U.S. Eyes Bank Pay Overhaul  —  Administration in Early Talks on Ways to Curb Compensation Across Finance  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has begun serious talks about how it can change compensation practices across the financial-services industry, including at companies …

Palin has book deal, memoir to come next year  —  NEW YORK - You knew it was coming: Sarah Palin is ready to tell her side, agreeing to publish a memoir with HarperCollins.  The book comes out in Spring 2010 — the year she is up for re-election.  —  “There's been so much written …

Democrats: CIA is out to get us  —  Democrats charged Tuesday that the CIA has released documents about congressional briefings on harsh interrogation techniques in order to deflect attention and blame away from itself.  —  “I think there is so much embarrassment in some quarters [of the CIA] …

Inquirer defends the indefensible: A monthly column by torture architect John Yoo  —  By late last year, the world already knew a great deal about John Yoo, the Philadelphia native and conservative legal scholar whose tenure in the Bush administration as a top Justice Department lawyer lies …

Report Warns of Insolvency for Social Security, Medicare  —  The financial health of the Social Security system has eroded more sharply in the past year than at any time since the mid-1990s, according to a government forecast that ratchets up pressure on the Obama administration and Congress …

Source: Aide told Pelosi waterboarding was used  —  CNN Congressional Producer  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — A source close to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi now confirms that Pelosi was told in February 2003 by her intelligence aide, Michael Sheehy, that waterboarding was actually used on CIA detainee Abu Zubaydah.

N.Y. Assembly Passes Gay Marriage Bill  —  ALBANY — The State Assembly approved legislation on Tuesday night that would make New York the sixth state to allow same-sex marriage — a pivotal vote that shifts the debate to the State Senate, where gay rights advocates and conservative groups alike are redoubling their efforts.

Chrysler and the Rule of Law  —  The Founders put the contracts clause in the Constitution for a reason.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The rule of law, not of men — an ideal tracing back to the ancient Greeks and well-known to our Founding Fathers — is the animating principle of the American experiment.

FDA Blasts General Mills Over Cheerios Claim  —  Cereal Makers Scolded Because Claim Of Lowering Cholesterol 10 Percent In Month Makes It A “Drug”  —  Company Fires Back: This Is About Language, Not Science  —  NEW YORK (CBS) ― The Food and Drug Administration scolded the makers …

FAA Approves Plan to Give Stimulus Funds to Airport Named After Murtha  —  The Federal Aviation Administration, after reviewing concerns about a project at a regional airport named after Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), has decided to go forward with plans to use $800,000 in stimulus funds to repave the airport's alternate runway.

Analysis: Cheney attacks may not help GOP  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — To the chagrin, perhaps, of Republicans looking to rebuild the tattered party, Dick Cheney has grabbed the spotlight.  —  The recurring theme of the once-reclusive and largely unpopular former vice president …

Richard Posner Throwing In the Towel on the Conservative Movement  —  I actually don't know that much about Richard Posner's political views, being primarily familiar with his (quite good, in my opinion) more abstract and philosophical work.  But he's definitely a political conservative …

GOP govs plan Tea Party sequel  —  Hoping to recapture the grassroots energy of last month's “tea parties,” Republican Govs. Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Rick Perry of Texas will host a tele-town hall Thursday that's being dubbed “Tea Party 2.0.”  —  The Republican Governors Association …

GOP to rebrand Dems as ‘socialists’  —  A member of the Republican National Committee told me Tuesday that when the RNC meets in an extraordinary special session next week, it will approve a resolution rebranding Democrats as the “Democrat Socialist Party.”  —  When I asked if such a resolution …

Stimulus Aid Trickles Out, but States Seek Quicker Relief  —  Nearly three months after President Obama approved a $787 billion economic stimulus package, intended to create or save jobs, the federal government has paid out less than 6 percent of the money, largely in the form of social service payments to states.

Foreclosures: ‘April was a shocker’  —  A record number of foreclosure filings took place during April, but the number of repossessions fell 11%.  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Foreclosures in April exceeded even March's blistering pace with a record 342,000 homes receiving notices of default …

Presented by the U.S. Travel Association: VP finds ‘early progress’ on stimulus - Barnett lands Palin book deal; she'll talk Couric, faith; not bitter toward McCain - Schultz scores at MSNBC  —  Good Wednesday morning.  President Obama talks health care in the Oval Office this morning with House Democratic leaders.

Radio rage  —  The assassination jokes and “liberal” conspiracy theories on talk radio could be an ominous sign of things to come.  Plus: Madonna vs. Daniela, gay men's favorite divas, a charming TV show for kids and more.  —  In John Frankenheimer's taut 1964 film, “Seven Days in May,” …

Obama Halves Chrysler's Planned Marketing Budget  —  Task Force Agrees Automaker Needs Advertising — Just Not $134 Million Worth  —  DETROIT (AdAge.com) — Chrysler wanted to spend $134 million in advertising over the nine weeks it's expected to be in bankruptcy — the U.S. Treasury's auto-industry task force gave it half that.

Producer Is Chosen to Lead Arts Endowment  —  Rocco Landesman, the colorful theatrical producer and race-track aficionado who brought hits like “Big River,” “Angels in America” and “The Producers” to Broadway, has been nominated as the next chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, the White House said on Tuesday.

Kristol: Obama to Reverse on Release of Detainee Treatment Photos?  —  From White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs's press briefing today: … This sounds to me as if the president is getting ready to reverse the decision of his Justice Department.  I expect him to announce …

Send Us Your Credit Card Questions So We Can Ask 'Em At The White House  —  Consumerist is going to the White House this week, and we need your help!  Ben and Meg are hitting Washington to do an on-camera interview of a senior policy official in the Obama administration about the new credit card reforms …

5 Miami men convicted of Sears Tower attack plot  —  MIAMI - It took three trials, three juries and nearly three years, but federal prosecutors finally succeeded Tuesday in convicting five Miami men of plotting to start an anti-government insurrection by destroying Chicago's Sears Tower and bombing FBI offices.

Used to be One of the Rotten Ones  —  What, with all the recent brow furrowing, chin scratching and contrarian preening set in motion by the suddenly controversial topic of whether or not torture works and, if so, whether we should consider adopting it as our official policy …