Exclusive: President Obama to Propose Budget Freeze and Earmark Ban Tonight  —  Pursuing a path of deficit reduction and government reform, President Obama will tonight in his State of the Union address call for a ban on earmarks and he will propose an overall budget freeze, ABC News has learned.

Judicial arrogance  —  With startling arrogance and audaciously twisted reasoning, two appellate judges ignored more than 100 years of legal precedent, invented a new definition of “residency” and ordered Rahm Emanuel off the Feb. 22 mayoral ballot.  —  With the election just four weeks away …

Scalia: No plans to attend Obama's State of the Union address  —  Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia told The Hill on Monday evening that he does not plan on attending the State of the Union address on Tuesday.  —  The conservative-leaning jurist said that he hasn't “gone to the State …

Republicans wrestle with dissent on budget cuts  —  GOP leaders in Congress scale back earlier goals to levels they say are realistic, but staunch conservatives want to slash deeply.  —  Reporting from Washington — Congressional Republicans are grappling with dissent within the party's ranks …

Cantor invites Pelosi to be his seatmate at president's address  —  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) invited Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to sit next to him at the State of the Union address, just hours after he criticized her for “continuing to drive the ideological agenda” instead of reaching across the aisle.

Inspired by Tunisia, Egypt's protests appear unprecedented  —  Egypt's protests today appear to be the largest public call for democratic reform and an end to the Mubarak regime for years.  —  The scope of Egypt's protests today, calling for greater freedom and downfall of strongman President Hosni Mubarak, is unprecedented.

GOP to push for D.C. gay marriage ban  —  House conservatives say they will pursue legislation that would ban gay marriage in the nation's capital.  —  Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC), told The Hill that he will push for a vote on the controversial issue in the 112th Congress.

NBC: U.S. can't link accused Army private to Assange  —  Military also denies allegations that Bradley Manning is being mistreated  —  Below:  —  U.S. military officials tell NBC News that investigators have been unable to make any direct connection between a jailed army private suspected …

National Archives Discovers Date Change on Lincoln Record  —  Thomas Lowry Confesses to Altering Lincoln Pardon to April 14, 1865  —  Washington, DC...Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero announced today that Thomas Lowry, a long-time Lincoln researcher from Woodbridge, VA …

Dentist uses sexy dresses to distract patients  —  Advanced drugs can cure many ills, new technology can revolutionise surgery but sometimes a low-cut, sorry lo-tech, solution is all you need - one dentist has bought herself and her ten nurses tight-fitting, cleavage-maximising dresses to distract worried patients while they work.

White House Says Chinese Folk Song Played During State Dinner Was Not An Insult; Experts Divided  —  Ivories that were tickled last Wednesday night at the White House are, to some conservative media, no laughing matter.  —  At the White House State Dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao …

Financial Crisis Commission Finds Cause For Prosecution Of Wall Street  —  The bipartisan panel appointed by Congress to investigate the financial crisis has concluded that several financial industry figures appear to have broken the law and has referred multiple cases to state or federal authorities …

E-mails Show Bear Stearns Cheated Clients Out of Billions  —  Lawsuit alleges the bank took extreme measures to defraud investors, and now JPMorgan may be on the hook Former Bear Stearns mortgage executives who now run mortgage divisions of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America …

Bush White House Broke Elections Law, Report Says  —  WASHINGTON — The Bush White House, particularly before the 2006 midterm elections, routinely violated a federal law that prohibits use of federal tax dollars to pay for political activities by creating a “political boiler room” …

Barbour huddling again with South Carolina GOP insiders  —  Washington (CNN) - Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour will return to South Carolina on Wednesday for a pair of closed-door meetings with influential Republicans, another sign that he is leaning toward seeking the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.

Paper: Governor pictured as Nazi  —  Atlanta (CNN) — A Spanish-language newspaper in Georgia has drawn bipartisan criticism for publishing a doctored photograph depicting the state's new governor as a Nazi.  —  El Nuevo Georgia Editor Rafael Navarro said the picture was meant to call attention …

CNN Poll: Americans more optimistic on state of nation  —  Washington (CNN) - Hours before President Barack Obama gives his State of the Union address before Congress, a new national poll indicates a surge in optimism about the state of the nation.  —  According to a CNN/Opinion Research …

Ventura sues over body scans, pat-downs  —  Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura sued the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration on Monday, alleging full-body scans and pat-downs at airport checkpoints violate his right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.