Obama Supports Easing Health Law Mandates for States  —  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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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!”

Wisconsin's Walker to absent Democrats: 24 hours to return  —  (Reuters) - Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker said on Monday that absent senate Democrats have 24 hours to return and vote on a measure to reduce the power of public sector unions or the state will miss out on opportunity to refinance its debt.

‘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 …

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 …

Hatch: Health law a ‘dumbass’ program  —  GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah) reporteldy directed a string of profane insults toward President Obama's healthcare law in a speech late last week.  —  During at an appearance at an event sponsored by the Utah State University College Republicans …

The Paris Hilton Of Newspapers Sees What He Expects To See  —  Unsurprisingly, it turns out that Keith Olberman is a very good blogger.  (If you haven't seen his new blog, check it out.)  Today's post about the NY Times heir Sulzberger making an epic mistake is well worth reading:

Andrew Sullivan Joins The Daily Beast!  —  In exciting news for the two-year-old Daily Beast, the blogging trailblazer is moving his influential Daily Dish to our site.  His blog will occupy a new channel starting in early April, and he will become a Newsweek contributor.

THE HILL POLL: On shutdown, more voters would blame Dems  —  Twenty-nine percent of likely voters would blame Democrats for a government shutdown, compared to 23 percent who would hold Republicans responsible, according to a new poll conducted for The Hill.  —  The results are surprising …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

Opinion: The Left's Unhealthy Koch Habit … What do Charles and David Koch, brothers who run the Kansas-based Koch Industries, have to do with Wisconsin's budget battle?  —  Almost nothing, unless you occupy the left wing of the political spectrum.  There, you'll find a group of bloggers …

Politics at the Oscars — Union Support  —  ABC News' Chris Marderosian reports:  —  At the Academy Awards tonight, best cinematography winner Wally Pfister made a point during his acceptance speech of thanking his union crew on “Inception.”  —  Backstage he went further …

Goddangit, Baby, We're Making Good Time  —  With a new master plan for the GOP, Karl Rove is revving up for a comeback.  —  Karl Rove is driving through Central Texas with his girlfriend, on the way to a weekend quail hunt.  —  “I've been called up by my emergency Texas militia unit …