Dems spark alarm with call for national ID card  —  A plan by Senate Democratic leaders to reform the nation's immigrations laws ran into strong opposition from civil liberties defenders before lawmakers even unveiled it Thursday.  —  Democratic leaders have proposed requiring every worker …

Oil From Spill Is Reported to Have Reached the Coast  —  NEW ORLEANS —Coast Guard officials were investigating reports early Friday morning that oil from a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico had washed ashore overnight, threatening fisheries and wildlife in fragile marshes and islands along the Gulf Coast.

Boehner: GOP Will Repeal Health Care Law  —  House Republican Leader John Boehner has said that his party will repeal the new health care law if the GOP gains a congressional majority in November.  —  “I think that we need to repeal the health care law and replace it with common-sense steps …

Arizona Legislature Passes Bill to Curb ‘Chauvanism’ in Ethnic Studies Programs  —  After making national headlines for a new law on illegal immigrants, the Arizona Legislature sent Gov. Jan Brewer a bill Thursday that would ban ethnic studies programs in the state that critics say currently advocate separatism and racial preferences.

Greene Enters Fla. Senate Race  —  Just when we thought the Florida Senate race couldn 't get any stranger...  No sooner did GOP Gov. Charlie Crist announce that he'll run as an independent, clearing the way for Marco Rubio to secure the Republican nomination, than billionaire credit default …

At some point you have grabbed enough power  —  Given that poorer citizens always outnumber the rich, the classic political philosophers held that government based on majority rule was untenable.  They were of the view that it would lead to organized theft from the wealthy by the democratic masses.

Justice Department opens Goldman Sachs criminal investigation, sources say  —  The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into possible securities fraud in mortgage trading at Goldman Sachs, law enforcement sources said Friday.  —  The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan …

Florida Republican Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite Retires  —  Hours before the state's filing deadline, Florida Republican Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite announced that she would leave Congress at the end of this term.  —  “As I have prepared for my campaign, I have been troubled by persistent health problems …

GDP growth drops to 3.2% in first quarter of 2010  —  In January, Barack Obama and Democrats insisted that the 5.7% annual growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2009 showed that their stimulus plan had set the American economy back on track for rapid growth and job creation.

Republicans Might Want to Rent, not Own, the House  —  President Barack Obama went on a campaign-style barnstorming tour of the Midwest this week, a reminder that this is a big political year posing a big political question: Can Republicans take back control of the House of Representatives?

Leslie Buck, Designer of Iconic Coffee Cup, Dies at 87  —  It was for decades the most enduring piece of ephemera in New York City and is still among the most recognizable.  Trim, blue and white, it fits neatly in the hand, sized so its contents can be downed in a New York minute.

Tweet Of The Day  —  “Every a**hole who ever chanted ‘Drill baby drill’ should have to report to the Gulf coast today for cleanup duty,” - Bill Maher.  —  I have always been in favor of Cape Wind off Cape Cod but the confluence of these two events will surely help swing public opinion further in favor of non-carbon energy.

Why Isn't Britain In More Trouble?  —  There have been various versions of the “Britain is the next Greece!” story out there; a good rundown at FT Alphaville.  As they note there, however, the CDS and bond markets don't seem to agree:  —  So is Britain different, and why?

Judge: Obama won't have to testify at Blagojevich trial  —  Ruling comes after ex-gov's aide Lon Monk pleads guilty to bribery charge  —  A federal judge in Chicago has denied a request from lawyers for ousted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to subpoena President Obama to testify in Blagojevich's upcoming corruption trial.

Drilling Process Attracts Scrutiny in Rig Explosion  —  An oil-drilling procedure called cementing is coming under scrutiny as a possible cause of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico that has led to one of the biggest oil spills in U.S. history, drilling experts said Thursday.

The man in the middle  —  Back in 1987, the man hired to crack wise at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner had a case of jagged nerves.  —  Ronald Reagan was president, and Jay Leno was just turning 37 — already a celebrated comic, not yet one of the country's most familiar faces.