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 …

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.

Bachmann: SOTU rebuttal is not a ‘competition’ with Ryan  —  Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said her rebuttal to the president's State of the Union address tomorrow isn't a “competition” with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), who's delivering the official Republican response.  —  “This is not a competition,” Bachmann said.

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 …

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.

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.

Mitch McConnell: I get more Obama ear time  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joked Tuesday morning that he's now on President Barack Obama's “speed dial,” a marked change since Democrats endured a shellacking from Republicans this fall.  —  “I think I'm on speed dial right …

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 …

Post-State of Union Obama Approval Uptick Would Be Atypical  —  Approval rating for Obama in past week was highest since May  —  PRINCETON, NJ — U.S. presidents rarely see a spike in public support after their delivery of State of the Union addresses.  Since 1978, Gallup has measured …

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.

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” …

“History tells us” something that history doesn't tell us, say sociologists stumbling to protect Frances Fox Piven.  —  Here's the expression of “outrage” by the officers of the American Sociological Association: … So vigorous debate about Piven's ideas is really important …

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 …