U.S. Adds 162,000 Jobs in March; Rate Remains 9.7%  —  The American economy added 162,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department reported Friday, in a month when the government hired thousands of temporary census workers.  —  Multimedia  —  The unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent …

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.

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.”

Obama's Approval Rating Hits New Low  —  Posted by Tucker Reals 15 comments - Share - - - Share - E-mail - Print - Font Last week, President Obama signed historic health care reform legislation into law — but his legislative success doesn't seem to have helped his image with the American public.

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 …

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.

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

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.

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 Ecstasy of Fiscal Policy  —  Let's say you're a political consultant.  You're sitting there in your West Hollywood bondage-themed strip club with party donors picking up the tab, and, of course, you're thinking about what a great country this is.  Swept up in the spirit of gratitude, you decide you'd like to give back.

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.

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.

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 …

Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL): 'I Don't Worry About the Constitution'  —  Within one week of ObamaCare being crammed through the Congress, we had Rep Jesse Jackson Jr. admiting that programs would need to be cut to pay for it and we had Sen. Max Baucus admit that it was really a wealth re-distribution plan.

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)

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 …

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” …

Behind the Headlines: What's driving the Tea Party Movement?  —  New polling data examines the demographics and political philosophy behind the Tea Party Movement  —  WASHINGTON DC (April 1, 2010) — Tea Party activists may be ardent supporters of economic conservatism but are similar …

Ratings Fall on Newscasts at 2 Networks  —  With buyouts and layoffs in progress, the mood at ABC News cannot be good.  It was probably not enhanced by the ratings report for the first quarter of the year showing that the network's evening newscast, “World News,” had sunk to the lowest numbers …

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 …

Partisan Trends  —  Partisan Trends: Number of D's and R's Both Grow During Health Care Debate  —  In March, the number of Democrats increased by just over a full percentage point and the number of Republicans increased by just under a full percentage point.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

The elitists vs. the rest of us  —  Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards twice ran unsuccessfully for president on a platform based on his contention that there are “two Americas: the America of the privileged and the wealthy, and the America of those who live from paycheck to paycheck.”