White House reboots on economic advice  —  Signaling a shift to a new phase of the administration's response to the nation's economic woes, President Barack Obama will sign an executive order Friday establishing a new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness that will be lead by General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

No, Charles Johnson, Glenn Beck Did Not Tell His Viewers to Shoot Anyone in the Head  —  On Twitter, Charles Johnson excitedly says:  —  He links to a post, evidently written by an LGF user, which provides no context for the clip, but simply embeds it.  Here is a screenshot of the entire post:

A Path Is Sought for States to Escape Their Debt Burdens  —  Policy makers are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts, including the pensions they have promised to retired public workers.

Everything starts with repeal  —  Suppose someone - say, the president of United States - proposed the following: We are drowning in debt.  More than $14 trillion right now.  I've got a great idea for deficit reduction.  It will yield a savings of $230 billion over the next 10 years …

Are We In Bill Clinton's Third Term?  —  Jacob Lew was tapped by Barack Obama last July to lead the Office of Management & Budget.  Most recently, William Daley accepted a request to serve as BHO's chief of staff.  —  Both Lew and Daley also had prominent positions within the Clinton administration …

House Conservatives Introduce Spending Cuts: $2.5 Trillion Over Ten Years  —  You can stop needling Republicans about what programs they want to cut now.  Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)'s Republican Study Committee is introducing the Spending Reduction Act of 2011, to cut back …

Woman who fell into fountain faces theft charges, has criminal record  —  The Reading woman who became an Internet sensation by falling into a fountain while sending a text on her cell phone was in Berks County Court on Thursday for a status hearing on theft-by-deception and related charges.

Mike Huckabee's mixed messages  —  Mike Huckabee would start the 2012 GOP president in a small group of early frontrunners — a far better position than four years ago.  That much we know.  —  What we don't know is whether he'll actually run.  —  More than any other top potential presidential candidate …

Next up for Obama: Marriage equality for gay Americans  —  Less than a month after President Obama repealed “don't ask, don't tell,” his Justice Department filed its latest brief defending the so-called Defense of Marriage Act - the law that makes gay Americans second-class citizens …

Eight Somali pirates killed as South Korea rescues freighter crew  —  Navy commandos storm ship hijacked in Arabian Sea, and officials say all 21 crewmembers safe after operation  —  South Korean navy commandos today rescued the crew of a freighter hijacked in the Arabian Sea last week …

Poll: Emanuel closing in on majority vote  —  Front-runner has 44%; Braun next with 21%  —  Rahm Emanuel is closing in on the majority he needs to end the mayor's race next month and avoid a one-on-one runoff, a new Tribune/WGN poll shows.  —  The former White House chief of staff had the support of 44 percent of those surveyed.

Poll Finds Wariness About Cutting Entitlements  —  As President Obama and Congress brace to battle over how to reduce chronic annual budget deficits, Americans overwhelmingly say that in general they prefer cutting government spending to paying higher taxes, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Verizon appeals FCC's net-neutrality order  —  Verizon issued a challenge on Thursday to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) net-neutrality order.  —  The company filed the challenge in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which rejected the FCC's net-neutrality arguments a year ago.

Giuliani ‘absolutely’ open to 2012 presidential run  —  Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) said he is “absolutely” open to a run for president in 2012.  —  Giuliani, the mayor of New York during the 9/11 terrorist attacks who ran for president in 2008, hinted more strongly …

Dems Growing Convinced That GOP Will Try To Force Shutdown Over Health Care Funds … WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats expressed a rare touch of nonchalance Wednesday as House Republicans voted to repeal last year's health care overhaul, since the repeal has little chance of passing the Senate.

The Most Emailed ‘New York Times’ Article Ever  —  It's a week before the biggest day of her life, and Anna Williams is multitasking.  While waiting to hear back from the Ivy League colleges she's hoping to attend, the seventeen-year-old senior at one of Manhattan's most exclusive private schools …

A Most Valuable Democrat  —  In the spring of 2008, John McCain asked Joe Lieberman to speak on his behalf at the Republican National Convention.  “If I look back, I wonder about it,” Lieberman now says.  But it seemed the natural way to help the man he deemed most qualified to be president.

It Sounds So Much Better Read Out Loud  —  A reading of We Just Witnessed The Media's Test Run To Re-Elect Barack Obama, by Rush Limbaugh today.  —  It sounds so much better when read out loud (video via The Right Scoop):  —  And thanks also to Mark Levin for the kind words about the post:

Breaking: FBI Interrogated Gulet Mohamed Without Counsel at DC Airport  —  UPDATE: Gulet Mohamed was released by the FBI over two hours after he was detained at Dulles airport by government agents.  He left Dulles for his home in Alexandria, Virginia, without saying much about the questioning (at his lawyer's suggestion).

Is Republican billionaire Meg Whitman planning a political comeback?  —  California Republican Meg Whitman's failed $150 million-plus drive to become California governor is barely in the rear view mirror — but her appearance in San Francisco today, the first public gig since the 2010 election …

The 20 Best Nicknames in the Big Mafia Bust  —  ​News came down this morning about the FBI's largest organized crime bust in New York history, in which raids resulted in the arrest of over 100 alleged mobsters from all five crime families including the Gambinos, Genoveses, Luccheses, Bonannos and Colombos.

None of the above  —  The WSJ pollsters asked Republicans and “strict” independents the following question: … The top 5 answers were:  — Mitt Romney  — Mike Huckabee  — Sarah Palin  — Newt Gingrich  — Ron Paul  —  I wouldn't vote for any of them.