Sotomayor backers urge reporters to probe New Haven firefighter  —  WASHINGTON — Supporters of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor are quietly targeting the Connecticut firefighter who's at the center of Sotomayor's most controversial ruling.  —  On the eve of Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearing …

Leaders in House Seek to Tax Rich for Health Plan  —  WASHINGTON — House Democrats will ask the wealthiest Americans to help pay for overhauling the health care system with a $550 billion income tax increase, the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee said Friday.

David Brooks Recounts GOP Senator Who “Had His Hand On My Inner Thigh” At Dinner Party  —  You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!  —  DOWNLOADS: (365)  —  PLAYS: (972)  —  Think Progress has more: … This is one of those bizarre moments …

The new Report on illegal spying is not a real investigation  —  The Bush-era torture regime might have been that administration's most flamboyant act of criminality, but its illegal NSA warrantless eavesdropping program (and other still-unknown surveillance programs) has always been the clearest.

In Ghana, Obama Preaches Tough Love  —  ACCRA, Ghana — President Obama traveled in his father's often-troubled home continent on Saturday as a potent symbol of a new era and the embodiment of hope but also as a messenger with a tough-love theme: American aid must be matched by African responsibility for its own problems.

The Stumbles That Led to an Ethics Blunder  —  The Washington Post's ill-fated plan to sell sponsorships of off-the-record “salons” was an ethical lapse of monumental proportions.  —  Publisher Katharine Weymouth and Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli have now taken full responsibility …

Obama admin: No grounds to probe Afghan war crimes  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Obama administration officials said Friday they had no grounds to investigate the 2001 deaths of Taliban prisoners of war who human rights groups allege were killed by U.S.-backed forces.

Obama Diagrams Health-Care Strategy From Abroad  —  President Obama dropped a few hints about how he intends to lobby Congress on health care during a news conference Friday following the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy.  And if we're parsing his remarks correctly, lawmakers can expect firm prodding through …

Weekly remarks: Obama still clearing wreckage; Cantor asks, where are the jobs?  —  This week's weekly remarks open with President Obama in Africa opening on foreign affairs.  But by the second paragraph out of 20, he gets to what he really wants — needs — to talk about: domestic business in general and the economy specifically.

Lender CIT Group Is Facing a Crunch  —  CIT Hires Bankruptcy Adviser as Payment Looms; Financier to 1 Million Businesses  —  CIT Group Inc., a lender to almost a million mostly small and midsize businesses across the country, is preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing after so far failing …

Why We Don't Want a Nuclear-Free World  —  The former defense secretary on the U.S. deterrent and the terrorist threat.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Maclean, Va.  —  'Nuclear weapons are used every day.  " So says former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, speaking last month …

Band of House centrists offers support for ‘robust’ public health insurance plan  —  A band of 22 New Democrat and Blue Dog lawmakers say they support a “robust” government-run health plan, boosting chances of moving healthcare reform with a public insurance plan through the House.