Dems will vote on just middle class tax cuts, Hoyer says  —  Steny Hoyer, the number two in the House Dem leadership, told Democrats at a caucus meeting this morning that they would get to vote this year on just extending the Bush tax cuts for the middle class, a senior Dem aide tells me …

Bernanke Takes Aim at China  —  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is firing back amid criticism at home and abroad of the Fed's easy-money policies, arguing that China and others are causing global problems by preventing their currencies from strengthening as their economies boom.

Fox's “Nazi” rhetoric also comes straight from the top  —  In a recent interview, Fox News chairman Roger Ailes referred to National Public Radio executives as “Nazis” with a “Nazi attitude,” and claimed “[t]hey are the left wing of Nazism.”  Ailes' employees at Fox News, particularly Glenn Beck …

Live Blog: Committee Recommends Censure for Rangel  —  Representative Charles B. Rangel at the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct hearing on Thursday.  —  Update, 6:29 p.m. |  The House ethics committee has recommended censure for Representative Charles B. Rangel for ethics violations.

Midwest gains boost GOP confidence  —  SAN DIEGO - The party's Midwestern resurgence signals serious trouble for President Barack Obama's reelection bid, GOP governors asserted Thursday at the Republican Governors Association meeting in San Diego.  —  Following a string of GOP wins in Senate …

Ghailani verdict makes stronger case for military detentions  —  The Obama administration's critics are missing the point on Ahmed Ghailani.  Their reaction to his acquittal this week on 284 criminal counts and conviction on only one exaggerates both the vices of civilian courts and the virtues of military commissions.

House fails to eliminate NPR funding  —  The House on Thursday voted to move forward on legislation without voting on a proposal put forth by Republicans to defund NPR.  —  Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the next majority leader, said the vote demonstrates that Democrats “are still not ready to listen” …

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: NYC Legislators Seek Ban On Full Body Scanners In New York  —  New York — Today on the steps of City Hall, Councilman David G. Greenfield was joined by Council Members Gale Brewer, Fernando Cabrera, Debi Rose, Robert Jackson, Jumaane Williams, and Brad Lander in support …

Afghan Hero Dog Is Euthanized by Mistake in U.S.  —  FLORENCE, Ariz. — When a suicide bomber entered an American military barracks in Afghanistan in February, it was not American soldiers but Afghan stray dogs that confronted him.  Target and two other dogs snarled, barked and snapped at the man …

CARVILLE: OBAMA NEEDS A PAIR  —  Speaking to reporters Thursday, Democratic strategist James Carville dropped this one-liner: “If Hillary gave up one of her balls and gave it to Obama, he'd have two.”  —  The quote was first noted by Tribune reporter Mike Memoli on his Twitter account.

Sources: Cornyn Jabs at DeMint's Interference in Primaries  —  Sen. John Cornyn said during a closed-door meeting Tuesday that he expects colleagues to bring their concerns to him about candidates he recruits as National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman — and not to help mount challenges …

Public Knows Basic Facts about Politics, Economics, But Struggles with Specifics  —  Few Aware of Inflation Rate or TARP and Deficit Specifics  —  Take the Latest Quiz Online!  —  Before you read the report, we invite you to test your own News IQ by taking the latest interactive knowledge quiz.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski Tells Local TV She Will Vote For Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal  —  Last night during an appearance on MSNBC, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) refused to say if she would vote for a National Defense Authorization Act that included a repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but this afternoon …

Is it OK to hope the EU fails?  —  At Power Line, John Hinderaker admits that he “rather hopes” the European Union fails (h/t Instapundit).  I would dismiss this as throw-away snark, but I think it reflects a real undercurrent in conservative foreign-policy thought, and maybe American political thought on a grumpy day.

Pot growers portrayed as terror threat  —  What were they smoking?  —  Federal, state and local officials carrying out a counter-terrorism drill in Northern California Wednesday played out a scenario in which local marijuana growers set off bombs and took over the Shasta Dam, the nation's second largest, to free an imprisoned comrade.

Boehner Warns GOP on Debt Ceiling  —  Raising the debt ceiling is shaping up as a difficult early vote for the new House GOP majority.  Many of the new Republican lawmakers harshly criticized their Democratic opponents during the campaign for voting to raise the limit in the past …

Palin Adviser Wanted Execution Without Trial For Convicted Terrorist Ahmed Ghailani  —  A Federal District Court in Manhattan convicted Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani yesterday on one count of of conspiracy for the 1998 terror bombings of U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

IPCC Official: “Climate Policy Is Redistributing The World's Wealth”  —  Climate policy has almost nothing to do anymore with environmental protection, says the German economist and IPCC official Ottmar Edenhofer.  The next world climate summit in Cancun is actually an economy summit during …

Have Scott Brown and Ron Wyden figured out the way forward on health care?  —  The GOP's slogan on health-care reform has, till now, been “repeal and replace.”  But they don't have the votes for either.  What they might have the votes for is reform that, maybe, one day, if all goes well, could lead to replacement.

Senator Jay Rockefeller Wishes FCC Would Shut Down Fox News  —  A powerful Democratic senator, pointing the finger at cable news for a politically toxic climate in Washington, unleashed a stunning tirade in which he expressed his desire to see the Federal Communications Commission shut down Fox News and MSNBC.