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 …

Why did Beau Biden really drop out?  —  Daddy has been grooming Beau Biden for the Senate from time immemorial.  —  To smooth his son's path, Joe Biden installed his old crony aide, Edward Kaufman, as a placeholder when he gave up his seat to take the vice presidency.

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.

Big Babyism  —  Listen to an enraged Independent: … If this is the basis for revolt, what can one say?  —  If Obama and Bush had refused to bail out the banks, does this small business owner believe she'd be in business at all?  Is she demanding - in a conservative outlet …

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 …

Bringing Back David Plouffe Will Totally Work  —  Blogs and Stories  —  The return of Obama campaign guru David Plouffe will help the president get better press coverage.  But will a political fix solve a policy problem?  —  Here's a seeming contradiction for you.

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.

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 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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Geithner Warns That Markets Could Dive If Bernanke Is Not Reconfirmed (VIDEO)  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, in a recent interview with Mike Allen of Politico warned that the financial markets could react negatively if Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke isn't confirmed for a second term.

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 …

Sources: John Edwards Has a Sex Tape  —  Sources have told us that, in the throes of their affair, John Edwards and Rielle Hunter made a sex tape that contains “several sex acts.”  And that his aide, Andrew Young found it on an unmarked DVD.  —  The tape, say both our sources …

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 …

‘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.