Mubarak to Speak; Army Steps Up Role  —  CAIRO — President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt prepared to address the nation Thursday, with government officials indicating that they expected him to step aside, and Egypt's military announcing that it is intervening in state affairs in an attempt to stop a three-week-old uprising.

Jon Kyl announces retirement  —  Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) photo by Linda Davidson for The Washington Post  —  Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl (R) announced his retirement at a press conference in Phoenix Thursday morning.  —  “I will not seek reelection the United States Senate but will retire from public service in January 2013,” Kyl said.

This is Too Much For Me  —  I have, for me, shown an amazing amount of restraint in keeping my mouth shut on an issue about which I can stay silent no longer — GOProud and CPAC.  —  RedState's parent company, Eagle Publishing, Inc., is a long time sponsor of CPAC.

FOX NEWS INSIDER: “Stuff Is Just Made Up”  —  Asked what most viewers and observers of Fox News would be surprised to learn about the controversial cable channel, a former insider from the world of Rupert Murdoch was quick with a response: “I don't think people would believe it's as concocted as it is; that stuff is just made up.”

DNI Clapper: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood ‘largely secular’  —  During a House Intelligence Committee hearing Thursday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper called Egypt's branch of the Muslim Brotherhood movement “largely secular.”  —  In response to questioning from Rep. Sue Myrick …

Democrats Can't Filibuster ObamaCare Repeal  —  The GOP needs 51 Senate votes, and a new president, to get it done.  —  Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin likes to taunt his Republican colleagues, arguing that ObamaCare can't be repealed because 60 votes are required to end debate in the Senate on any measure.

Palin calls potential rival ‘Neanderthal’ … (CNN) - Sarah Palin is mixing it up with potential rival Rick Santorum, suggesting the former Pennsylvania senator and presidential hopeful is a “knuckle-dragging Neanderthal.”  —  The eyebrow-raising slap came in response to Santorum's recent comments …

House Republicans Battle Turmoil in Their Ranks  —  WASHINGTON — Under pressure to make deeper spending cuts and blindsided by embarrassing floor defeats, House Republican leaders are quickly discovering the limits of control over their ideologically driven and independent-minded new majority.

License To Beg  —  Montgomery County's not run by neoliberal sellouts, that's for sure.  They're true friends of the working man: … This business about where the beggars stand is a microcosm of one of the most prominent conceptual problems here.  If the issue is people violating traffic laws …

Bill Burton for Congress?  —  White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton has been approached by some party insiders about the possibility of running in the likely special election to replace former New York Rep. Chris Lee (R) and is weighing the possibility of a bid, according to several sources familiar with his thinking.

House Republican on health law repeal: Time for GOP to “put up or shut up”  —  In another sign that the politics of repeal are far from a slam dunk for many Republicans, a House GOPer went way off the national Republican Party's message on the health law, dismissing the House vote for repeal as merely …

Paul Ryan's Republicanomics  —  YESTERDAY, Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, appeared on Capitol Hill to field questions from the House Budget Committee.  The committee's new Republican chairman, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, pressed Mr Bernanke to defend the Fed's efforts …

GOP lawmaker makes birther joke at CPAC  —  A Republican lawmaker made a subtle “birther” jab at President Obama during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).  —  Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho), a freshman member of Congress who was born in Puerto Rico …

Mitt Rewrites Himself  —  A new Apology  —  When Mitt Romney's second book, No Apology, came out a year ago, it looked like he was moving away from the far-right demagoguery of his 2008 bid for the presidency, and toward a more moderate centrism for the 2012 election cycle.