Poll Finds Support Lacking for Entitlement Reductions  —  WASHINGTON— Less than a quarter of Americans support making significant cuts to Social Security or Medicare to tackle the country's mounting deficit, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, illustrating the challenge facing lawmakers …

Manning faces new charges, possible death penalty  —  ‘Aiding the enemy’ is most serious of 22 new counts filed against private in WikiLeaks case  —  Below:  —  WASHINGTON — Following an intensive seven-month investigation, the Army on Wednesday filed 22 additional charges against Pfc. Bradley Manning …

Oh my: Sen. Daniel Akaka won't run for reelection in 2012  —  But ... he's only in his mid-80s and has served just 21 years.  In an age of wizened congressmen who have to be dragged screaming into retirement, surely this youngster has another two or three terms in him.

No, it's not okay to traffic in pure fiction about Obama's heritage  —  Ben Smith writes that my criticism of Mike Huckabee is unfair: … Right, but Huckabee didn't “look at his personal education.”  Huckabee created an entirely fictional one.  It's one thing to tie Obama's politics …

Obama Says Race a Key Component in Tea Party Protests  —  In a new book, President Obama talks candidly about race and the presidency  —  African-Americans have been an integral part of the White House since it was built in part by slaves.  In Family of Freedom: Presidents and African Americans …

Sarah Palin's bizarre view of the First Amendment  —  Sarah Palin, who has more than once invoked the First Amendment when she or her allies faced criticism, today denounced the Supreme Court's 8-1 ruling allowing the Westboro Baptist Church to protest outside soldiers' funerals with signs reading ""God Hates Fags" and the like.

UK Cleric's “Shariah 4 America” Website Details Plans to Drape Statue of Liberty in a Burqa Before Turning it Into a Minaret...  When someone is pounding Anjem Choudary's face into the pavement during tomorrow's protest in front of the White House, please make sure they tell him this isn't the UK, we don't celebrate multiculturalism.

Ohio Vote Puts Curbs on Unions in Reach  —  Ohio state senators narrowly approved a bill that would prohibit public-employee unions representing 400,000 state and local workers from bargaining over health benefits and pensions, while also eliminating the right to strike.

Obama invites congressional leaders to meet with Biden on budget  —  President Obama on Wednesday intervened in a partisan brawl that threatens to shut down the government, inviting congressional leaders of both parties to sit down with Vice President Biden and work out a compromise …

Longhorns 17, Badgers 1  —  Please pardon this brief departure from my normal folderol, but every so often a member of the chattering class issues a nugget of stupidity so egregious that no amount of mockery will suffice.  Particularly when the issuer of said stupidity holds a Nobel Prize.

Paul Ryan: Romneycare ‘Not that Dissimilar to Obamacare’  —  Budget chairman and GOP star talks 2012.  —  This morning at a breakfast meeting sponsored by the American Spectator, Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan talked about what he's looking for in a Republican presidential candidate …

No, Fox News Did Not Lie With “Wisconsin Palm Tree” Violent Protest Video  —  The Internet is abuzz this morning with a story that Fox News has “lied” in showing a video of an angry union protester from California while claiming its from Wisconsin.  The “Palm Tree lie” (described …

Twitter's Stone: No IPO or funding talks  —  (Reuters) - Twitter has no plan to go public in the near future and does not need additional funds because it is making money, the co-founder of the popular microblogging site said.  —  Biz Stone also dismissed reports JPMorgan Chase & Co …

Nine Afghan Boys Collecting Firewood Killed by NATO Helicopters  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — Nine boys collecting firewood to heat their homes in the eastern Afghanistan mountains were killed by NATO helicopter gunners who mistook them for insurgents, according to a statement on Wednesday by NATO, which apologized for the mistake.

Politics Seen to Limit E.P.A. as It Sets Rules for Natural Gas  —  When Congress considered whether to regulate more closely the handling of wastes from oil and gas drilling in the 1980s, it turned to the Environmental Protection Agency to research the matter.

Newt Gingrich's route: 2012 path paved with questions  —  Newt Gingrich appears poised to become the first major Republican to enter the race for president, a step that would give him a first-mover advantage in a slow-forming GOP field .  —  He'll need it.

Breaking: Wisconsin Dems throw their weight behind drive to recall GOP Senators  —  The Wisconsin Democratic Party has decided to throw its weight behind a nascent grassroots drive to recall a number of GOP state senators, a move that will considerably increase the pressure on them to break …