Boos as Paul wins CPAC straw poll  —  Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning Texas Republican who ran a quixotic bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, was the top vote-getter in the Conservative Political Action Conference's straw poll, capturing the support of 31 percent of those who participated in the contest.

Reid: Dems will use 50-vote tactic to finish healthcare in 60 days  —  Democrats will finish their health reform efforts within the next two months by using a majority-vote maneuver in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said.  —  Reid said that congressional Democrats …

Breitbart Takes Down Blumenthal at CPAC  —  A funny thing happened on the last day of CPAC.  Max Blumenthal, recently corrected and embarrassed “journalist” from Salon.com paraded through the convention with a camera crew.  Like last year, he was looking for a confrontation of some kind.

Another Dumb Right-Wing Idea: Default on the Debt  —  Over the years I have heard a number of conservatives suggest that defaulting on the national debt wouldn't be such a bad thing.  Today Prof. Glenn Reynolds of the University of Tennessee Law School (better known as “Instapundit") suggests the idea once again.

Israel and the Dubai Murder Mystery  —  The circumstantial evidence all points to the Mossad, and the result is a diplomatic nightmare for the Jewish state.  —  Israelis woke up Wednesday morning to pictures of 11 individuals plastered on the front page of every newspaper.

The Polling Contradiction  —  In the latest NEWSWEEK Poll, the majority of Americans are opposed to President Obama's health-care reform plan—until they learn the details.  Plus, a look at very unhappy mood of the electorate.

Why I'm Leaving the Senate  —  BASEBALL may be our national pastime, but the age-old tradition of taking a swing at Congress is a sport with even deeper historical roots in the American experience.  Since the founding of our country, citizens from Ben Franklin to David Letterman have made fun of their elected officials.

Alexander M. Haig Jr., 85, Forceful Aide to 2 Presidents, Dies  —  Alexander M. Haig Jr., the four-star general who served as a confrontational secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan and a commanding White House chief of staff as the Nixon administration crumbled …

Newt Gingrich Greeted Like Rock Star at CPAC  —  Good grief.  Newt Gingrich was treated like a rock star at the CPAC 2010 Convention.  He entered the auditorium with “Eye of the Tiger” playing and the audience gave him a standing ovation and pats on the back as he made his way to the stage.

Up Next!  On Live TV!  A Battle Over ... Health Care?  —  WASHINGTON — When he jousts with Congressional Republicans over health care policy during a televised meeting on Thursday, President Obama will seek to portray his adversaries as sharing many of the broad goals of his legislation …

Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs  —  BUENA PARK, Calif. — Even as the American economy shows tentative signs of a rebound, the human toll of the recession continues to mount, with millions of Americans remaining out of work, out of savings and nearing the end of their unemployment benefits.

Return of the John Birch Society?  —  In his history of National Review, former NR senior editor Jeffrey Hart notes one consequence of the 1964 election at the magazine.  “The odor of the John Birch Society had been so strong and so intolerable, and so damaging to Goldwater,” Hart recalls …

Islam envoy retreats on terror talk  —  President Barack Obama's new Islamic envoy, Rashad Hussain, changed course Friday — admitting that he made sharply critical statements about a U.S. terror prosecution against a Muslim professor after initially saying he had no recollection of making such comments.