Majority in Poll Back Employees in Public Sector Unions  —  As labor battles erupt in state capitals around the nation, a majority of Americans say they oppose efforts to weaken the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions and are also against cutting the pay or benefits …

Darrell Issa fires press secretary Kurt Bardella in NYT e-mail flap  —  The House Oversight and Government Reform committee is firing spokesman Kurt Bardella for sharing correspondence with reporters with a New York Times journalist.  —  The move comes a day after POLITICO reported that Bardella …

Dem senator: Senate has accepted House GOP spending plan  —  As House and Senate leaders haggle over ways to avoid a government shutdown, a Democratic senator said the Republicans' short-term spending bill - including billions of dollars in cuts - has been largely accepted by upper-chamber Democrats.

How Rumsfeld misleads and ducks responsibility in his new book  —  Few people know the ins and outs of the Bush Administration as well as the Washington Post's Bob Woodward, who is flat-out disgusted with the evasions and elisions in Donald Rumsfeld's new book.  Here he explains why:  —  By Bob Woodward

Gingrich Jumps In: First 2012 GOP Nominee  —  Sources: Former House Speaker Will form 2012 Exploratory Comm.  —  The 2012 presidential campaign is about to get its first big-name Republican.  —  ABC News has learned that Newt Gingrich will make the leap this week.

Rep. Holt beats Watson the super-computer at ‘Jeopardy!’  —  There are a lot of smart people on Capitol Hill.  But none of them can claim quite the same brainy bragging rights as Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.).  —  On Monday, Holt beat IBM's super-computer, known as Watson, at a round of “Jeopardy! …

Speaker Boehner to Brody File: Preparing For “one giant fight over the future for our country.”  —  Speaker John Boehner tells The Brody File that when it comes to issue over the budget and raising the debt ceiling he is preparing for “one giant fight over the future for our country.”

Toss up in Virginia  —  The Virginia Senate race is about as much of a toss up as it could be: Tim Kaine and George Allen tie at 47% in our first poll since Jim Webb announced his retirement.  —  Kaine is slightly more popular than Allen, sporting a 46/38 favorability spread to Allen's 39/40.

The New Normal  —  We're going to be doing a lot of deficit cutting over the next several years.  The country's future greatness will be shaped by whether we cut wisely or stupidly.  So we should probably come up with a few sensible principles to guide us as we cut.

Natalie Portman Condemns Galliano  —  The actress Natalie Portman, who has an endorsement contract with Dior for its Miss Dior Cherie fragrance, has strongly condemned its chief designer, John Galliano, for anti-Semitic remarks after a video surfaced of Mr. Galliano appearing to deliver a tirade in a Paris bar.

ANSWER THIS: ANDREW SULLIVAN  —  Andrew Sullivan has achieved the hat trick of Washington journalism: author, editor, blogger.  And he's adding another item to his long and diverse résumé, announcing this week that he's leaving The Atlantic and taking his blog to the new Daily Beast/Newsweek venture in April.

Billions in Bloat Uncovered in Beltway  —  The U.S. government has 15 different agencies overseeing food-safety laws, more than 20 separate programs to help the homeless and 80 programs for economic development.  —  These are a few of the findings in a massive study of overlapping …

Visit Guest Book  —  James “Jim” Harrison, beloved husband of Ginger Rundlof, died Sunday, February 27, 2011, in The Woodlands, Texas, after a brief, courageous battle against lung and bone cancer.  Jim was 68 years old, born December 5, 1942.  He was preceded in death by his father W.C. Jack Harrison, and mother Bonnie Harrison.

Frank Rich Joins New York Magazine  —  Frank Rich is joining New York Magazine, beginning in June.  Rich will be an essayist for the magazine, writing monthly on politics and culture, and will serve as an editor-at-large, editing a special monthly section anchored by his essay.

Edwards Lies Low, but That Won't Last  —  CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Over the past few weeks, people in this tight-knit university community have not seen much of John Edwards.  —  They used to.  He would hang out on a metal stool at Bowbarr, a short walk from the environmentally friendly condominium complex …

Exclusive: AWOL Democrats Experiencing ‘Dissension in the Ranks’  —  Fox Nation has learned exclusively from a highly placed source within Wisconsin state politics that the fourteen AWOL Democrats are experiencing “dissension in the ranks.”  State Sen. Julie Lassa (D) is pregnant and “extremely unhappy” about being on the run.

Why Koch Industries Is Speaking Out  —  Crony capitalism and bloated government prevent entrepreneurs from producing the products and services that make people's lives better.  —  Years of tremendous overspending by federal, state and local governments have brought us face-to-face with an economic crisis.

Barbour: ‘RomneyCare’ bad for states  —  Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) on Tuesday piled on the Massachusetts healthcare program critics have dubbed “RomneyCare.”  —  Barbour, a possible Republican candidate for president, said in congressional testimony that while it was the right …

In boost for GOP plan, Fed chief says cuts won't derail recovery  —  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says a plan from House Republicans to cut $61 billion in spending this year would not harm economic growth.  —  The GOP's proposed spending cuts, passed as part of a continuing resolution …

Southern Decadence protest leader booked with masturbating at Metairie park  —  The Rev. Grant Storms, the Christian fundamentalist known for his bullhorn protests of the Southern Decadence festival in the French Quarter, was arrested on a charge of masturbating at a Metairie park Friday afternoon.