Obama Limits When U.S. Would Use Nuclear Arms  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama said Monday that he was revamping American nuclear strategy to substantially narrow the conditions under which the United States would use nuclear weapons, even in self defense.  —  But the president …

A Top GOP Conservative Defends Pelosi, Slams Fox  —  Tom Coburn fiercely opposed Nancy Pelosi on the Health Bill but praised her as a “nice person.”  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — An Oklahoma town hall meeting with colorful characters and a lot of populist anger brought out an often glossed over side …

Video Shows 2007 Air Attack in Baghdad That Killed Photographer  —  WASHINGTON — The Web site WikiLeaks.org released a graphic video on Monday showing an American helicopter shooting and killing a Reuters photographer and driver in a July 2007 attack in Baghdad.

McMillen: I Was Sent to Fake Prom  —  To avoid Constance McMillen bringing a female date to her prom, the teen was sent to a “fake prom” while the rest of her class partied at a secret location at an event organized by parents.  —  McMillen tells The Advocate that a parent-organized prom happened behind …

Death Toll Hits 25 in West Virginia Coal Mine Blast  —  MONTCOAL, W.Va. — The death toll from a blast at a West Virginia coal mine rose to 25 on Tuesday, federal safety officials said, making it the worst mining accident in the United States in 25 years.  —  Four miners were still missing …

Young Eagles: Life in the fast lane  —  The big fundraising event at the Philadelphia Phillies home opener is canceled.  So is the one at the steeplechase race in Virginia horse country and the weekend at the North Carolina paramilitary training compound.  No definite word on the professional …

Relax, We'll Be Fine  —  According to recent polls, 60 percent of Americans think the country is heading in the wrong direction.  The same percentage believe that the U.S. is in long-term decline.  The political system is dysfunctional.  A fiscal crisis looks unavoidable.  There are plenty of reasons to be gloomy.

IRS chief: Buy health insurance or lose your tax refund  —  Individuals who don't purchase health insurance may lose their tax refunds according to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman.  After acknowledging the recently passed health-care bill limits the agency's options for enforcing the individual mandate …

Dems' special-election scramble  —  The prospect of losing two House seats in back-to-back special elections next month has sparked a vigorous, behind-the-scenes Democratic effort, designed to avoid an outcome that could lead to panic among the rank and file and stall the momentum generated …

Americans Prioritize Energy Over Environment for First Time  —  Data represent a continuing shift in opinion toward energy production  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans are more likely to say the U.S. should prioritize development of energy supplies than to say it should prioritize protecting the environment …

ExxonMobil paid no federal income tax in 2009.  —  Last week, Forbes magazine published what the top U.S. corporations paid in taxes last year.  “Most egregious,” Forbes notes, is General Electric, which “generated $10.3 billion in pretax income, but ended up owing nothing to Uncle Sam.

Five stumbling blocks that could wipe out Democrats in November  —  Democrats feel they have grabbed political momentum, but the party still faces several dangers that could wipe it out in November.  —  Democratic strategists and independent political experts identify roughly five stumbling blocks …

White House Correspondents' dinner just got harder for party crashers  —  Bad news for Washington's junior varsity Salahis: The most crashable (yet crash-worthy) party in town is taking new measures to keep you out.  —  For years, it has been an open secret in D.C. media-political circles …

Majority in California support gay marriage, Times/USC poll finds  —  Same-sex marriage got majority support in the latest Los Angeles Times/USC poll — much like a similar poll by the Public Policy Institute of California earlier this spring.  —  But does that mean that a measure to repeal Proposition 8 …

Strickland to Kasich: release tax returns  —  Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland on Monday, April 5, called on his Republican opponent John Kasich to release copies of his federal income tax returns as Strickland has done in the past and plans to do again this month.  —  “He, for whatever reason, has chosen not to do so.

Divided Government  —  In an exchange on the Brookings website, Jonathan Rauch makes the case for divided government, and in a characteristically crisp way: … Jonathan has advanced the merits of divided government before.  See “The curse of one-party government”.

A Congressional Panel, Hobbled in Its Financial Inquiry  —  WASHINGTON — The panel established by Congress to investigate the causes of the financial crisis has been hobbled by delays and internal disagreements and a lack of focus, according to interviews with a majority of its members and government officials briefed on its work.

Health insurers sue to raise rates  —  Say state's veto will cause huge losses; Showdown near on regulatory power  —  A half-dozen health insurers yesterday filed a lawsuit against the state seeking to reverse last week's decision by the insurance commissioner to block double-digit premium increases …

What are you worth to your bank?  —  Let's take a breather from shadow banking to discuss commercial banking.  (We play both kinds here, country *and* western.)  Specifically you, as a customer: How much does your commercial bank make off of you?  —  I recently went out for drinks in Greenpoint with the creators of Bank Simple.