Obama: “I Can Go to My Right, but I Prefer My Left”  —  President Obama hit the basketball court and talked politics with CBS “Early Show” co-anchor Harry Smith this morning.  —  Smith asked Mr. Obama, who is left-handed, if he can ever go to his right.  —  “I can go to my right, but I prefer my left,” the president says.

Financial Reform 101  —  Let's face it: Financial reform is a hard issue to follow.  It's not like health reform, which was fairly straightforward once you cut through the nonsense.  Reasonable people can and do disagree about exactly what we should do to avert another banking crisis.

'IT'S TROUBLESOME': OBAMA SLAMS BECK & LIMBAUGH FOR ‘THIS KIND OF VITRIOL’  —  “It's pretty apparent.”

Three Congressmen Defy GOP Earmark Ban, Face Losing Committee Seats  —  Three Republican congressmen have defied their party's decision to ban all earmarks for one year, a move that could cost them their committee posts.  —  According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Reps. Anh “Joseph” …

Views of Pelosi Not Fundamentally Changed After Health Vote  —  Balance of opinion toward speaker still negative  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' views of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are not fundamentally changed after the passage of healthcare reform.  Though more Americans now have an opinion of her …

Debt disaster dead ahead  —  When the credit rating agency Moody's announced recently that the United States had moved “substantially” closer to losing its AAA bond rating, it largely ran as a wire brief, buried in newspaper business sections.  —  But this obscure announcement may one day be regarded …

More Struggling Borrowers Face Pay Garnishment  —  PHOENIX — When the bank sued Leann Weaver for not paying her credit card balance, her reaction was typical for someone in that situation.  Personal and financial setbacks weighed her down, and she knew she owed the $2,470.

Say It Just So, Joe  —  Liberals love Joe Biden because he keeps things interesting in the White House.  —  Nearly every day, Annie Lowrey, an editor and blogger for Foreign Policy magazine, sends a photo of Vice President Joe Biden to her Twitter followers.  Sometimes the photos are playful.

Mount Dora doctor tells Obama supporters: Go elsewhere  —  (Photo by Deirdre Lewis / April 1, 2010)  —  MOUNT DORA — A doctor who considers the national health-care overhaul to be bad medicine for the country posted a sign on his office door telling patients who voted for President Barack Obama to seek care “elsewhere.”

McCain: GOP hopes to sidestep veto in repeal efforts  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday backed a plan that he says would allow the Republicans to avoid a presidential veto while negating the effects of a new healthcare law.  —  The 2008 GOP presidential nominee backed a plan …

RNC Mailer Directs Donors to Sex Line: ‘We Love Nasty Talk as Much as You Do’  —  ABC News' Teddy Davis reports:  —  The Republican National Committee inadvertently sent a fundraising mail piece earlier this month with a return number that leads to a phone sex line offering to connect callers with …

Barack isn't my Daddy  —  And Congress can't just rewrite the facts  —  In 1897, a bill was introduced in the Indiana General Assembly that attempted to legally redefine the value of pi (the mathematical ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter).  The Indiana Pi Bill stands …

What's gender when you're D.C. Democrats trying to defeat a California Republican named Dana?  —  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is doing everything it can to defeat certain targeted Republicans around the country.  All part of the perpetual PR combat between parties.

The Professor of War  —  At 57, General David Petraeus has revolutionized the way America fights its wars, starting with the surge in Iraq and continuing into his current command, with responsibility for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Yemen.  Charting Petraeus's relentless challenge …

Barney Frank Permanently Bans Staff From Communicating With Aide-Turned-Lobbyist  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has instituted a permanent ban on committee staff communication with Peter Roberson, an aide who left the panel …

Iowa, I salute you.  —  You know, I judge the states by their rest stops.  Iowa rules supreme.  It's breezy and 77°, the sun is setting over the semis on I-80, and we're sitting outside with our laptops at a picnic table — and we can plug in our power cords and pick up free WiFi.

Abortion provider's killer is sentenced to life in prison  —  Scott Roeder is defiant in a Kansas courtroom as he receives a harsher sentence for shooting Dr. George Tiller in the face in 2009.  —  Scott Roeder sits in court Thursday.  (Jeff Tuttle / Associated Press)

Islamic groups block shaving contest  —  The banned Jamaat-ut Dawah (JuD) organisation, along with other religious parties in Karachi, have prevented the holding of a promotion event organised by a leading multinational company for its shaving razors by ransacking the venue.

Red America, White Power  —  Is the Tea Party movement motivated by race hatred?  —  On November 9, 1938, in the Tyrolian city of Innsbruck, Richard Berger, president of the local Jewish community, was snatched from his home and beaten to death with rocks and rifle butts, his body deposited in a nearby river.

Presidential spokesman who resigned over Nixon pardon dies  —  (CNN) - Jerald terHorst, who resigned as President Gerald Ford's press secretary just 30 days after taking the job because of the pardon Ford granted former President Richard Nixon, has died of congestive heart failure, his son said Thursday.

Security Check System for Flights to U.S. to Be Altered  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama has signed off on new security protocols for people flying to the United States, establishing a system that uses intelligence information and assessment of threats to identify passengers who could have links …

Health Care for All, With Obama Down the Street  —  PORTLAND, Me.  —  First through the door of the Portland Community Health Center on Thursday morning was a stick figure of a man, oblivious to the homemade signs and the White House advance team across the street.

Environmental regulations to curtail mountaintop mining  —  The Obama administration on Thursday imposed strict new environmental guidelines that are expected to sharply curtail “mountaintop” coal mining, a controversial practice that has enriched Appalachia's economy while rearranging its topography.

Pope has immunity in abuse trials: Vatican  —  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, accused by victims' lawyers of being ultimately responsible for a cover-up of sexual abuse of children by priests, cannot be called to testify at any trial because he has immunity as a head of state, a top Vatican legal official said on Thursday.

New ProgressiveSpeak: Denial On Obama's Triangulation  —  Booman just can not accept that he is endorsing triangulation.  So he invents a new definition - triangulation is NOT what Barack Obama does, even though it is exactly like triangulation: … All of this is a prelude to Booman tying himself …