How to spot and tag a Tea Party infiltrator  —  Happy Tax Day Tea Party.  Be safe out there.  A few tips on how to spot and tag a Tea Party infiltrator:  —  1. Ask them what the 10th amendment says.  —  2. Two letters: B.O. (and I'm not talking about the president's initials).

President Obama and Vice President Biden's Tax Returns  —  Today, the President released his 2009 federal income and gift tax returns.  He and the First Lady filed their income tax return jointly and reported an adjusted gross income of $ 5,505,409.  The vast majority of the family's 2009 income …

Rubio Tops Crist By 23 Points In Florida GOP Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Crist As Independent Has Slight Edge In 3-Way Race  —  Marco Rubio has opened up an elephant-sized 56 - 33 percent lead over Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida's U.S. Senate Republican primary …

Mitt Romney-Sarah Palin in 2012?  You betcha!  —  Conservative superstar Sarah Palin opened the door yesterday to joining forces with Mitt Romney for a 2012 White House run - a hot ticket that has some Republicans licking their chops at the prospect of unseating President Obama.

Obama Speech Signals a U.S. Shift on Middle East  —  WASHINGTON — It was just a phrase at the end of President Obama's news conference on Tuesday, but it was a stark reminder of a far-reaching shift in how the United States views the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and how aggressively it might push for a peace agreement.

Thompson says he won't run against Feingold  —  Madison - Former Gov. Tommy G. Thompson said Thursday that he would not challenge U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.).  —  “My family didn't want me to run,” Thompson told the Journal Sentinel moments before he gave a speech to a tea party gathering on the steps of the State Capitol.

Former NSA executive charged with leaking information to newspaper  —  A former senior executive with the National Security Agency has been indicted on 10 felony charges related to the alleged leaking of classified information to a national newspaper in 2006 and 2007, the Justice Department announced Thursday morning.

A Message from ‘Henry’  —  We're high earners not yet rich, and now the government wants us to pay more?  —  I'm in the 32% federal and 10% state income tax brackets.  I pay a 1.2% property tax on very expensive California real estate.  I am subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax.

Did Glenn Beck just post a new ratings low for 2010?  —  It sure looks that way, as Beck's ratings continue to sag.  —  Bottom line: Over the last nine months, Beck gained and then lost nearly one million viewers.  Trust me, in the world of cable news, that's not small feat.

Red-state conservatives and the U.S. census  —  Thursday is the day on which many Americans will take a step back, survey the country they inhabit, and wonder how the hell we got here.  —  April 15 has become our anti-Fourth of July, a holiday dedicated to disdain for the federal government …

Obama opens up on Rudd relationship  —  United States president Barack Obama says he and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd share several personality traits - one of which is humility.  —  The US president made the comments to the 7.30 Report's Kerry O'Brien during an interview which will be aired on ABC1 tonight.

Taxpayers foot State Department's stiff liquor bill  —  Months after President Obama urged federal agencies last year to cut wasteful spending, the U.S. Department of State paid $3,814 to fill an order of Jack Daniel's whiskey for gratuities at one of its many overseas embassies.  —  The booze buy wasn't unusual.

Early Bumps in Blumenthal's Senate Run in Connecticut  —  HARTFORD — Richard Blumenthal's campaign for the Senate was supposed to be a glide.  Nothing and no one could stop him.  —  As the Connecticut attorney general, Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat, had been sticking up for consumers …

Elena Kagan's Stints in Court May Hint at a Style On It  —  WASHINGTON — Two weeks ago, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, a leading contender for appointment to the Supreme Court, presented her sixth argument there.  She bantered easily with the justices, and she seemed to have a special rapport …

The Great Tea-Bait  —  Heath Shuler did not hear the “N-word” on March 20.  —  It may be the most celebrated missing recording since Watergate: the nonexistent or unaccounted-for video of the tea-party protesters at the Capitol who three black congressmen claim yelled racial slurs at them on March 20, the eve of ObamaCare's enactment.

Volcanic Ash Closes Down Air Traffic in North Europe  —  LONDON — Civil aviation authorities closed airspace and shut down airports in Britain, France, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe on Thursday as a high-altitude cloud of ash drifted south and east from an erupting volcano in Iceland.

Tea Parties Unveil ‘Contract From America’  —  Democratic Party Spokesman Says Contract Amounts to ‘Slogans Not a Plan’  —  Tea Party activists are once again descending on Washington, D.C., and this time they have a 10-point “Contract From America” that they want the next Congress to follow.

Lieberman warns he'll issue subpoenas over Fort Hood shootings  —  Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on Thursday threatened the Obama administration with subpoenas if it doesn't release information on the Fort Hood shootings sought by the committee by next Monday (April 19).

The Closing Of The Conservative Mind, Ctd  —  Jonathan Bernstein thinks that this somewhat bizarre post by McArdle, in response to Julian Sanchez's posts on the conservative cocoon, is an attempt to hijack the thread.  Matt Steinglass engages respectfully.  Chait goes after Jonah Goldberg, who leans heavily on Megan's post:

Europe's VAT Lessons  —  Rates start low and increase, while income tax rates stay high.  —  As Americans rush to complete their annual tax returns today, there is still some consolation in knowing that it could be worse: Like Europeans, we could pay both income taxes and a value-added tax, or VAT.