SEC staffers watched porn as economy crashed  —  WASHINGTON - Senior staffers at the Securities and Exchange Commission spent hours surfing pornographic websites on government-issued computers while they were being paid to police the financial system, an agency watchdog says.

Don't Cry for Wall Street  —  On Thursday, President Obama went to Manhattan, where he urged an audience drawn largely from Wall Street to back financial reform.  “I believe,” he declared, “that these reforms are, in the end, not only in the best interest of our country, but in the best interest of the financial sector.”

Schumer: Obama's ‘counter-productive’ Israel policy ‘has to stop’  —  New York Senator Chuck Schumer harshly criticized the Obama Administration's attempts to exert pressure on Israel today, making him the highest-ranking Democrat to object to Obama's policies in such blunt terms.

Potential Supreme Court pick Garland could find foes on left  —  Unlike several other possible candidates to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Merrick B. Garland probably won't face conservative opposition.  Instead, it could be liberals lining up against him.

GOP: Put Betty Sutton ‘back in the kitchen’?!  —  What's the best way to move women back decades?  Just ask the GOP.  —  The Republican Review, an apparent newsletter produced by the Medina County (Ohio) Republican Executive Committee, states the following:

Report says health care will cover more, cost more  —  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law is getting a mixed verdict in the first comprehensive look by neutral experts: More Americans will be covered, but costs are also going up.  —  Economic experts at the Health …

Redactions Revealed: The Six Secrets You Need to Know From the Obama Subpoena Request  —  Former governor Rod Blagojevich's defense team asked Thursday to issue a trial subpoena to the President of the United States of America.  —  The motion, intended to be heavily redacted …

The Real Republican Civil War  —  The struggle between Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist for the Florida Senate seat symbolizes the rift between the reformers and the establishment in the GOP.  —  Marco Rubio appeared on a Sunday talk show this month to say something remarkable.

The Government War  —  In these columns I try to give voice to a philosophy you might call progressive conservatism.  It starts with the wisdom of Edmund Burke — the belief that the world is more complex than we can know and we should be skeptical of handing too much power to government planners.

Liberty, Tyranny, and the Globe — By: NRO Staff  —  I don't know Jim Manzi, but given his out-of-nowhere rant, you'd think I ran over his dog or something.  Feel free to read my book, and the chapter Manzi distorts and cherry-picks, yourself.  You don't need Manzi to interpret it.

U.S. Faces Choice on New Weapons for Fast Strikes  —  WASHINGTON — In coming years, President Obama will decide whether to deploy a new class of weapons capable of reaching any corner of the earth from the United States in under an hour and with such accuracy and force that they would greatly …

Franklin Graham Regrets Army's Decision to Rescind Invite to Pentagon Prayer Service  —  Evangelist Franklin Graham said Thursday that he regrets the Army's decision to rescind its invitation to him for the Pentagon's National Day of Prayer service on May 6, but expressed “strong support” for the U.S. military.

David Cameron edges second leaders' debate, according to Times poll  —  David Cameron scored a narrow victory over Nick Clegg in the second leaders' debate last night after an impassioned contest turned personal.  —  The Tory leader scraped a win — on 37 per cent to Mr Clegg's 36 per cent — according to a Populus poll for The Times.

Fox News Poll: Obama Approval Up; Most Say Stop Blaming Bush  —  A Fox News poll released Thursday finds 66 percent of voters think President Obama should start taking responsibility.  That's more than three times as many as the 21 percent who think it's right to continue to blame …

White House leaves Durbin hanging  —  Sen. Dick Durbin slipped into the West Wing last week to ask Rahm Emanuel for White House help in saving Barack Obama's old Senate seat.  —  But he didn't leave with any ironclad commitments.  —  Durbin told Emanuel that Democratic nominee Alexi Giannoulias …

Democrat “Outs” Another Democrat For Being Straight  —  If you've been looking for further proof that American politics is going thoroughly bonkers as partisans claw for increasingly personal labels to hurl at and discredit foes or those who don't agree — it's a lot easier doing …

Key local to back Henry, likely foiling Stern succession plans  —  A giant New York-based local union is poised to vote to support California labor leader Mary Kay Henry (above) for the presidency of America's largest union today, three sources familiar with the union said …