Married GOP Congressman Sent Sexy Pictures to Craigslist Babe  —  Rep. Christopher Lee is a married Republican congressman serving the 26th District of New York.  But when he trolls Craigslist's “Women Seeking Men” forum, he's Christopher Lee, “divorced” “lobbyist” and “fit fun classy guy.”

Growing pains: House GOP stumbles  —  It usually takes a lot longer for the party in charge to start with the finger-pointing, the failed votes and the backpedaling on campaign promises.  —  But the House Republican majority has already had two failed floor votes, is experiencing a backlash …

Webb won't seek reelection  —  Virginia Democratic Senator Jim Webb plans to announce today that he won't seek reelection, the Senator confirmed Wednesday.  —  Webb appeared likely to face a rematch with former Senator George Allen, whom he beat in a bruising 2006 contest.

House Democrats say Justice Thomas should recuse himself in health-care case  —  Seventy-four House Democrats have signed a letter to Clarence Thomas asking the Supreme Court justice to recuse himself from any deliberations on the constitutionality of the national health care overhaul …

Labor  —  Surveying the GOP's latest efforts to usher forth a particular species of fiscal responsibility, I was recalled to a bit of personal history, which I try to not to think about.  Like a lot of couples, the notice that our family would increase by a half was greeted with great joy.

EXCLUSIVE: White House to Cut Energy Assistance for the Poor  —  Budget proposal would cut billions from aid program.  —  President Obama's proposed 2012 budget will cut several billion dollars from the government's energy assistance fund for poor people, officials briefed on the subject told National Journal.

AOL stock sheds $315M — HuffPo price tag  —  You pay for what you get.  —  Arianna Huffington and Ken Lerer, co-founders of the Huffington Post, are said to be walking away with a combined $80 million to $100 million from an original $2 million per person investment — but so far AOL stockholders aren't seeing that kind of return.

White House, State Department move to end Egypt confusion  —  The White House is moving to stamp out reports that top officials — including Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — are sending conflicting signals about how best to resolve the crisis in Egypt.

Monetary Policy Hearing Today, or: Ron Paul Versus the Kochtopus.  —  Ron Paul is holding one of his first monetary policy hearings today, and he hasn't sold out.  Ron Paul is from the school of libertarians that hates D.C. libertarians, which is weird since Ron Paul is one of the most well-known libertarians …

Aide: Giffords can speak  —  (CNN) — U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, recovering from a gunshot wound to the head sustained January 8, is regaining part of her ability to speak, her spokesman said Wednesday.  —  C.J. Karamargin would not divulge what Giffords has said, other than saying she asked for toast.

The Tea Party and civil liberties  —  It's long been clear that the best (and perhaps only) political hope for civil liberties in the U.S. is an alliance that transcends the standard Democrat v. GOP or left v. right dichotomies.  Last night's surprising (and temporary) failure of the House …

At CPAC, the race for second place as Paul goes all out  —  The Conservative Political Action Conference's annual straw poll typically indicates three things: Whom CPAC's segment of the conservative base prefers for president; who bought tickets for their supporters; and whether Ron Paul is really trying.

Security Firms Pitching Bank of America on WikiLeaks Response Proposed Targeting Glenn Greenwald  —  On Saturday, private security firm HBGary Federal bragged to the FT that it had discovered who key members of the hacking group Anonymous are.  In response, Anonymous hacked HB Gary Federal …

100 UC Irvine faculty members ask district attorney to drop charges against Muslim students  —  A group of 100 faculty members at UC Irvine signed a letter asking the Orange County district attorney to drop criminal charges against 11 Muslim students who disrupted a speech by the Israeli ambassador to the United States.

Insurance reality hits House GOP  —  Ask any House Republican about repealing President Barack Obama's health care law, and you'll get the same fiery, self-assured talking points about tearing down what Speaker John Boehner has called a “monstrosity.”  —  But talk to some of the 16 freshman lawmakers …

How a Palin nomination could expand Obama's playing field  —  A series of state polls released over the last few weeks suggest that if Republicans nominate former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in 2012 it could hand President Obama a considerable electoral vote margin next November.