Clashes Erupt in Cairo Between Mubarak's Allies and Foes  —  CAIRO — President Obama's calls for a rapid transition to a new order in Egypt seemed eclipsed on Wednesday as thousands of demonstrators for and against President Hosni Mubarak, some on horses and camels, fought running battles in and around Cairo's Tahrir Square.

McCain rejects CBO healthcare repeal estimates as ‘garbage in, garbage out’  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Wednesday rejected the CBO's cost estimate of healthcare repeal as “garbage in, garbage out.”  —  McCain said the Congressional Budget Office estimate that repealing the healthcare law …

Reagan's Solicitor General Charles Fried: ‘I Am Quite Sure That The Health Care Mandate Is Constitutional’  —  In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today on “The Constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act,” President Ronald Reagan's former Solicitor General — Harvard Law Professor Charles Fried …

‘The Whole World Is Watching,’ Daley Warns Egyptian Authorities About Reprisals  —  “The whole world is watching,” White House Chief of Staff William Daley said of the crisis in Egypt this morning, borrowing a slogan that demonstrators in Chicago used against his father more than three decades ago …

Enviro Groups' Public Health Pivot in Support of EPA Regs Hitting Red States Too  —  The first signs of a shift came even before Election Day 2010, arriving as letters (pdf) and dramatic ads (pdf).  But as the 112th Congress gets to work, environmental groups are stepping up their transition toward …

DCCC GETS TARGETS' ATTENTION.... The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, working under the assumption that spending cuts aren't nearly as popular as Republicans might think, launched an interesting ad campaign this week.  Today, we saw the first signs that the offensive has gotten the Republicans' attention.

Can Jay Carney hack it as top flack?  —  The e-mail, coming from the Executive Office of the President and addressed to me, had a catchy subject line: “You are a hack.”  —  This was tough - but accurate.  I read on.  —  The body of the message began with the phrase “shamelessly misrepresented …

The Neocons Split with Israel Over Egypt  —  Well, this is interesting.  The neoconservative (or liberal interventionist) wing of American Jewish political thought (not that all neocons are Jewish, God forbid anyone should think that!) is cheering on the revolution in Egypt …

Paul: Should the Tea Party compromise?  —  Washington (CNN) - During his first speech on the Senate floor, Tea Party champion Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, brought up what may be a dirty word for some of his constituents: compromise.  —  “Many ask will the Tea Party compromise?

Will Boehner's be the shortest Speakership ever?  —  [UPDATE] In the comments, Boy Culture's Matthew Rettenmund leaves a link to photos of the National Enquirer story.  Can't quite make out the text, but it's a two-page spread.  —  Remember the videos at the bottom of this post?

Central Jersey Planned Parenthood fires worker after release of undercover video  —  PERTH AMBOY — The man and woman walked into the Planned Parenthood clinic in Perth Amboy sounding like the operators of a child sex ring looking for help with their business.

Milbank is still a Palin ‘virgin’  —  Dana Milbank just shot over an e-mail letting us know it wasn't him who posted - under his name - an item on the Post Partisan blog pointing out that he had “survived” the fist day of his month-long Palin “moratorium.”  —  We posted an item earlier …

Florida to Barack Obama: Keep your health care reform cash  —  No thanks.  That's what the state of Florida is saying to the Obama administration, declining a $1 million grant to implement the health law.  —  The move follows this week's federal court decision declaring the law unconstitutional.

Man arrested in threat made against Stuart's Rep. William Snyder shortly after Arizona shootings  —  A self-described Massachusetts “political activist” was arrested Monday night and charged with sending a threatening e-mail to Florida Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart, an hour after the Arizona shooting …

Weather Journal: On Day of Ice, Only Groundhog Sees Spring … On a morning when New Yorkers awoke to find glacial trains and sheets of ice where the streets and sidewalks used to be, a small crowd braved sub-freezing temperatures to join Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the Staten Island Zoo to see the city's rodent meteorologist.

Superior Court rules Ontario Human Rights Tribunal hearing was unfair  —  A Mississauga businesswoman whose home was ordered seized to pay an Ontario Human Rights Tribunal award to a former employee can keep her house — for now.  —  The Superior Court struck down the “fatally flawed” …

A Toast to Your Health  —  Warning: Alcohol may increase your life expectancy and reduce dementia.  —  The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans on Monday.  There weren't many surprises in its recommendations to reduce fat and salt, eat whole grains, and cut the overall amount we eat.

The Kochs fight back  —  RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. - Faced with an avalanche of bad publicity after years of funding conservative causes in relative anonymity, the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers, Charles and David, are fighting back.  —  They've hired a team of p.r. pros with experience working …