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 …

Scott Brown will be sworn in as Massachusetts senator Thursday  —  Sen.-elect Scott Brown (R), the successor to the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), will be sworn in to office Thursday afternoon, giving Republicans 41 seats in the upper chamber.  —  “Once we get his certificate …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

‘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 …

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.

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?

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.

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.

Official Carly Fiorina Video Wins Current Hour Of Internet  —  OH MY GOD “Carlyfornia” Senate candidate Carly Fiorina has struck again on the Internet and the results are monstrous.  It's best at the beginning and end, especially the end, picking up steam at exactly 2:26.

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.

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 …

Changes coming to Bloomberg's D.C. bureau  —  At the Bloomberg News' Washington bureau, management changes are in the works that will affect who oversees daily coverage of government and politics.  —  Executive Washington editor Al Hunt is expected to step away from much of the bureau's …

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.

Obama's Aunt Seeks Asylum to Avoid Deportation  —  Zeituni Onyango Claims No Contact With White House, Obamas  —  When President Obama's Kenyan aunt appears before a U.S. immigration judge in Boston today, she says she will literally be making the case for her life.

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 …

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 …