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.

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

U.S. apologizes for Guatemala STD experiments  —  Government researchers infected patients with syphilis, gonorrhea without their consent in the 1940s  —  U.S. government medical researchers intentionally infected hundreds of people in Guatemala, including institutionalized mental patients …

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.

Resembling reality TV  —  Political world abuzz as Paladino's blowup with tabloid reporter is viewed far and wide  —  The New York gubernatorial campaign took on the air of reality TV this week, culminating Thursday with Republican candidate Carl P. Paladino saying he isn't accusing his opponent of having had an extramarital affair.

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.

Dem senator: Tea Party is a ‘long-term force in this country’  —  A Democratic senator up for reelection in 2012 said he's not counting on the Tea Party movement to fade away by then.  —  Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) said he anticipates the Tea Party movement — a crowd of grassroots conservative activists …

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.

The demographics of 2010  —  Some nice demographic polling out from Gallup today.  Over the past seven months, middle-age voters have been pretty stable in their preferences between Democrats and Republicans.  It's the young and the old who've diverged, with the young swinging toward …

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) …

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.

Coalition Picks Maliki in Move That May End Iraq Stalemate  —  BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq appeared almost assured of a second term in office on Friday after winning the support of an anti-American Shiite Islamic movement whose return to political power could reshape relations with the United States.