job is embroiled in the largest fine in U.S. history for “blatant violations” of open records laws after the Washington State …

Presenting ... The GOP's New “Keep Terrorists Out Of America Act”!  —  A House GOP staffer sends over a summary of the “Keep Terrorists Out Of America Act,” which the GOP leadership plans to unveil later today at a press conference, in keeping with the stepped-up national security attacks on Obama I noted here yesterday.

Why David Simon is Wrong About Blogs and Local Reporting  —  Yesterday Senator John Kerry held hearings on the “Future of Journalism.”  One expert who took the chair to testify was David Simon, the former Baltimore City Sun reporter who later created the HBO series “The Wire.”

Threesome Marriages  —  Blogs and Stories  —  First came traditional marriage.  Then, gay marriage.  Now, there's a movement combining both—simultaneously.  Abby Ellin visits the next frontier of nuptials: the “triad.”  —  Less than eighteen months ago, Sasha Lessin and Janet Kira Lessin held …

Should the GOP Forget Reagan?  —  The Republican Party's unending tale of woe sounds like a friend's account of sitting through the New York Yankees' 22-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians at the new Yankee Stadium April 18.  —  In the 14-run second inning, three Indians hit home runs into the right-field seats, including a grand-slam.