Obama Backs Easing State Health Law Mandates  —  WASHINGTON — Seeking to appease disgruntled governors, President Obama announced Monday that he supported amending the 2010 health care law to allow states to opt out of its most burdensome requirements three years earlier than currently permitted.

Do over?  —  We'll have our full poll on the Wisconsin conflict out tomorrow but here's the most interesting finding: if voters in the state could do it over today they'd support defeated Democratic nominee Tom Barrett over Scott Walker by a a 52-45 margin.  —  The difference between how folks …

GOP spending plan would cost 700,000 jobs, new report says  —  A Republican plan to sharply cut federal spending this year would destroy 700,000 jobs through 2012, according to an independent economic analysis set for release Monday.  —  The report, by Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi …

GORDON HINTZ: “YOU ARE F'N DEAD!”  —  Last week, we heard thatState Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) had been busted in a prostitution sting. … Last Friday.... after the Assembly voted to engross the Budget Repair Bill, Hintz turned to a female colleague, Rep. Michelle Litjens and said: “You are F***king dead!”

Sen. Hatch says USU receives most federal dollars per capita  —  Young people will face a bleak future without Social Security benefits if Democrats continue to “overreach” their constitutional boundaries, said U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch, Friday, in the Education Building.

Wisconsin Capitol Building Still Closed; Other Madison Shenanigans Reported  —  Protestors outside the Wisconsin statehouse.  (photo: signejb)  —  A bit more on the fast-moving story in the Capitol Building in Madison, Wisconsin:  —  • Clearly Scott Walker and the Capitol police …

Revealing the Man Behind @MayorEmanuel  —  It was the best fake Twitter account ever, deftly satirizing Rahm Emanuel, and elevating the Tweet and the f-word to the level of literature.  But the mystery writer was never revealed - until now.  —  There were many storylines in Rahm Emanuel's romp …

New York Times Punk'd By Anti-Union Plant (Updated)  —  Few news stories better spoke to the destruction of union solidarity and the realization that even those public employees collectively bargaining in Wisconsin were going to have to give something back, than the New York Times' piece …

Christian couple lose High Court battle to foster children because they are against homosexuality  —  A Christian couple morally opposed to homosexuality today lost a High Court battle over the right to become foster carers.  —  Eunice and Owen Johns, aged 62 and 65, from Oakwood, Derby …

‘My People Love Me’: Moammar Gadhafi Denies Demonstrations Against Him Anywhere in Libya  —  U.S. Exclusive: Christiane Amanpour Sits Down for an Interview With Libya's Embattled Leader  —  REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK BY CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR  —  I interviewed Col. Moammar Gadhafi this evening …

Last U.S. World War I veteran Frank W. Buckles dies at 110  —  Frank W. Buckles died early Sunday, sadly yet not unexpectedly at age 110, having achieved a singular feat of longevity that left him proud and a bit bemused.  —  In 1917 and 1918, close to 5 million Americans served in World War I …

GOP reality check: Obama looking tougher to beat in 2012  —  Just four months after posting historic election gains, Republicans are experiencing a reality check about 2012: President Barack Obama is going to be a lot tougher to defeat than he looked late last year.

BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL  —  Obama's jetset fitness trainer helps shed pounds, adds to global warming  —  With a schedule as hectic as President Obama's it must be hard to stick to a training regimen without help — but why does he insist on having his old trainer fly out from Chicago …

Unions vs. the Right to Work  —  Collective bargaining on a broad scale is more similar to an antitrust violation than to a civil liberty.  —  How ironic that Wisconsin has become ground zero for the battle between taxpayers and public- employee labor unions.

The Madoff Tapes  —  One evening, my home phone rang.  “You have a collect call from Bernard Madoff, an inmate at a federal prison,” a recording announced.  And there he was.  —  Bernard L. Madoff is in therapy.  Each week, he waits for the signal that prisoners are allowed to leave their housing units …

Revealed: The Group Behind the Bills that Could Legalize Killing Abortion Providers  —  It's no coincidence that bills to expand justifiable homicide laws have popped up in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa.  Meet the group that launched the effort.  —  Post Comment  —  First, it was South Dakota.

Limit Pay, Not Unions  —  IN Ohio, Wisconsin and other states facing budget deficits, some elected officials assert that closing those gaps requires achieving labor savings and weakening labor unions.  They are half-right.  —  Across the country, taxpayers are providing pensions …

Pelosi splits with Reid, dismisses GOP plan to avoid a shutdown  —  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is showing no enthusiasm for the new proposal from Republicans to avoid a government shutdown, putting her at odds with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Mariah, Beyoncé, Usher Face Calls to Donate Qaddafi Money to Charity  —  ‘Not every artist is a humanitarian.  In more cases than not, for people, greed rules’  —  By  —  Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Usher and 50 Cent are facing industry calls to give back the money they earned performing …

Farrakhan: Mideast uprisings will come to US  —  Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan predicted on Sunday that America faces imminent uprisings that mirror those in the Middle East.  —  “What you are looking at in Tunisia, in Egypt ... Libya, in Bahrain ... what you see happening there …

Do We Still Need Unions?  Yes  —  Why they're Worth Fighting For.  —  Bettmann-Corbis  —  April 1, 1953, Employees of R.H. Macy stage a demonstration outside the store before their contract  —  Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's effort two weeks ago to end collective bargaining for public employees …

U.S. Readies Military Options on Libya  —  WASHINGTON — The Defense Department has begun repositioning Navy warships to support possible action against Libya, as it accelerates planning on a range of options if asked by President Obama to intervene in the conflict there, officials said.

The Muammar Qaddafi Prize For Human Rights Goes To...  Amazingly enough, it exists.  The web page of the Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights is here.  The prize's motto is, “As the sun shines for everyone, freedom is a right for everyone.”  Touching, huh?

Salon.com Sale Talks Collapse  —  Merger talks between Salon.com, a pioneer in online news and opinion, and Newser.com, a news aggregation Web site founded by journalist Michael Wolff, have collapsed, according to people involved in the talks.  —  Salon.com, which had quietly put itself …