Question to Broun: Who's going to shoot President Obama?  —  At Rep. Paul Broun's town hall meeting on Tuesday, the Athens congressman asked who had driven the farthest to be there and let the winner ask the first question.  —  We couldn't hear the question in the back of the packed Oglethorpe …

WI Assembly GOP Passes Walker Budget In Surprise Vote — Dems Chant “Shame!”  —  MADISON, WI — The Wisconsin State Assembly has just passed Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, including its controversial provisions to eliminate almost all collective bargaining rights for public employee unions …

Pulling Apart  —  Congress was more polarized last year than in any other year since National Journal began compiling its vote ratings.  Overlap between the parties is disappearing.  —  Republicans in lockstep: House Speaker John Boehner, flanked by GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy (left) …

Koch Executives Speak Out on Wisconsin  —  Madison, Wis. — Earlier this week, a blogger impersonating industrialist David Koch spoke with Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who is attempting to pass a budget-repair bill.  The conversation between Walker and the poseur, which was recorded …

National Income and Product Accounts  —  Gross Domestic Product, 4th quarter and Annual 2010 (second estimate)  —  Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 2.8 percent …

N.J. labor unions expected to rally in Trenton in support of Wisconsin public workers  —  TRENTON — In a sea of red shirts at the Statehouse today, members of New Jersey labor unions are expected to rally in support of Wisconsin public employees.  —  Their objectives will be transparent.

Shock Doctrine, U.S.A.  —  Here's a thought: maybe Madison, Wis., isn't Cairo after all.  Maybe it's Baghdad — specifically, Baghdad in 2003, when the Bush administration put Iraq under the rule of officials chosen for loyalty and political reliability rather than experience and competence.

Run Mitch, Run  —  On Feb. 11, Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana met with a group of college students.  According to The Yale Daily News, he told them that there is an “excellent chance” he will not run for president.  Then he mounted the podium at the Conservative Political Action Conference …

U.S. Pulling Back in Afghan Valley It Called Vital to War  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — After years of fighting for control of a prominent valley in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan, the United States military has begun to pull back most of its forces from ground it once insisted …

Pelosi edits honorary resolution...on Pelosi  —  The Democratic National Committee wanted to honor Nancy Pelosi Thursday — but its praise wasn't good enough for the House minority leader.  —  When the DNC's Resolutions Committee brought up a resolution commemorating Pelosi's years as speaker of the House …

Huckabee criticizes Romney for Massachusetts health care plan  —  WASHINGTON - Mike Huckabee is bashing the Massachusetts health care plan as a failed experiment — and saying that Mitt Romney should consider apologizing for steering its passage when he was governor.

Foiled by the winter: The £25,000 eco-classroom that can't be used because solar panels don't provide enough heat  —  Eco-campaigners who built a classroom powered by the sun believed they were paving the way for the future.  —  Instead they have been taught a valuable lesson …

The top political newcomers  —  Only two months have passed in 2011, but already a number of new faces have made names for themselves — sometimes for good and somtimes for bad — on the national political scene.  —  Some, like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) …

Groups officially begin recall process for seven lawmakers  —  By Daniel Bice of the Journal Sentinel  —  The clock is now running for groups trying to collect enough signatures to trigger recall elections against seven Democratic senators, state officials said today.

Geithner: Shutdown could slow recovery - Tanker lobbying $100 m+ — Trump claims to be planning serious run for president — Sean Spicer to RNC — Bob Schieffer, Jessica Yellin, Lauren Kapp b'day  —  BIG SIGN SARAH PALIN ISN'T RUNNING: Neither she, nor anyone on her behalf, is courting top donors …

Teabags and Sympathy  —  So the New York Times posted an interesting article the other day about how some guys who work or have in the past worked with private-sector unions are actually supportive of Scott Walker's public-sector union busting.  Take a look: