Democratic Party Image Drops to Record Low  —  Favorable images of Democratic, Republican Parties now tied  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' favorable rating of the Democratic Party dropped to 41% in a late March USA Today/Gallup poll, the lowest point in the 18-year history of this measure.

Glenn Beck Inc  —  In his empire there's the ideology—and then there's the money machine.  —  Five and a half hours before showtime Glenn Beck still isn't quite sure how he'll provide tonight's entertainment, “The Future of History”—two hours of monologue (and answers to preselected questions) …

Poll: Low Favorability Ratings for Sarah Palin  —  CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.  —  Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin continues to receive unfavorable ratings from the American public overall …

Perkins Warns Steele: ‘Republicans Are Not the Only Game in Town’  —  ABC News' Rick Klein reports: Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council last week broke with RNC Chairman Michael Steele by publicly urging conservatives to stop supporting the Republican National Committee.

National Democrats growing increasingly worried about Hawaii special election  —  National Democrats are growing increasingly concerned that the presence of two well-known candidates in an all-party special election in Hawaii next month will badly jeopardize their chances of holding the seat …

Cutting defense spending more popular than cutting education or Social Security  —  The chart above comes from Annie Lowrey, and is the single best explanation of why it's so much easier to say you want to cut government spending than it is to actually cut it.

EXCLUSIVE: President Obama Confident Senate Will Ratify New Nuclear Treaty  —  Obama's Message to Republicans: U.S., Russian Agreement Is ‘Absolutely Vital’ for U.S. Nuclear Agenda  —  Despite signs of Republican opposition, President Obama said today that he is confident …

Republicans Lead In Pennsylvania Senate, Governor Races, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Rendell Approval Up, While Obama Approval Is Down  —  Republican Pat Toomey is back on top 46 - 41 percent over Sen. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania's seesaw U.S. Senate race, while Attorney General Tom Corbett …

Romney: Obamacare is unconstitutional  —  In an interview at the Union Leader this morning, Mitt Romney said President Obama's health care plan was an unconstitutional violation of the 10th Amendment.  —  Romney has been saying that a key difference between his Massachusetts health care reform …

Power Struggle: Inside The Battle For The Soul Of The Democratic Party (Print Version)  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Raúl Grijalva is sitting quietly with a few of his staffers at one end of the bar, a bottle of Bud and a shot of whiskey in front of him, while his fellow Democratic members …

Cows absolved of causing global warming with nitrous oxide  —  Livestock could actually be good for the environment according to a new study that found grazing cows or sheep can cut emissions of a powerful greenhouse gas.  —  In the past environmentalists, from Lord Stern to Sir Paul McCartney …

Why So Glum?  History Suggests a Strong Recovery  —  The American economy appears to be in a cyclical recovery that is gaining strength.  Firms have begun to hire and consumer spending seems to be accelerating.  —  That is what usually happens after particularly sharp recessions …

GOPers Debate What's Worse — Keep Steele Or Face Media Blitz If He's Fired  —  Even Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele's harshest critics agree that pushing him out before his tenure is up would be a PR nightmare — saying that even though he may deserve the boot …

It's On: CBO Fielding VAT Questions From Congress  —  White House advisor Paul Volcker made news this week by calling a value-added tax (VAT) “not as toxic an idea” as it's been in the past for tackling the nation's deficit problem.  Today, Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf confirmed he's …

Linda Douglass leaving White House  —  Linda Douglass, the network TV correspondent who became a top pitchwoman for President Obama's health care plan, is leaving the White House.  —  She sounds like she needs a break; her last day is April 16, and she leaves for vacation the next day.

BREAKING: Obama Administration Denies Visas to Israeli Nuclear Scientists  —  The Obama administration is now denying U.S. visas to Israeli scientists who work at that nation's Dimona nuclear reactor.  This startling reversal of traditional policy was reported April 7, 2010 …

The Female Century vs The Hetaerae Century & The John Edwards “Affair”  —  Now, that the slogan “job creation” is being paraded by the democrats in office as an accomplishment of great significance meant to alleviate the serious economic precarious situation facing the country.

GOP's ‘Repeal and replace’ slogan has no grounding in reality  —  AJC editors and columnists just finished a pretty wide-ranging 80-minute interview with Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and I took the opportunity to ask a question that had been nagging at me for a while.

Suspect in Pelosi threats case weeps at court hearing  —  A man accused of threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wept Thursday as he talked to his attorney before a federal court hearing.  —  San Francisco, California (CNN) - A man accused of threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wept Thursday …

ANALYSIS: Nearly 70% Of Officials In Right-Wing Health Care Suit Are Up For Re-Election Or Higher Office  —  Even before President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, right-wing state attorneys general were announcing their intentions to sue the federal government over the constitutionality of health care reform.

The unemployment rate and November  —  “All these wonderful graphs and not one that tracks what really matter, the unemployment RATE,” wrote visionbrkr in response to my earlier round-up of economic graphs.  Actually, I'd just forgotten to include an unemployment rate chart, it wasn't part of some devious plan to hide the metric.

Humboldt County afraid of being uprooted from pot perch  —  As legalization of marijuana grows as a possibility, the Northern California enclave where weed culture thrives ponders its future.  Would its pot economy wither or does greater opportunity await?  —  Garberville radio host Anna …