Air Marshals Stop Alleged ‘Shoe Bomb’ Attempt On United Jet to Denver  —  Qatari Diplomat In Custody After Attempting to ‘Light Up’ His Shoes  —  Federal air marshals subdued a man who authorities say attempted to “light his shoes on fire” on a United flight from Washington Reagan to Denver Wednesday night …

McDonnell apologizes  —  After a defensive first reaction, Bob McDonnell realizes that there's little upside to this fight for him:  —  The proclamation issued by this Office designating April as Confederate History Month contained a major omission.  The failure to include any reference …

Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax  —  Recession, new tax credits have nearly half of US households paying no federal income tax  —  FILE - In this April 5, 2010 file photo, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman gestures while speaking at the National Press Club in Washington.

Kyrgyz opposition claims control  —  Violence on the streets of Bishkek as protesters and police clash  —  The opposition in Kyrgyzstan says it is setting up a “people's government” after deadly clashes left some 65 dead.  —  Ex-Foreign Minister Roza Otunbayeva told the BBC that new defence and interior ministers had been appointed.

Palin, Bachmann enthrall Minn. rally  —  Two of the conservative movement's biggest stars, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), lavished praise on each other Wednesday at a boisterous rally held at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

What now for Eliot Spitzer?  —  (Fortune) — Fortune editor at large Peter Elkind spent almost two years working on his new book, Rough Justice: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, due out from Portfolio April 20.  An exclusive excerpt of the book will appear in the next issue of Fortune and on Fortune.com.

Rep. Wasserman Schultz Insists Health Care Law Doesn't Require Individuals to Buy Insurance  —  (CNSNews.com) - Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D.-Fla.) is insisting that the new health care law she voted for last month does not mandate that individuals buy health insurance, despite language in the law that plainly says otherwise.

Augusta's Chairman Rebukes Woods  —  AUGUSTA, Ga. — The annual Masters address by the chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club is usually a routine, even humdrum, affair.  The principal topic of conversation is often the speed of the greens, and the closest thing to controversy …

Five things we learned about Obamacare after it passed  —  “[W]e have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.”  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., famously said that about President Obama's health care reform package.  She was right.

AP sources: FBI arrests man for threatening Pelosi  —  WASHINGTON — The FBI arrested a northern California man Wednesday for allegedly making threatening phone calls to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over health care reform, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

GOP lawmaker ripped by Tea Party activist  —  Republican Rep. Frank LoBiondo (N.J.) received heavy criticism from a Tea Party activist at a recent town hall meeting in his district.  —  In a YouTube video, the eighth-term congressman is grilled on his knowledge of the Constitution …

Voters Issue Strong Rebuke of Incumbents in Congress  —  Fewer than half (49%) would re-elect own member, 28% for most members  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A record-low percentage of U.S. voters — 28% — say most members of Congress deserve to be re-elected.  The previous low was 29% in October 1992.

STORMY STUNT IRKS GOP  —  Stormy Daniels and her team may not have come to a conclusion about her Senate candidacy over the past few months (and we'd be surprised if they ever do!), but she's nonetheless managed to be a thorn in the side of Louisiana Republicans.

GOP will win House, Senate  —  Stanley Greenberg and James Carville claim that the Republican Party has peaked too soon.  —  Stanley Greenberg and James Carville claim that the Republican Party has peaked too soon.  Incredibly, Greenberg says that “when we look back on this, we're going to say Massachusetts is when 1994 happened.”

Internal grumbling on GOP's healthcare message intensifies  —  Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are facing a mini-rebellion against their message on healthcare reform.  —  Every GOP lawmaker rejected the Democrats' bill last month, but the party is now split on whether to call for a full repeal of the new law.

Behind Obama's Cool  —  In 2004, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois attended a White House event wearing the campaign pin of her state's candidate for the United States Senate.  When she saw President Bush do a double take at the one word on her pin, she assured him that it spelled “Obama,” not “Osama.”

China Offers High-Speed Rail to California  —  BEIJING — Nearly 150 years after American railroads brought in thousands of Chinese laborers to build rail lines across the West, China is poised once again to play a role in American rail construction.  But this time, it would be an entirely different role …

U.S. looks to nonnuclear weapons to use as deterrent  —  As the White House pushes for cuts in the U.S. nuclear arsenal, the Pentagon is developing a weapon to help fill the gap: missiles armed with conventional warheads that could strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour.