Obama Bypassing Congress to Appoint Chief of Medicare and Medicaid  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama will bypass Congress and appoint Dr. Donald M. Berwick, a health policy expert, to run Medicare and Medicaid, the White House said Tuesday.  —  Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director …

Levi Johnston Apologizes to Palin Family for ‘Youthful Indiscretion’  —  Levi Johnston isn't just getting past his differences with Bristol Palin - he's also hoping to make amends with her famous mom.  —  “Last year, after Bristol and I broke up, I was unhappy and a little angry.

Obama Job Approval Rating Down to 38% Among Independents  —  Overall job ratings for the president continue to be below majority level  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Thirty-eight percent of independents approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as president, the first time independent approval of Obama …

UAE ambassador to US: ‘Bomb Iran’  —  Yousef al-Otaiba reportedly says “we cannot live with a nuclear Iran.”  —  Talkbacks (7)  —  Make JPOST.COM your Home Page  —  Iranian Threat  —  Jewish World  —  Local Israel  —  Arts & Culture  —  Français  —  Classifieds  —  Israel

Darrell Issa Emerges as Obama's Annoyer-in-Chief  —  WASHINGTON — As a sign of the pride Representative Darrell Issa takes in annoying the Obama administration, consider his account of a recent exchange with Rahm Emanuel, a former congressman and now the White House chief of staff.

America's most unlikely politician  —  Last month, an unknown, unemployed former soldier astonished America by becoming the Democratic nominee for South Carolina's upcoming senate election.  How on earth did he do it?  —  The journey to the home of one of the most enigmatic figures to emerge …

Democrats digging harder than ever for dirt on Republicans  —  The Democratic Party is moving faster and more aggressively than in previous election years to dig up unflattering details about Republican challengers.  In House races from New Jersey to Ohio to California …

Mayberry Machiavellis: Obama Political Team Handcuffing Recovery  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Under the leadership of President George W. Bush, science, empirical evidence and expert advice struggled to be heard above the din of politics.  It's one thing to prioritize politics over good policy …

Video: The nice young man Eric Holder let off the hook  —  When Attorney General Eric Holder suddenly reversed course and had the DoJ dismiss the voter-intimidation case against two New Black Panther Party activists stemming from an incident in 2008 in Philadelphia, many questioned why the DoJ would quit a case it had already won.

The Least Dangerous Branch  —  Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist that the judiciary would be the least dangerous branch of government.  He based this on the third branch lacking “the power of the executive branch and the political passions of the legislature.”

San Francisco starts soda ban as soda tax still pending in Michigan Legislature  —  The practical effects are being felt today from a ban on sugary drinks in San Francisco even as libertarian groups continue to cast doubt on the thesis.  —  The San Francisco policy, the result of an executive order …

A Case Study in Teacher Bailouts  —  Milwaukee shows that unions will keep resisting concessions if Washington rides to the rescue.  —  Milwaukee  —  The Obama administration is pressuring Congress to spend $23 billion to rehire the more than 100,000 teachers who have been laid off across the country.

Federal Government Helped Pay Home Air-Conditioning Bills for Federal Employees, Prisoners and More Than 11,000 Dead People  —  (CNSNews.com) - According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the federal government helped pay the home air conditioning bills for more than 11,000 dead people …

How New-START will improve our nation's security  —  Even in these polarized times, anyone seeking the presidency should know that the security of the United States is too important to be treated as fodder for political posturing.  Sadly, former governor Mitt Romney failed that test in arguing …

The NASA (non) feeding frenzy  —  From a Nexis search a few moments ago:  —  Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program in the New York Times: 0.  —  Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program in the Washington Post: 0.  —  Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program on NBC Nightly News: 0.

TSA drops policy blocking ‘controversial’ sites  —  Revises ‘acceptable use’ for Internet access after criticism  —  After an uproar from conservative bloggers and free-speech activists, the Transportation Security Administration late Tuesday rescinded a new policy that would have prevented employees …

Perfect — Eric Holder's DOJ crony leading SB1070 challenge is member of the “Gitmo 9”, who represented terrorists in court  —  The White House is so laser-focused on the environmental tragedy in the Gulf* that the Obama Justice Department today filed suit against Arizona.

Justice Thomas's wife takes on Obama  —  When Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's wife announced in 2008 that she was going to help run Washington operations for a Michigan college once described as “a citadel of American conservatism,” she said the move was her “way of pulling away from politics” …

Republican budget hawks boost Obama's bipartisan deficit panel  —  A White House commission tasked with winding down trillion-dollar deficits has won a boost from Congress's leading GOP budget hawks, who say it is off to a strong start.  —  Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) and Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.) …

On the Left, A False Choice Fuels The Growing Civil War Over Obama  —  There is a civil war on the left over Barack Obama.  The fault lines are jagged, and depending on the issue, porous, but broadly, the split is along two fronts:  — Those who believe that critiquing - and occasionally opposing …

Tanning salons feel burned by 10 percent ‘tan tax’  —  The sun hasn't exactly set on Solar Planet, but anxiety over the fate of the Arlington tanning salon has been running high ever since a “tan tax” took effect Thursday.  —  One of the less publicized measures in the new health-care law …

Gulf Oil Spill: Scientists Beg For A Chance To Take Basic Measurements  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  A group of independent scientists, frustrated and dumbfounded by the continued lack of the most basic data about the 77-day-old BP oil disaster, has put together a crash project intended …

Expect lots of government layoffs at state, local level  —  Here's another headwind for a sputtering job market: State and local governments plan many more layoffs to close wide budget gaps.  —  Up to 400,000 workers could lose jobs in the next year as states, counties and cities grapple …

AP IMPACT: Gulf awash in 27,000 abandoned wells  —  More than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells lurk in the hard rock beneath the Gulf of Mexico, an environmental minefield that has been ignored for decades.  No one — not industry, not government — is checking to see if they are leaking, an Associated Press investigation shows.