Palin, Visible and Vocal, Is Positioned for Variety of Roles  —  WASHINGTON — Without leaving home, Sarah Palin will be able to reach much of her political base, courtesy of a soon-to-be-built television studio in her living room paid for by her newest media patron, Fox News.

EMPTY CHAIRS.... Democrats were pretty aggressive yesterday in going after Sen. Richard Shelby (R), after the right-wing Alabama lawmaker put a blanket hold on 70 administration nominees.  For Shelby, he'll consider letting the Senate vote on the officials, just as soon as he gets some defense earmarks for his state.

Obama: 'She insisted she's going to be buried in an Obama t-shirt'  —  Yes, those are the words of the president, last night at the Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Washington.  After listing his administration's accomplishments and vowing that “our most urgent task is job creation …

Gigi Jordan feeds son, 8, fatal dose of pills, leaves strange 2-page note in botched murder-suicide  —  A multimillionaire mom fed her 8-year-old son a fatal dose of pills, then spent the night with his body inside a ritzy midtown hotel before a failed suicide try, police said.

Source: Cohen Considering Dropping Out  —  U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin Joins Call For Lt. Gov. Nominee To Step Aside  —  CHICAGO (CBS) ― Under increasing pressure to step down, Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen is reportedly considering stepping aside.

Climate scepticism ‘on the rise’  —  The number of British people who are sceptical about climate change is rising, a poll for BBC News suggests.  —  The Populus poll of 1,001 adults found 25% did not think global warming was happening, a rise of 8% since a similar poll was conducted in November.

Saving Money vs Spending Less Money  —  When talking about the household budget, I think it's commonplace to draw a distinction between a claim like “you could save money by bringing Diet Coke from the store into the office rather than using the soda machine” and a claim like …

Blame the childish, ignorant American public—not politicians—for our political and economic crisis.  —  In trying to explain why our political paralysis seems to have gotten so much worse over the past year, analysts have rounded up a plausible collection of reasons including …

No Holds Barred  —  Washington was immobilized by snow on Friday.  This is highly unusual.  Normally, Washington is immobilized by senators.  —  This time storm warnings came just as the Senate had hit a point of uncommon productivity.  In a single week, it managed to not only confirm two U.S. marshals …

'I'm Not Saying Your Mother's a Whore': How Fox News Censored Jon Stewart's Showdown with Bill O'Reilly  —  Fox News has generously placed the full, unedited conversation between Bill O'Reilly and Jon Stewart online, so we can see precisely how unfairly and deviously Fox edited the interview in order to weaken Stewart's case: A lot!

Seeking a Safer Way to Securitization  —  Can the world be made safe for the return of securitizations?  —  That is a question of great importance to those like John C. Dugan, the comptroller of the currency, who say they believe that the banking system on its own is unlikely to have the ability …

Steele: ‘Trust Me, After Taxes, A Million Dollars Is Not A Lot Of Money’  —  RNC Chairman Michael Steele and former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) held a joint appearance Thursday night at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.  When the debate turned to President Obama's plan …

The lynch-mob mentality  —  If I had the power to have one statement of fact be universally recognized in our political discussions, it would be this one: … That proposition should be intrinsically understood by any American who completed sixth grade civics and was thus taught …

Goldman Chief's Bonus Seen by Some as Show of Restraint  —  Once again, a bonus at Goldman Sachs has all of Wall Street talking — only this time, over how small it is.  —  After weeks of intense speculation, Goldman Sachs disclosed late Friday that its chief executive, Lloyd C. Blankfein …