Rick Sanchez Calls Jon Stewart “A Bigot”; Says CNN Is Run By Jews  —  CNN's Rick Sanchez is not happy with being made fun of constantly on The Daily Show and Colbert Report.  It is from this jumping off point that he absolutely unleashed on Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, and at times his own network …

Obama: 'I'd appreciate a little break'  —  It's often remarked that President Obama has enjoyed a number of getaways, vacations, and mini-vacations during his 20 months in office.  But at a Democratic fundraiser Thursday night, the president said, “I'd appreciate a little break.”

UPDATED: Assistant AG takes leave of absence after national attention over blog against U-M student body president  —  One would expect that the current Republican attorney general contender, along with Rick Snyder and other major GOP state candidates, had a word or two with Mike Cox.

TARP Bailout to Cost Less Than Once Anticipated  —  WASHINGTON — Even as voters rage and candidates put up ads against government bailouts, the reviled mother of them all — the $700 billion lifeline to banks, insurance and auto companies — will expire after Sunday at a fraction of that cost …

Insurer Cuts Health Plans as New Law Takes Hold  —  The Principal Financial Group announced on Thursday that it planned to stop selling health insurance, another sign of upheaval emerging among insurers as the new federal health law starts to take effect.  —  The company, based in Iowa …

Eco-fascism jumps the shark: massive, epic fail!  —  I predicted this morning that No Pressure - Richard Curtis's spectacularly ill-judged eco-propaganda movie for the 10:10 campaign - would prove a disastrous own goal for the green movement.  —  But what I could never have imagined …

Sen. Thune sees third party if GOP strays  —  Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said a third party similar to the Tea Party could emerge as early as 2012.  —  Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said a third party could emerge as early as 2012 if Republicans stray from their principles.

Democrats will hold the House and Senate  —  For Democrats, it's Rove time: rally the base and save Congress  —  Maybe I'm wrong.  —  In fact, maybe I'm really, really wrong, which is the reaction I hear when I dare even to broach this notion to commentators and political strategists in both parties.

California Governor Signs Marijuana Decriminalization Bill  —  Posted in: - Budgets/Taxes/Economics - Decriminalization - Marijuana — Personal Use - News Brief - State & Local Executive Branches - State & Local Legislatures  —  California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) …

Bolton for President: A ‘Goldwater Conservative’  —  John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, tells National Review Online that he is seriously considering a 2012 presidential run.  “I am a Goldwater conservative,” he says.  “I am not a professional politician.

Report gives stimulus package high marks  —  The massive economic stimulus package President Obama pushed through Congress last year is coming in on time and under budget - and with strikingly few claims of fraud or abuse - according to a White House report to be released Friday.

The Uncanny Accuracy of Polling Averages*, Part 2: What the Numbers Say  —  This is the second article in a three-part series in which I'm addressing a question from a reader whom I'm calling Skeptical Sam.  —  Sam wondered why our election forecasts seem so confident.

Exercise and Weight Loss  —  Ta-Nehisi Coates writes some about losing weight: … I think that's largely true.  The biggest gym-related thing I've done to lose weight is that I did some sessions with a personal trainer who warned me up front that you can't really lose weight in the gym—you need to eat less food.

A Single Sale Worth $4.1 Billion Led to the ‘Flash Crash’  —  A single sale of $4.1 billion in futures contracts by a mutual fund touched off a series of events that led to the so-called flash crash, the sharp stock market decline that shook investors and markets on May 6, federal regulators said on Friday.

O'Donnell: 'God's Keeping Me in the Race'  —  In an exclusive interview with CBN News, Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell said God is keeping her in the race.  —  She made the statement before she stopped doing interviews at the advice of Tea Party power broker Sarah Palin.

Regular order  —  When Denny Hastert started as Speaker of the House, he promised, after four tumultuous years of Newt Gingrich, to bring regular order back to the lower chamber.  —  To Hastert, regular order meant that the House would do its business in the right order.  First, it would do a budget.

EEOC sues Fox for retaliating against reporter  —  The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing Fox News for retaliating against its reporter, Catherine Herridge, after she complained that she was discriminated against because of her age and gender, according to an EEOC complaint filed Thursday.

Why is Obama sending troops to Afghanistan?  —  From the beginning, the call to arms was highly uncertain.  On Dec. 1, 2009, commander in chief Barack Obama orders 30,000 more Americans into battle in Afghanistan.  But in the very next sentence, he announces that an American withdrawal will begin after 18 months.

Fiorina Called For Imprisoning ‘Employers Who Knowingly Hired Illegal Immigrants’ — Including Meg Whitman?  —  This week, California Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman had a “gran problema” arise from her past when her former housekeeper revealed that Whitman had employed her for several years …

The Austerity Caucus  —  If I had as much money as Meg Whitman, I'd probably have a more exuberant house.  Hers is perfectly nice.  But at a time when other Silicon Valley moguls were installing underground squash courts, arcade-size game rooms and other gewgaws, she stuck with a New England-style colonial.

Lawsuit accuses Tom Ganley of sexual assault; his lawyer calls suit extortion  —  A 39-year-old Cleveland woman sued auto dealer and Republican congressional candidate Tom Ganley on Thursday, accusing him of sexually assaulting her in his office last year.  —  The married mother of four filed …