Obama Poll Sees Doubt on Budget and Health Care  —  A substantial majority of Americans say President Obama has not developed a strategy to deal with the budget deficit, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, which also found that support for his plans to overhaul health care …

Obama on Iran, McCain on His High Horse  —  Here's Obama's response to events in Iran.  As Spencer Ackerman notes, just about pitch-perfect:  —  Now look at what John McCain said in contrast: … Take a moment to think about how the current government in Iran is going to react to this …

Obama has fired 2 IGs in 2 weeks, leashed another  —  The firing of Gerald Walpin as Inspector General was not an isolated incident, as the Chicago Tribune reports today.  Two more IGs have been dismissed in the past two weeks, and Senator Charles Grassley has started demanding answers.

Outcry on Federal Same-Sex Benefits  —  WASHINGTON — The package of domestic partnership benefits that President Obama established for federal workers on Wednesday drew the loudest protests from some of those it was intended to help, gay men and lesbians who criticized the move as too timid.

Bush takes swipes at Obama policies  —  Defends interrogations  —  Former President George W. Bush fired a salvo at President Obama on Wednesday, asserting his administration's interrogation policies were within the law, declaring the private sector not government will fix the economy and rejecting the nationalization of health care.

Hillary Clinton Fractures Her Elbow  —  The Secretary of State will undergo surgery to repair the damage next week  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fell down on her way to the White House late Wednesday afternoon, fracturing her right elbow, her Counselor and Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills …

Why are Iranian police markings written in English?  —  Post-election protests continued in Tehran for the fifth day on Wednesday.  In many photos, riot police wear uniforms with the English word police on them.  Ambulances, too, bear the word ambulance in English.

Just Tell the World, ‘Go Hang’  —  Events in Iran catch President Obama flat-footed.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  “Wading into Iranian politics, President Barack Obama said on Tuesday there appeared to be few policy differences between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and rival Mirhossein Mousavi,” Reuters reports.

ABC REFUSES OPPOSITION ADS DURING WHITE HOUSE SPECIAL  —  ABC is refusing to air paid ads during its White House health care presentation, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned, including a paid-for alternative viewpoint!  —  The development comes a day after the network denied a request …

Renegade Lieberman works well with Obama  —  Seven months after nearly becoming politically irrelevant, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) is working closely with a president he actively campaigned against and is playing a leading role in moving major pieces of legislation through the upper chamber.

Bailout Costs vs Big Historical Events  —  It is exceedingly difficult to convey exactly how much we are spending on all these bailouts.  Whenever I start talking trillions (versus mere billions), I get puzzled looks from people.  Humans have a hard time conceptualizing any number that large.

Iran election turnouts exceeded 100% in 30 towns, website reports  —  At least 200 polling stations across Iran had participation rates of 95% or above, say sources of centrist Auyandeh site  —  Turnouts of more than 100% were recorded in at least 30 Iranian towns in last week's disputed …

The Good Neocons  —  Not all of them wish Ahmadinejad had won, or insist that the revolution is already crushed, or fear a more moderate Islamic republic because it would still threaten Israel, or just reflexively want to use this, of all things, as another bludgeon against Obama.

Obama and the Fly  —  Well, I guess it can't be said that President Obama wouldn't hurt a fly.  The commander in chief was recently pestered by a fly during an interview.  He swatted at the insect and killed the little guy instantly.  —  Believe it or not, we've actually been contacted …

Months After Ted Stevens Debacle, Justice Department Corruption Unit in Disarray  —  Two months after prosecutors abandoned the criminal conviction of former senator Ted Stevens, the Justice Department unit that polices public corruption remains in chaos, coping with newly discovered evidence …

Barney Frank throws us under the bus.  Lauds incest brief.  Says language was appropriate.  —  Well, it seems a trip to the Oval Office is all openly gay congressman Barney Frank needs to stab his community in the back.  After criticizing the DOJ's anti-gay DOMA brief this morning …

An Interview With Paul Samuelson, Part One  —  I've spent the last six months, off and on, trying to interview Paul Samuelson.  Samuelson has a long list of accomplishments — A John Bates Clark Medal, a Nobel Prize — that I won't try to recap here.  But by most accounts he is responsible …

Crying To God For Freedom  —  They may not have any cell-phones; or news.  They may be being squeezed off the web.  But they have their voices.  Through the darkness of the night, in the face of great force, sustained by unimaginable courage: listen to the audacity of hope:  —  God bless them.

Panel of Clerics Offers Talks With Iranian Opposition  —  TEHRAN — Days after it was urged to investigate the outcome of last week's disputed presidential election, Iran's authoritative Guardian Council said on Thursday that it had invited the three candidates challenging the official results …

Healthcare CEOs Shoot Themselves in the Foot  —  Yesterday the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations decided to investigate the practice of recission.  This is when you pay your premiums for years to a healthcare insurer, then get sick, and then have your insurance cancelled.

A Man of the Cities  —  Cities everywhere in the world are more broadly liberal and cosmopolitan than small towns and villages.  Rural areas in the Middle East are often startlingly conservative, especially from the point of view of Western visitors like me and my colleagues in the media.

Only a Hint of Roosevelt in Financial Overhaul  —  Three quarters of a century ago, President Franklin Roosevelt earned the undying enmity of Wall Street when he used his enormous popularity to push through a series of radical regulatory reforms that completely changed the norms of the financial industry.