Senate Democrats boycott Thursday vote on Walker's budget plan  —  Joint Finance Committee approves package late Wednesday  —  By Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel  —  Madison — Law enforcement officers are searching for Democratic senators boycotting a Senate vote …

Rove: Confront birthers now  —  Savvy GOP strategist Karl Rove says a poll signaling that a majority of likely GOP primary voters have questions about Barack Obama's birthplace is “lousy”.  —  But last night, he urged prominent conservatives to stand up forcefully (and quickly) to kill birther talk.

Deficit Plan Details Emerge  —  Bipartisan Senate Group Mulls Spending Caps That Could Trigger Tax Increases  —  A bipartisan group of senators is considering legislation that would trigger new taxes and budget cuts if Congress fails to meet a set of mandatory spending targets and other fiscal goals aimed at reducing federal deficits.

My Puny Human Brain  —  Jeopardy! genius Ken Jennings on what it's like to play against a supercomputer.  —  When I was selected as one of the two human players to be pitted against IBM's “Watson” supercomputer in a special man-vs.-machine Jeopardy! exhibition match, I felt honored, even heroic.

Chris Christie's Idea of “Doing Big Things”  —  I continue to be baffled by all the love New Jersey's Republican governor Chris Christie's getting among the chattering class.  Here's a typically fawning piece about his speech at AEI yesterday. … “Big things” to Christie simply means less money …

TRENDING: Palin talks 2012, mocks Michelle Obama  —  Woodbury, New York (CNN) - Sarah Palin addressed a variety of issues Thursday at a gathering of business officials in Long Island, New York including her 2012 plans, first lady Michelle Obama, President Obama's proposed budget, the crisis in Egypt, and her feelings on the media.

GOP escalates showdown with Obama over funding measure  —  House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday ruled out a short-term government-funding bill that maintains “current levels” of federal spending, escalating a showdown with Democrats and President Obama.

Secret Report Ordered by Obama Identified Potential Uprisings  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama ordered his advisers last August to produce a secret report on unrest in the Arab world, which concluded that without sweeping political changes, countries from Bahrain to Yemen were ripe for popular revolt …

Shy U.S. Intellectual Created Playbook Used in a Revolution  —  BOSTON — Halfway around the world from Tahrir Square in Cairo, an aging American intellectual shuffles about his cluttered brick row house in a working-class neighborhood here.  His name is Gene Sharp.

As U.S. Agencies Put More Value on a Life, Businesses Fret  —  WASHINGTON — As the players here remake the nation's vast regulatory system, they have been grappling with a subject that is more the province of poets and philosophers than bureaucrats: what is the value of a human life?

Colin Powell demands answers over Curveball  —  Former US secretary of state asks why CIA failed to warn him over Iraqi defector who has admitted fabricating WMD evidence  —  Colin Powell, the US secretary of state at the time of the Iraq invasion, has called on the CIA and Pentagon to explain …

How much respect did the demonstrators show for the State Capitol grounds?  —  Here are some photographs taken yesterday by Meade (my husband) at the demonstration against Gov. Scott Walker's budget plan:  —  “If I'm a GREAT worker WHY are you treating me THIS WAY?”  — an abandoned sign pleads.