Obama suggests value-added tax may be an option  —  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama suggested Wednesday that a new value-added tax on Americans is still on the table, seeming to show more openness to the idea than his aides have expressed in recent days.

Why The GOP Suddenly Let Up On Financial Reform  —  Within 48 hours, the Republican line on financial regulatory reform went from “filibuster” to “we're very close to a deal.”  Why the shift?  Republicans and Democrats will offer up spin all day, chalking up the progress to their own doggedness …

In WH meeting, ‘Only two of the elected officials in the room had never filibustered a Supreme Court nominee’  —  When Senate leaders went to the White House Wednesday morning to discuss the Supreme Court opening, the meeting was attended by President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden …

Michael Steele Acknowledges GOP Had “Southern Strategy” For Decades  —  A lot of people are pointing to a new set of remarks Michael Steele made about the Republican Party and race, in which Steele acknowledged that the GOP hasn't given African Americans a reason to support the party.

The tea party's exaggerated importance  —  2009 was the year when many journalists concluded they were slow to recognize the anti-government, anti-Obama rage that gave birth to the tea party movement.  —  2010 is the year when news organizations have decided to prove they get it.  —  And get it.

Exclusive: WellPoint routinely targets breast cancer patients  —  (Reuters) - One after another, shortly after a diagnosis of breast cancer, each of the women learned that her health insurance had been canceled.  First there was Yenny Hsu, who lived and worked in Los Angeles.

‘South Park’ Episode Is Altered After Muslim Group's Warning  —  A message posted on SouthParkStudios.com, the Web site of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's production company.  —  8:56 a.m. |  Updated  —  An episode of “South Park” that continued a story line involving the Prophet Muhammad …

Millions face tax increases under Dems budget plan  —  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's Democratic allies in the Senate promise to cut the deficit by almost two-thirds over the next five years, but their budget plan could threaten about 30 million people with tax increases averaging $3,700 …

'I've gone from being Churchill to a Nazi in a week': Clegg defends attack on Britain's ‘delusions of grandeur’ over WWII  —  A rattled Nick Clegg today sought to defend himself over his claim that the British people have a ‘more insidious cross to bear’ than Germany over World War II.

Bringing Thunder-ous change to New Jersey  —  The bridge spanning the Delaware River connects New Jersey's capital with this town where the nation's most interesting governor occasionally eats lunch at Cafe Antonio.  It also connects New Jersey's government with reality.

ChickenCare Goes Viral  —  Perhaps inevitably, as you can see in the picture at the left, a progressive group has now created a special ChickenCare dance remix of senate candidate Sue Lowden's proposal to bring down health care costs by adopting a barter economy in medical care.

Existing-Home Sales Rise on Home Buyer Tax Credit and Favorable Market Conditions  —  Buyers responding to the homebuyer tax credit and favorable affordability conditions boosted existing-home sales in March, marking the beginning of an expected spring surge, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

In Judicial Bouts, Diane Wood Shows a Persuasive Punch  —  WASHINGTON — There were few liberals and just one woman on the federal appeals court in Chicago when Diane P. Wood, an antitrust expert with a flair for foreign language and an ear for playing the oboe, showed up in the summer of 1995.

BANKS: Deposits Guaranteed … Through the great banking houses of Manhattan last week ran wild-eyed alarm.  Big bankers stared at one another in anger and astonishment.  A bill just passed by both houses of Congress would rivet upon their institutions what they considered a monstrous system of guaranteeing bank deposits.

US military jury clears SEAL in Iraq abuse case  —  BAGHDAD (AP) — A U.S. military jury cleared a Navy SEAL Thursday of failing to prevent the beating of an Iraqi prisoner suspected of masterminding a 2004 attack that killed four American securit...

U.N.'s Ballooning $732 Million Haiti Peacekeeping Budget Goes Mostly to Its Own Personnel  —  The United Nations has quietly upped this year's peacekeeping budget for earthquake-shattered Haiti to $732.4 million, with two-thirds of that amount going for the salary, perks and upkeep of its own personnel …

Epistemic Nonsense - Count Me on Team Levin  —  Yesterday, our good friend Mark Levin was attacked on The Corner over at National Review Online by one of his fellow contributors there, Jim Manzi.  I am not going to link to his hit piece.  I found it to be beneath what I thought I knew of him and beneath The Corner.

Jim DeMint Talks to Brody File About Whether He Wants to Run for President  —  Senator Jim DeMint, a favorite of the Tea party movement and an influential conservative in the country tells The Brody File that while he won't rule out running for President in 2012 he says, “It's not something I desire”.