A number of the House GOP's leading conservative members on Thursday will announce legislation that would cut $2.5 trillion over 10 years, which will be by far the most ambitious and far-reaching proposal by the new majority to cut federal government spending.

If Obama wants to be bold, he should be bold  —  Peter Baker has a lot of juicy tidbits about the frequent infighting and petty spats that split the White House economic team over the past two years, but the individual who comes off worst in the article is not Larry Summers or Christina Romer or Peter Orszag or Rahm Emanuel.

Palin Putting Out Presidential Feelers in Iowa  —  DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has tasked her aides with quietly gauging her level of support for a potential presidential campaign by making inquiries to a select pool of likely allies and grassroots activists in Iowa, RealClearPolitics has learned.

A three-way pileup atop 2012 GOP presidential race  —  Former Govs. Mike Huckabee (Ark.), Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Mitt Romney (Mass.) make up the top tier of the 2012 Republican presidential field, according to a new poll from the Washington Post and ABC News.

FBI Rounding Up 100 Mobsters in Biggest Mafia Bust in New York History  —  Charges range from gambling to racketeering to murder  —  The FBI calls it the biggest mafia round-up in New York history.  More than 100 suspected mobsters are being arrested this morning in connection …

Advocacy Group Says Justices May Have Conflict in Campaign Finance Cases  —  WASHINGTON — When the conservative financier Charles Koch sent out invitations for a political retreat in Palm Springs later this month, he highlighted past appearances at the gathering of “notable leaders” …

Parents of Giffords' doc supported Tea Partier Christine O'Donnell with Palm Beach cash  —  The name of Michael Lemole, the University of Arizona neurosurgeon who's been treating U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' brain injuries since the Jan. 8 shooting, may sound familiar to Palm Beachers.

Goodbye to a Guy Named Joe  —  On Wednesday, Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut announced that he won't be a candidate for re-election in 2012.  Normally people look particularly appealing when they're promising to go away.  This time, not so much.  —  “I can't help but also think about …

Michelle Obama's ‘Get Moving’ Program Linked to Pedestrian Deaths  —  WASHINGTON — The Governors Highway Safety Association says pedestrian deaths increased in the first half of 2010 and the First Lady's program to get Americans to be more active could be partly responsible.

The 50 Most Loathsome Americans of 2010  —  Charges: The A.Q. Khan of the culinary world, her secret recipes are demonstrably more dangerous to America than a nuclear armed North Korea.  When not delighting delusional hicks on “Huckabee,” she's cooking up coronary-clogging treats like the …

Hubris heading for a fall  —  It takes a worried man to sing a worried song, and in a recent speech that seemed like Larry Summers's swan song, the president's now-departed economic adviser warned that America is “at risk of a profound demoralization with respect to government.”

Palinoia, the Destroyer  —  What's behind the left's deranged hatred.  —  Why does their hatred of her burn so hot?  —  Ask them, and they'll most likely tell you: Because she's a moron.  But that is obviously false.  To be sure, her skills at extemporaneous speaking leave much to be desired.

NBC/WSJ poll: Obama bouncing back  —  The president's approval rating returns to the 50s, but challenges remain, according to the latest poll  —  Below:  —  Deputy political director  —  WASHINGTON — What a difference a few weeks can make.  —  Last month, Republicans were celebrating …

Republican rivalries begin in race for Lieberman seat  —  Former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) says he hasn't yet decided whether to make another Senate run in 2012, but it sure sounds like he doesn't want Linda McMahon to.  —  In an interview with The Ballot Box, Simmons said much of his 2012 …

Business Leaders Make Cut at State Dinner With Hu  —  WASHINGTON - Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter made the cut.  So did Bill Clinton and his wife, the secretary of state.  The heads of Microsoft, Boeing, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Boeing and Walt Disney were on the list.

Obama's Social Security Talk Is Turning Voters Off, Pollsters Say … WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's apparent willingness to consider cuts in Social Security benefits may be winning him points with Washington elites, but it's killing him with voters, who see the program as inviolate …

Rick Santorum plays race card on President Obama  —  In eye-brow raising comments, possible presidential hopeful Rick Santorum is questioning how President Barack Obama - as an African-American - can support abortion rights.  —  Santorum, a former Republican senator from Pennsylvania …

Obama to Close Political Office and Start 2012 Campaign  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama will close the office of political affairs at the White House, aides said, restructuring his organization to prepare for his re-election campaign, which is to start building a fund-raising and grassroots operation based in Chicago by late March.

Economy Dominates Public's Agenda, Dims Hopes for the Future  —  Less Optimism about America's Long-Term Prospects  —  The public's policy agenda is again dominated by the economy and jobs with other major issues viewed as less important.  Fully 87% say that strengthening the economy …

The China syndrome  —  CHINA'S rise is, by any account, a remarkable story.  The world's most populous country, China represented an outsized share of global output for centuries prior to the Industrial Revolution.  As the industrial west rose, China fell behind, then fell further behind amid occupation …