Obama to Open Offshore Areas to Oil Drilling for First Time  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time, officials said Tuesday.

Tony Perkins urges conservatives to stop giving money to RNC  —  Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council and an influential social conservative, is urging his members to stop giving money to the Republican National Committee, POLITICO has learned.  —  “I've hinted at this before …

Palin, Fox News, LL Cool J tangle over phantom interview  —  Here's a chapter in the culture wars that no one saw coming: Sarah Palin and Fox News facing off against '80s rap star and actor LL Cool J.  —  Palin makes her hosting debut Thursday night on Fox, as captain of an interview special in Greta Von Susteren's 10 p.m. slot.

Memo to Paul Krugman and Rep. Van Hollen: My Search Was Not in Vain (Updated)  —  In last Thursday's column, Paul Krugman admitted to having fun watching “right-wingers go wild.”  One of the things that apparently delighted him was this map which Sarah Palin posted on her Facebook page:

Taxes per Person  —  Some pundits, reflecting on the looming U.S. budget deficits, claim that Americans are vastly undertaxed compared with other major nations.  I was wondering, to what extent is that true?  —  The most common metric for answering this question is taxes as a percentage of GDP.

Breaking: Judge Walker Grants Summary Judgment Finding Gov't Liable Under FISA  —  Short version: al-Haramain wins!  —  Judge Walker just issued the following ruling in the al-Haramain case: … Walker is basically saying, “Well, government, if you won't give us any evidence to prove …

Evan Coyne Maloney remembers  —  Evan Coyne Maloney is the documentary filmmaker and proprietor of Brain Terminal.  During the Bush administration, Evan was out in the field with his camera observing protests and interviewing protesters.  He is therefore in a good position to recall the signs …

GOP Wary of Health Law Repeal Push in Fall Races  —  GOP leaders temper call for repealing health law, saying jobs, economy are key to fall races  —  Top Republicans are increasingly worried that GOP candidates this fall might be burned by a fire that's roaring through the conservative base …

Clinton Pollster: If Election Were Today, It Would Be Like '94  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  The pollster manning the ship for President Bill Clinton during the disastrous 1994 congressional elections is experiencing some déjà vu as the Democratic Party approaches this off-year contest.

Tea Partier Tells Mediaite Racist Sign Was Forged; We Have Him On Record Defending Its Use  —  Self-proclaimed Tea Party founder Dale Robertson told Tommy Christopher at Mediaite that the infamous photo of him holding a sign with the n-word (which he spelled wrong) is a fake.  Reports Christopher:

Democrats On Top In Ohio Senate, Governor Races, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Obama Bounces Back From Big Negative To A Split  —  Democrats are having a mini-surge in Ohio as two possible candidates for the open U.S. Senate seat have come from behind to pass the Republican contender …

Gallup: Majority Says Dem Health Reform Tactics Were “Abuse Of Power”  —  Yesterday I noted the seemingly odd finding by Gallup that more Americans blame Democrats than Republicans or conservatives for the rash of violence that greeted the passage of the reform law.

Private Sector Sheds Jobs  —  Private-sector jobs in the U.S. dropped by 23,000 this month.  Above, unemployed Americans line up as they wait to gain entry to meet employers at the Los Angeles Career Fair in March.  —  Private-sector jobs in the U.S. dropped by 23,000 this month …

Corker: Health reform won't be repealed  —  U.S. Sen. Bob Corker said Wednesday that Republican efforts to repeal sweeping health care reform are futile, and instead promoted incremental fixes in a wide-ranging talk in Nashville.  —  In the immediate aftermath of the reform's passage …

Excessive Outrage on Retiree Subsidy Accounting  —  So as blogged yesterday, the new health care plan changed the tax treatment of a subsidy for retiree prescription drug benefits, which caused those companies who had received the subsidy to announce a charge against their deferred tax assets.

Barack The Good  —  The big government liberalism that Mr. Obama uses to make himself history-making also alienates him in the center-right America of today.  —  It has to be acknowledged that, in his battle for health-care reform, President Obama has shown real presidential mettle.

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway Take Some Time Out From Battling The Teabaggers To Talk With Us Live  —  I've been noticing a disturbing trend in the Kentucky contest for the Senate seat that McConnell forced Jim Bunning to give up.  Whenever you line up the candidates on the issues …

David Mills, writer for ‘Homicide: Life on the Street,’ ‘NYPD Blue,’ ‘ER,’ ‘The Wire’ and HBO's upcoming ‘Treme,’ dies at age 48 … David Mills, a staff writer and co-executive producer of the upcoming HBO drama “Treme,” died of a brain aneurysm Tuesday in New Orleans, an HBO spokesman confirmed Wednesday morning.