Tough talk comes after Obama exits  —  Senate Democrats held back from asking President Barack Obama about healthcare reform during a carefully scripted question-and-answer session in front of television cameras.  —  With the cameras rolling, a group of senators selected in advance …

Details surface of Scott Lee Cohen's 2005 domestric violence arrest  —  Scott Lee Cohen — a pawnbroker who shocked state Democratic leaders Tuesday night by winning the party's nomination for lieutenant governor — was arrested about four-and-a-half years ago and accused of holding a knife …

Dems protect backroom deals  —  The health care bill is in trouble, but a series of narrow deals — each designed to win over a wavering senator or key interest group — is alive and well, despite voter anger over the parochial horse-trading that marked the rush toward passage before Christmas.

Comedian Jon Stewart takes the hot seat with Bill O'Reilly  —  In a vigorous, policy-laden debate, ‘The Daily Show’ host blasts Fox's ‘panic attack’ coverage of Obama and the economy.  O'Reilly says ‘the narrative of a couple of guys’ doesn't represent the whole network.

Off-message, Biden recasts the Obama agenda  —  Vice President Biden is tired of seeing the Obama administration's economic stimulus plan demeaned, derided and dismissed, and he wanted to talk about it.  —  But a funny thing happened in the course of an interview at Biden's White House office on Tuesday afternoon.

James O'Keefe vs. Max Blumenthal: How the Left Distorts, Invents and Lies  —  It started with a blog post at something called One People's Project, in which someone named Daryle Jenkins claimed: … The photograph that One People's Project shows as its proof (above) is cropped and just shows O'Keefe from the shoulders up.

IPCC chief Rajendra Pachauri under pressure to go over glacier error  —  The head of the UN's climate change body is under pressure to resign after one of his strongest allies in the environmental movement said his judgment was flawed and called for a new leader to restore confidence in climatic science.

‘Permission’ needed to kill U.S. terrorists  —  The U.S. intelligence community policy on killing American citizens who have joined al Qaeda requires first obtaining high-level government approval, a senior official disclosed to Congress on Wednesday.  —  Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair …

Game On?  —  House Republicans don't have an official budget yet.  But they have what amounts to a first draft.  The official budget will be released in March or April and will be authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee in consultation with the other Republicans on the Committee.

Fractures emerge as Tea Party convenes  —  (CNN) — As the Tea Party's first national convention gets under way, members are united in their anger but divided over the future of the movement.  —  The convention is marketed as an opportunity to bring Tea Party leaders from across …

Florida, We Have a Problem  —  The Obama administration's proposed budget holds many surprises.  —  O.K., you have to be kind of dorky to make that statement.  —  Still, how can you not be fascinated when the White House announces it wants to cancel plans to put an American on the moon by 2020?

National Prayer Breakfast Draws Controversy  —  For more than 50 years, the National Prayer Breakfast has served as a prime networking event in Washington, bringing together the president, members of Congress, foreign diplomats and thousands of religious, business and military leaders for scrambled eggs and supplication.

White House Prepares for Possibility of 2 Supreme Court Vacancies  —  SCOTUS Watchers Believe Justices Stevens and Ginsburg Could Decide to Step Aside  —  Lawyers for President Obama have been working behind the scenes to prepare for the possibility of one, and maybe two Supreme Court vacancies this spring.

Justice Defends Ruling on Finance  —  WASHINGTON — In expansive remarks at a law school in Florida, Justice Clarence Thomas on Tuesday vigorously defended the Supreme Court's recent campaign finance decision.  —  And Justice Thomas explained that he did not attend State of the Union addresses …

BORN POOR?  —  SANTA FE ECONOMIST SAMUEL BOWLES SAYS YOU BETTER GET USED TO IT  —  Consider these two numbers.  Don't worry, there won't be a quiz.  —  The first number is 3,500.  —  The second is 32.  —  The first is how many jobs Santa Fe County lost in 2009, according to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions.

Poof: Another 800,000 jobs disappear  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — As bad as the government's jobs readings numbers have been during the Great Recession, we'll soon find out the real situation likely was worse.  —  Much worse.  —  Job losses during the recession may have been underestimated by close to a million jobs.

Last night I got hit by a car and broke my knee  —  Sometime between 7 and 7:30, not long after I got home from work, I walked to the CVS on 22nd and M to get some bread, milk, and a SmartTrip card.  I was right across the street from the CVS, and I waited for the crosswalk light to tell me to go before I crossed.

Palin aide: Perry adviser's remark ‘crude’ and ‘disrespectful’  —  (CNN) - Sarah Palin is criticizing a Rick Perry campaign adviser accused of using the word “retarded” - but she isn't demanding that the aide be fired.  —  The accusation - made against top Perry consultant David Carney …

Congressional Democrats are nay-saying Obama's budget  —  Lawmakers are railing against certain items as a campaign strategy, establishing their distance from controversial aspects of the administration.  —  Reporting from Washington - As Congress begins picking through President Obama's …

Sen. Brown: Obama must push Dem lawmakers harder on healthcare  —  President Barack Obama hasn't pushed Democrats hard enough behind closed doors to pass healthcare reform, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Thursday.  —  Brown said that Obama needs to step up his push for health reform …

Soaring cost of healthcare sets a record  —  Spending was 17.3% of the economy last year.  The share paid by the U.S. will soon exceed 50%, a study says.  —  Reporting from Washington - In a stark reminder of growing costs, the government has released a new estimate that healthcare spending grew …

The President's GOP Outreach Comes Too Late  —  A photo-op is not the same as compromising on policy.  —  Last Friday, President Obama met with House Republicans in Baltimore.  He took questions, parried criticisms, and allowed all of it to be put on television.

GOP cash provides 2012 clues  —  The battle for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination quietly began last year — maybe not for the candidates, but for their political groups.  —  Sarah Palin's committee paid more than $50,000 for policy advice in the second half of 2009 …

The White House's Illegal Piggy Bank  —  TARP: The OMB director is grilled over the misuse of bank bailout funds for purposes other than intended by Congress.  This taxpayer money wasn't intended to be the administration's perpetual slush fund.  —  When the specifically targeted …