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.

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 …

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

RNC “census” mailer offers phone sex number  —  A new entrant in the when-it-rains-it-pours category.  —  The Republican National Committee sent a fundraising mail piece earlier this month with a return number that leads to a phone-sex line offering “live, one-on-one talk with a nasty girl …

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” …

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 …

Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson worries loading too many people onto Guam could capsize the island  —  First, before you watch this short but remarkable video, a little background on Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson.  —  He's from Georgia's Fourth District.  A Washington, D.C. native …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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)

Liberal group march meets pushback  —  A handful of liberal groups - but only a few dozen protesters — marched on the Republican National Committee offices Thursday to denounce the threats against members of Congress during the health care vote.  —  But in an oddly Washington moment …

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.

Study Claiming Link Between Stimulus Funding and Partisanship is Manifestly Flawed  —  A study purporting to find a connection between stimulus spending and the partisanship of a district suffers from an obvious flaw.  But in so doing, it provides an example of why it's important to retain …

Would the Founders Love ObamaCare?  —  The resistance to ObamaCare is about a lot more than the 10th Amendment.  —  The left-wing critics are right: The rage is not about health care.  They are also right that similar complaints about big government were heard during the New Deal and the Great Society, and the sky didn't fall.

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.

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.

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 …

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.”

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.

Snowe, Collins decline invitation to Obama event  —  Both Maine Senators declined the White House's invitation to attend President Obama's event in their home state today, according to White House spokesman Bill Burton.  —  Burton said the Maine Republicans decided not to attend Obama's healthcare speech in Portland, Maine.

Move Your Money: 90th Day Report  —  It's been one quarter since Move Your Money burst upon the scene on December 29, 2009.  Over the last 90 days, most of the media coverage of the campaign has focused on the amazing phenomenon that acting on the simple idea that putting their money …

Break Up the Banks  —  Big banks are bad for free markets.  Far from being engines of free enterprise, they are conducive to what might be called “crony capitalism,” “corporatism,” or, in Jonah Goldberg's provocative phrase, “liberal fascism.”  There is a free-market case for breaking …

Investigation Shows Ensign Appealed to Company  —  WASHINGTON — Senator John Ensign sought financial backing for a troubled Nevada energy company in 2008, and at the same time he urged the company to hire his mistress's husband, according to people involved in the matter.