FBI arrest four in alleged plot to bomb Bronx synagogues, shoot down plane  —  The FBI busted a homegrown terror cell late Wednesday night as the men sneaked around a Jewish temple in Riverdale planting what they thought were packages of C-4 explosives, sources told the Daily News.

Obama Is Said to Consider Preventive Detention Plan  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama told human rights advocates at the White House on Wednesday that he was mulling the need for a “preventive detention” system that would establish a legal basis for the United States to incarcerate terrorism suspects …

Obama ‘Distracted’ by Biden's ‘Indiscipline,’ Book Asserts  —  The president is so “distracted by his vice president's indiscipline” that he has been forced to rebuke privately Vice President Biden, according to a new book by Richard Wolffe.  —  FOXNews.com

R.N.C. Votes Down the ‘Democrat Socialist Party’  —  The Republican National Committee backed away Wednesday from a resolution that officially called Democrats the “Democrat Socialist Party,” but instead voted to condemn Democrats for what it called a “march toward socialism.”

What the Sacramento Bee really thinks of voters  —  I wrote yesterday: “As expected, the liberal establishment will characterize voters as tantrum-throwers.  When initiatives go their way, voters are wise, smart, discerning citizens.  When initiatives fail miserably, the electorate is a moronic mob.”

Congressman: We're going to Disney  —  Rep. Alan Grayson was standing in the middle of Disney World when it hit him: What Americans really need is a week of paid vacation.  —  So on Thursday, the Florida Democrat will introduce the Paid Vacation Act — legislation that would be the first …

US House speaker Pelosi to visit China: state media  — US House speaker Pelosi to visit China: state media  —  BEIJING (AFP) - US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi will visit China this month, state press said Thursday of the longtime critic of Beijing's rule over Tibet and its human rights record.

1 in 7 Freed Detainees Rejoins Fight, Report Finds  —  WASHINGTON — An unreleased Pentagon report provides new details concluding that about one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has returned to terrorism or militant activity …

Porter Goss Won't Say Whether He And Pelosi Were Told About Use Of Torture  —  Porter Goss, the former GOP Congressman who was in the room with Nancy Pelosi during their 2002 CIA briefing on interrogations, is declining through a spokesperson to say whether the two of them were told that enhanced interrogation techniques had been used.

President Obama as Commander in Chief  —  No new president finds that every aspect of the job suits him at once; some duties are inevitably more comfortable than others.  What we have witnessed in the past few weeks is Barack Obama trying on and fitting himself to the role of commander in chief.

California, a Broke State, Reels as Voters Rebuff Leaders  —  LOS ANGELES — Direct democracy has once again upended California — enough so that the state may finally consider another way by overhauling its Constitution for the first time in 130 years.  —  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger returned home …

Flip-Flops and Governance  —  Our president isn't quite as advertised.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Barack Obama inherited a set of national-security policies that he rejected during the campaign but now embraces as president.  This is a stunning and welcome about-face.

Trebek Makes Bush Joke as Texas Teen Wins Geography Bee  —  WASHINGTON — The nation's top geography whiz breezed through questions about mountain ranges, rivers and world capitals Wednesday, but he was stumped when National Geographic Bee host Alex Trebek asked him to name one of his weaknesses.

Pre-emption of State Laws Rolled Back  —  WASHINGTON — In a sweeping order Wednesday, President Barack Obama called for a rollback of Bush administration regulations designed to protect companies from product-liability lawsuits in state courts.  —  The memo didn't name specific industries …

Roby will run for Congress  —  Montgomery City Councilwoman Martha Roby said she will be a candidate for the 2nd Congressional District in 2010.  —  The Republican said Wednesday that she has filed her paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to organize a campaign, which allows her to begin raising money.

Distributing The Regulatory Surplus  —  It occurs to me that you can think of the policy debate around auctioning carbon permits as an example of a very general phenomenon.  Whenever you enact regulations aimed at restricting an activity, but not aimed at outright banning the activity, you create a kind of “regulatory surplus.”