U.S. Accuses Goldman Sachs of Fraud  —  Goldman Sachs, which emerged relatively unscathed from the financial crisis, was accused of securities fraud in a civil suit filed Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which claims the bank created and sold a mortgage investment that was secretly devised to fail.

White House complains about CBS News blog post saying that possible Supreme Court nominee is gay  —  The White House ripped CBS News on Thursday for publishing an online column by a blogger who made assertions about the sexual orientation of Solicitor General Elena Kagan, widely viewed as a leading candidate for the Supreme Court.

White NBC Reporter Confronts Black Man at Tea Party Rally: ‘Have You Ever Felt Uncomfortable?’  —  “There aren't a lot of African-American men at these events,” NBC News reporter Kelly O'Donnell, a white woman, told Darryl Postell, a black man at a Tea Party rally held Thursday in Washington …

The Fire Next Time  —  On Tuesday, Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, called for the abolition of municipal fire departments.  —  Firefighters, he declared, “won't solve the problems that led to recent fires.  They will make them worse.”  The existence of fire departments …

Source: Shakeup to come in Senate race  —  LAKE MARY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 News) - On Thursday, Governor Charlie Crist vetoed the controversial teacher merit pay bill, breaking with conservative ranks.  Then the head of the Republican U.S. Senate Re-election Committee issued a warning …

Brutal attack on Republican fundraiser and her boyfriend appears politically motivated  —  Last Friday night, Allee Bautsch, the chief fundraiser for Louisiana's Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal, was violently assaulted, along with her boyfriend, outside of a famed New Orleans restaurant.

U.S. SENATE RACE: Poll: Reid loses full ballot test  —  Third-party, nonpartisan candidates have little impact  —  U.S. Sen. Harry Reid must pick up far more support from crossover Republicans and independents to win re-election, according to a new poll that shows him losing to the GOP front-runner …

Barbour, advisers privately mull 2012  —  When asked about his presidential ambitions, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour told reporters earlier this year that “If you see me losing 40 pounds that means I'm either running or have cancer.”  —  It might be time to start watching Barbour's waistline.

HI-01: Three-way tie headed into special election  —  Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 4/11-14.  Likely voters.  MoE 5% (No trend lines)  —  Ed Case (D) 29  —  Colleen Hanabusa (D) 28  —  Charles Djou (R) 32  —  Other 4  —  Undecided 7  —  The May 22 special election is a “jungle primary” …

APNewsBreak: Feds Indict Ex-Blackwater President  —  APNewsBreak: Feds indict ex-Blackwater president, 4 others on weapons charges  —  The former president of Blackwater Worldwide and four other former officials at the embattled security firm were indicted Friday on federal weapons charges …

10 Ways to Force the Stinking Rich to Share Their Wealth  —  How rich people can stop whining about the deficit and start paying their taxes.  —  For all the moaning from deficit hawks, the U.S. budget is simply not in crisis.  If investors were losing confidence in our nation's ability …

Obama's nuclear strutting and fretting  —  There was something oddly disproportionate about the just-concluded nuclear summit to which President Obama summoned 46 world leaders, the largest such gathering on American soil since 1945.  That meeting was about the founding of the United Nations …