Obama to Offer Aid for Families in State of the Union Address  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama will propose in his State of the Union address a package of modest initiatives intended to help middle-class families, including tax credits for child care, caps on some student loan payments …

Sad.  Obama Brings TelePrompter to Speak to 6th Grade Class  —  Obama spoke to 6th Graders in Falls Church, Virginia on Tuesday January 19, 2010.  —  He brought his TelePrompter.  —  He sure wouldn't want to go off message when speaking to 6th graders.  —  How sad.

The Recent Evidence of Astroturfing, Summarized  —  This post summarizes the evidence of Astroturfing by Obama supporters that surfaced over the weekend.  —  Astroturfing is phony “grassroots” activity.  The term refers to opinions that seem to be genuine — but, in reality, are directed by a Central Planner.

Beau Biden not running for Senate  —  Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, son of Vice President Beau Biden, e-mailed supporters on Monday morning to say that he will not seek his father's Senate seat.  The younger Biden's decision is a blow to the Democratic Party.

Democrats, Get Down to Business  —  SCOTT BROWN'S victory last week in the Massachusetts Senate race, following the Republican gubernatorial triumphs in New Jersey and Virginia, marked the third time in three months that the Democratic Party has lost the support and trust of independent voters.

Obama's Approval Most Polarized for First-Year President  —  Shows much greater party differences than approval for any prior first-year president  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The 65 percentage-point gap between Democrats' (88%) and Republicans' (23%) average job approval ratings for Barack Obama …

The Bernanke Conundrum  —  A Republican won in Massachusetts — and suddenly it's not clear whether the Senate will confirm Ben Bernanke for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman.  That's not as strange as it sounds: Washington has suddenly noticed public rage over economic policies …

Obama Administration Steers Lucrative No-Bid Contract for Afghan Work to Dem Donor  —  The Obama administration this month awarded a $25 million federal contract for work in Afghanistan to a company owned by a prominent Democratic campaign contributor without entertaining competitive bids, Fox News has learned.

CNN Poll: Majority of Americans say much of stimulus wasted  —  Washington (CNN) - Nearly three out of four Americans think that at least half of the money spent in the federal stimulus plan has been wasted, according to a new national poll.  —  A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey …

Arkansas Rep. Marion Berry to retire  —  Arkansas Rep. Marion Berry is expected to announce his retirement tomorrow morning, according to three sources briefed on the decision.  —  Berry will become the sixth Democrat in a competitive seat to leave in the last two months but the first to announce …

Election 2010: Indiana Senate  —  Indiana Senate 2010: Pence (R) 47%, Bayh (D) 44%  —  Indiana Senator Evan Bayh is another Democratic incumbent who could find himself in a tough reelection battle this fall.  A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds …

Tishman Venture Gives Up Stuyvesant Project  —  High-Profile Purchase of Manhattan Complex Collapses Under Debt Mountain  —  A First Avenue view in New York of Peter Cooper Village, foreground, and Stuyvesant Town apartment complexes in October.  —  A group led by Tishman Speyer Properties …

Ask Obama About Don't Ask, Don't Tell  —  Gay voters are growing impatient for equality.  —  As a candidate for president, Barack Obama told the country's leading gay rights group, the Human Rights Campaign, “America is ready to get rid of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.  All that is required is leadership.”

Dems' Bush-bashing goes bust  —  After three consecutive losses in statewide races, some top Democrats are questioning a tactic aimed at boosting the party's candidates in each of those contests: Bush-bashing.  —  Running as much against the Bush White House as he was running against Sen. John McCain …

‘Chemical Ali’ executed in Iraq  —  Ali Hassan al-Majid, a former Iraqi official known as “Chemical Ali”, has been executed by hanging, a government spokesman has announced.  —  Majid, an enforcer in Saddam Hussein's regime and his cousin, had earlier been sentenced to death four times for genocide and crimes against humanity.

‘Make Them Filibuster’: Gov. Rendell Tells President Obama, Democrats, to Play ‘Hardball’  —  Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania has some advice for his fellow Democrats skittish about health care reform in the wake of the Republican upset in that Massachusetts special election.

Giannoulias, Kirk continue to lead Senate races  —  Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows undecided voters could still swing Feb. 2 primary  —  State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias entered the final days of the campaign for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination with a significant advantage over rivals Cheryle Jackson …