Head Lock  —  The inside story of how Goldman and the banks are getting clobbered on financial reform.  —  Some two dozen executives from large corporations will be descending on Capitol Hill today to make the case against over-regulating derivatives.  The “fly-in” is being organized in part …

FDA plans to limit amount of salt allowed in processed foods for health reasons  —  The Food and Drug Administration is planning an unprecedented effort to gradually reduce the salt consumed each day by Americans, saying that less sodium in everything from soup to nuts would prevent thousands …

McCain: I won't support Crist if he runs as an Independent candidate  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday he will not support Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) in his Senate race if he runs as an Independent.  —  Crist, who helped McCain win Florida in the 2008 presidential GOP primary …

Supreme Court voids law aimed at banning animal cruelty videos  —  The Supreme Court struck down a federal law Tuesday aimed at banning videos depicting graphic violence against animals, saying that it violates the constitutional right to free speech.  —  Chief Justice John J. Roberts Jr. …

Halperin Takes A Stand  —  It isn't every day that a consumate inside-game reporter/pundit type like Mark Halperin aggressively calls out one party for lying, but that's exactly what Halperin did early this morning on MSNBC, talking about the GOP claim that the Dem financial reg reform bill will lead to a permanent bailout.

For Apple, Lost iPhone Is a Big Deal  —  For anyone who has ever lost a cellphone, remember this: it could be worse.  You could be the person who left his phone in a bar in California.  And it wasn't just any phone; it was a supersecret version of the next iPhone.

Waco  —  Bill Clinton's invocation of Timothy McVeigh in connection with the Tea Party movement caused me to recall my review of a book on the Waco massacre that was a motivation for McVeigh.  The book under review was Reavis, The Ashes of Waco, and it appeared in the Times Literary Supplement in 1995.

White House: Obama Won't Make Cautious Court Pick Because GOP Will Oppose Whoever He Nominates  —  President Obama thinks Republicans will engage in a full battle over his Supreme Court nominee regardless of the person's ideological leanings, and in some ways “that realization is liberating for the president” …

Ronald Reagan and James Dean: Rare Video from 1954  —  Today, it's an astonishing, even eerie, scene: the icon of modern American conservatism, whose rise to political prominence was galvanized by the cultural rebellion of the 1960s, fighting off an attack-at-gunpoint by the quintessential modern American rebel.

Dem to Obama: Push immigration or I'll tell Latino voters to stay home  —  A congressman from the president's home state is threatening that he will urge Latino voters to stay home this November if the Democratic Party does not make a concerted effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

California senator complains of harassment from Palin fans  —  California State Senator Leland Yee, who has been battling a state university over disclosing Sarah Palin's speaking contract, complains in a press release today that he's been getting nasty emails and faxes.

McConnell softens tone on finance regulation bill  —  A Democratic Wall Street overhaul bill may be gaining an unlikely champion: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).  —  After a week of attacking the pending legislation as a ticket to new taxpayer “bailouts,” McConnell is striking a different tone.

Obama to Save Boxer Like He Saved Corzine!  —  Do Obama and Boxer realize they are on the wrong side of a tsunami of voter discontent with a government run by and for the public employee unions?  —  President Obama is “swooping” into Los Angeles today to try to save Senator Barbara Boxer …

Dorothy I. Height, founding matriarch of civil rights movement, dies at 98  —  Dorothy I. Height, 98, a founding matriarch of the American civil rights movement whose crusade for racial justice and gender equality spanned more than six decades, died early Tuesday morning of natural causes …

Gay rights protesters interrupt Obama speech at fundraiser  —  Gay rights protesters interrupted President Barack Obama's speech at a fundraiser for California Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) Monday night in Los Angeles.  —  Activists from a group called GetEQUAL began shouting at Obama while he was speaking at the podium.

Burns leads Critz 44-41  —  Buoyed by an electorate that is exceptionally sour on national Democrats, Republican Tim Burns has a 44-41 lead over Democrat Mark Critz in the special election to replace John Murtha in the House.  —  It's a rare election these days where both candidates are viewed pretty favorably in the district.

ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO CHARGES PEDRO ESPADA JR. AND 19 EXECUTIVES WITH LOOTING HIS BRONX NOT-FOR-PROFIT  —  Espada and His Family Siphoned More Than $14 Million Over 5 Years  —  Espada Packed Board with Family Members and Senate Employees to Rubber Stamp Expenditures

Greater transparency around government requests  —  Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information …