The Battle Lines  —  Back in January, Frank Luntz wrote a memo saying that the best way to defend Wall Street from any new regulation was to spuriously characterize efforts at regulatory reform as leading to “endless bailouts.”  Then earlier this week, GOP Senate leaders Mitch McConnell …

Goldman Sachs Makes Further Comments on SEC Complaint  —  The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) said today:We are disappointed that the SEC would bring this action related to a single transaction in the face of an extensive record which establishes that the accusations are unfounded in law and fact.

Teacher Who Sought to ‘Demolish’ Tea Party Placed on Leave From School  —  An Oregon teacher who announced his intention to “dismantle and demolish the Tea Party” has been placed on administrative leave until his school district finishes its investigation into whether his political activity crossed the line

Judge strikes down adoption ban  —  LITTLE ROCK — A circuit judge Friday struck down a state law banning unmarried couples from adopting and serving as foster parents.  —  Act 1 unconstitutionally burdens non-marital relationships and acts of sexual intimacy between adults by forcing …

How Barack Obama invented himself  —  David Remnick's new biography of Barack Obama shines a light on a man who only saw his father for 10 days, and whose dazzling success may have hinged on his wife's willingness to take risks.  —  David Remnick, the editor of the New Yorker …

Voters Currently Divided on Second Obama Term  —  Just under half say he deserves re-election  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Registered voters are about evenly divided over whether President Barack Obama is deserving of a second term in office.  Currently, 46% say he deserves re-election and 50% say he does not.

Tax hikes still on the table for GOP at Obama's fiscal commission  —  Republicans aren't ruling out raising taxes or any other option for dealing with the country's debt problem as they head into the White House fiscal commission's first meeting.  —  “Everything is on the table,” …

Conservatives Are Just Beside Themselves Over ‘Glee’ Making Fun of The Half Governor.  Oh, Boo Hoo.  —  Seriously, the right-wing hysteria about - well, just about everything is wearing thin.  There's something so over the top, something so, well, histrionic about John Nolte's take on “Glee …

GE: 7,000 tax returns, $0 U.S. tax bill  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — General Electric filed more than 7,000 income tax returns in hundreds of global jurisdictions last year, but when push came to shove, the company owed the U.S. government a whopping bill of $0.  —  How'd it pull off that trick?

The White House, Elena Kagan, and Me  —  It's an odd thing to get attacked by the White House for a blog post, and odder still when the attack is for something mentioned in passing, and intended to highlight a political positive about a potential Supreme Court nominee.

Legal Experts Blast Judge's Decision: ‘If National Day of Prayer Is Unconstitutional, the Constitution Is Unconstitutional’  —  (CNSNews.com) - Conservative legal experts say a federal district judge in Wisconsin had no legal basis for declaring the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional - and predict the decision cannot stand.

New Orleans beating follow-up: Attackers yelled “Little blonde b*tch,” “f**king faggot,” nothing political  —  The other day I noted the frenzy of commentary over the assault in New Orleans involving a campaign fund-raising staffer for Louisiana GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal and her boyfriend.

We Will Never Say Thank You  —  Fearless Reader high-tailed it out of Washington to avoid witnessing yet another Tea Party gathering within view of the White House on Tax Day.  —  He visited Florida for three reasons: to break the hearts of NASA employees, to raise scads of money …

Arizona legalizes carrying concealed gun without a permit  —  In Arizona, it's now legal for (most) adults to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.  Republican Gov. Jan Brewer just signed the legislation, putting her state in the same camp as Alaska and Vermont.

Crist will look at indie bid ‘later on’  —  A day after vetoing a contentious teacher tenure bill in Tallahassee, Gov. Charlie Crist basked in the warm embrace of Miami-Dade educators and deflected questions about leaving the Republican party.  —  “I'm not thinking about that today,” …