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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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. …

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.

What's behind the anti-Tea Party hate narrative?  —  There's a new narrative taking hold in the wake of the recent Tea Party protests and the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing: The Tea Partiers' intense opposition to the Obama administration has led to overheated political rhetoric …

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

A Difficult Path in Goldman Case  —  The Securities and Exchange Commission has taken on a risky case as it tries to re-establish its credibility as an enforcer.  The outcome hinges on the strength of the evidence it has gathered.  —  WASHINGTON — In accusing Goldman Sachs of defrauding investors …

GOP Split Over How to Win in Fall  —  WASHINGTON—Sen. John Cornyn, who is spearheading the Republicans' campaign to take back the Senate, is on a roll.  The GOP snatched a seat in Massachusetts and polls favor Republicans in many key states.  —  But the genial Texas lawyer is facing an unusual challenge …

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

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” …

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 …

Unpacking the Gates' Iran memo leak  —  The weekend New York Times report on a three-page classified January memo by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on U.S. Iran policy has kicked up considerable debate and outcry for a memo that presumably very few people, not even the Times, have actually seen.

Hoyer says House won't vote on D.C. voting rights bill  —  The House will not vote on a bill granting the District of Columbia a voting member of Congress, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday.  —  “The price was too high,” said Hoyer (D-Md.), who cited extraneous measures …

Riders on the Storm  —  In 2001, Cass R. Sunstein wrote an essay in The Boston Review called “The Daily We: Is the Internet really a blessing for democracy?”  Sunstein, a professor at the University of Chicago who now serves in the Obama administration, raised the possibility that the Internet may be harming the public square.

McCain: AZ Bill's Racial Profiling Aspect Is Fine Because Immigrants “Are Intentionally Causing Accidents.” … O'REILLY: Now, next week, the governor is going to sign, we believe, a very stringent state law that gives the police in Arizona very, very broad authority to question people.

The costs of crossing the president  —  Will the White House punish Democrats who defected on the monumental health care overhaul?  —  “There is not a whole lot of [President] Barack Obama and [Vice President] Joe Biden to spare on a good day,” one senior White House official told POLITICO.