Republicans Seize Control of State Senate  —  ALBANY - Republicans seized control of the New York State Senate on Monday, in a stunning and sudden reversal of fortunes for the Democratic Party, which controlled the chamber for barely five months.  —  A raucous leadership fight erupted …

‘TOLD YA SO’  —  Sarah Palin hits FOXNEWS tonight for the big ‘Told Ya So’ interview, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.  —  As President Obama vows to spend the ‘stimulus’ faster, Governor Palin tells host Sean Hannity: ‘You gotta quit digging that hole!’  —  HANNITY: What do you make of - look at the state of the economy now...

Leveling the playing field  —  On Saturday, our friend Ed Whelan provided the identity of a previously anonymous blogger who has been attacking his work in rather nasty fashion.  That blogger, who went by the unoriginal and pretentious name “publius,” turned out to be a law professor at South Texas College of Law named John Blevins.

U.S. says TARP issue out of Court's reach  —  The Obama Administration argued Monday that no court, including the Supreme Court, has the authority to hear a challenge by Indiana benefit plans to the role the U.S. Treasury played in the Chrysler rescue, including the use of “bailout” (TARP) funds.

Breaking: Lieberman-Graham Dropped From Supplemental  —  According to sources on the Hill, the Lieberman-Graham detainee photo suppression amendment is out of the conference report of the supplemental.  —  For everyone who made phone calls — pat yourself on the back.

Trust on Issues  —  Voters Now Trust Republicans More than Democrats on Economic Issues  —  Voters now trust Republicans more than Democrats on six out of 10 key issues, including the top issue of the economy.  —  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% …

Nobel Winner Krugman Sees U.S. Recession Ending Soon  —  The U.S. economy probably will emerge from the recession by September, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said.  —  “I would not be surprised if the official end of the U.S. recession ends up being, in retrospect …

Blue Dogs Backsliding On Health Care  —  Conservative House Democrats agreed to a set of health care principles late last week that angered advocates of a overhaul of the health care system.  —  The Blue Dog Coalition issued a statement that said it would only support the public health care option …

Re: The Cairo Speech  —  President Obama's Cairo speech was nothing short of an earthquake — a distortion of history, an insult to the Jewish people, and an abandonment of very real human-rights victims in the Arab and Muslim worlds.  It is not surprising that Arabs and Muslims in a position to speak were enthusiastic.

Hastert's son announces run for Congress, wants to be part of ‘next generation of leadership’  —  ELBURN - Ethan Hastert has announced he'll run for his father's old seat in Congress.  —  Hastert, 31, said Monday that he's forming a committee to begin his campaign and fundraising for the 14th District Congressional seat.

Supreme Court Turns Down 'Don't Ask' Challenge  —  The Supreme Court today declined to hear a constitutional challenge to the Pentagon's “don't ask, don't tell” policy banning openly gay people from serving in the U.S. military, a move that could effectively leave it to the Obama administration to resolve the long-controversial issue.

Clinton orders review of State Department security  —  CNN State Department Producer  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday she has ordered a review of security and vetting procedures that let a State Department employee suspected of spying for Cuba slip through the cracks.

The 15 Hottest Conservative Women In The New Media  —  After doing The 10 Hottest Liberal Women In Politics last week, I thought that in order to be fair, I should feature the women on the Right as well.  So, in the spirit of the Hill's 50 Most Beautiful lists, I present to you “The 15 Hottest Conservative Women In The New Media.”

Sarkozy entertains Michelle and the girls after Obama heads home  —  Blog: Obama keeps his distance in France  —  He failed to persuade Barack Obama to socialise with him, but Nicolas Sarkozy enjoyed a consolation prize yesterday: lunch with the President's wife Michelle and their children.

The Reintroduction of Kirsten Gillibrand  —  After a shaky first hundred days, the junior senator from New York is trying to start over.  —  The shuttle that transports senators from the Capitol to their offices shimmies a bit, like a kiddie roller coaster.

One of THOSE round-ups  —  Yes, this is going to be one of THOSE round-ups, where I clear off all my open tabs of things I just read, and pass them off to you; covering everything from my personal stuff to a video recommendation or two.  —  Fluff: Ann Althouse is running the inevitable captioning thread on this picture.

Obama's Top Targeter Bullish on Montana and Worried About Gingrich; Predicts Deeds Win Tomorrow  —  Ken Strasma, recognizable to many 538 readers as Barack Obama's national targeting director in 2008, is the first participant in a new series of interviews we will be conducting with consultants …

Very Old Quote of the Day  —  Here's a line allegedly from Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws that I've only ever actually seen quoted in other works: … I'm not sure this means American liberty is doomed, but I think it would be hard to deny that the corrupting influence …

Globe's largest union rejects cuts  —  Daniel Totten, president of the Boston Newspaper Guild, left, and Scott Steeves, vice president of the Boston Newspapers Guild, walking out of the Boston Globe before announcing the Boston Newspaper Guild vote to reject a package of major concessions …