Too Dumb to Thrive  —  Absolutely amazing poll results from CNN today about the $787 stimulus package: nearly three out of four Americans think the money has been wasted.  On second thought, they may be right: it's been wasted on them.  Indeed, the largest single item in the package …

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 …

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 …

Beau Biden declines Senate bid  —  Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden announced Monday that he will not run for the Senate in 2010, a development which puts the GOP in a commanding position to claim the seat once held by his father, Vice President Joe Biden.

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.

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 …

Berry: Obama said “big difference” between '10 and '94 is “me”  —  Rep. Marion Berry's parting shot, published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette [no link, subscription only] offers a warning to moderate Democrats and border state moderates — warning of a midterm bloodbath comparable to the 54-seat D-to-R swing in 1994.

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

‘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.

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.

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 …

December Existing-Home Sales Down but Prices Rise; 2009 Sales Up  —  After a rising surge from September through November, existing-home sales fell as expected in December after first-time buyers rushed to complete sales before the original November deadline for the tax credit.

How I'd Create a New ‘Contract With America’  —  Dear Fellow Americans:  —  During the past few months, a number of people have asked me about the possibility of a new Contract with America for the 2010 elections.  They remember the clarity, the positive focus, and the election results of the 1994 contract.

Gibbs: Ed Schultz Misleads Viewers To “Get People To Watch His Show”  —  As you've probably heard, MSNBC's Ed Schultz revealed the other day that he'd torn into Robert Gibbs in a private conversation, telling him he's “full of sh*t” and that the Obama White House is “losing its base.”

LET'S PUT THEM SIDE BY SIDE.... Throughout the lengthy debate on health care reform, Republicans refused to negotiate in good faith.  Compromises were considered out of the question.  Blatantly, demonstrably false claims were the norm.  Perhaps worst of all, GOP leaders would embrace specific reform ideas …

Updated Bernanke whip count  —  Democratic leaders have whipped at least 30 votes in support of Chairman Ben Bernanke's return for a second term at the Federal Reserve Board, while 13 lawmakers remain opposed, according to The Hill's latest whip count.  —  Additionally, two lawmakers …

‘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.