Reversal of fortune in Wisconsin  —  Domenico Montanaro writes:Over the weekend, liberal filmmaker Michael Moore said the fight in Wisconsin has “aroused a sleeping giant” for union rights across the country.  —  But the fight may have aroused a different “sleeping giant” …

Will Sarah Palin run for president and can she win?  —  Ms Palin outlines factors that will influence whether she enters the running  —  Sarah Palin, one of the best known and most controversial figures in American politics, told BBC Newsnight she was weighing up whether the US was ready for an …

Ensign to Announce Retirement  —  Sen. John Ensign is expected to announce at an afternoon news conference in Las Vegas that he will retire rather than face a brutal 2012 re-election campaign, according to knowledgeable sources.  —  The Nevada Republican, who has been embattled since revealing …

Conservative group files suit against Hastings, alleging sexual harassment  —  A conservative public-interest group filed a lawsuit on Monday against Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) alleging that he sexually harassed a former female staff member.  —  For two years, while Hastings served …

Obama's hard line on leaks  —  The Obama administration, which famously pledged to be the most transparent in American history, is pursuing an unexpectedly aggressive legal offensive against federal workers who leak secret information to expose wrongdoing, highlight national security threats or pursue a personal agenda.

The frontrunner-less Republican presidential field  —  For months now, it's been clear that the 2012 Republican presidential field lacks a strong frontrunner.  —  A case can be made for how either former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.) or Mike Huckabee (Ark.) — or even former Gov. Sarah Palin …

Obama restarts Guantanamo trials  —  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama approved Monday the resumption of military trials for detainees at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ending a two-year ban.  —  It was the latest acknowledgement that the detention facility Obama had vowed to shut …

The Fading Power of Beck's Alarms  —  Almost every time I flipped on television last week, there was a deeply angry guy on a running tirade about the conspiracies afoot, the enemies around all corners, and how he alone seemed to understand what was under way.

Holding Firm on the Budget  —  After letting a highly destructive budget fight fester far too long, the White House finally stepped in late last week to negotiate with the House, which wants to eviscerate nondefense spending.  Senate leaders still seem shell-shocked by that breathtaking ruthlessness …

Homeless children: the hard times generation  —  Scott Pelley reports on the growing number of children who are falling victim to the financial crisis  —  Unemployment improved a bit last month but it is still nearly nine percent and the trouble is job creation is so slow …

Bonds Show Why Boehner Saying We're Broke Is Figure of Speech  —  House Speaker John Boehner routinely offers this diagnosis of the U.S.'s fiscal condition: “We're broke; Broke going on bankrupt,” he said in a Feb. 28 speech in Nashville.  —  Boehner's assessment dominates a debate …

Democrats attack Republican candidate's children  —  In an effort to do my part in rescuing our country from the out-of-control Obama administration, last year I ran for Congress in Oregon's 4th District against 12-term incumbent, far-left Democrat Peter DeFazio, co-founder of the House Progressive Caucus.

Missing: Marizela Perez  —  I just got off the phone with my family.  —  This is my beautiful cousin, Marizela Perez:  —  She is a University of Washington undergrad and she has been missing since Saturday afternoon, when she left the Rainier Beach neighborhood headed to the UW Seattle campus.

Hello  —  Tom Wolfe was once asked, What is the most important change of your lifetime?  He is purported to have answered, “Oh, that's easy.  Co-ed dorms.”  —  My own gloss on that answer is that we spend a lot of our time debating political events and the choices leaders make.

Trump trip financing in question  —  A lawyer for Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, told reporters in Iowa today that his trip — on the Trump corporate jet — had been financed by a business supporter and booster of Trump's, Stewart Rahr.  —  The trip poses a serious campaign finance issue for Trump …

Supreme Court Overrules Kafkaesque DNA Decision  —  If any principle seems to guide the Texas legal system, it seems to be “establish a Catch-22 wherever possible.”  The latest example can be seen in Skinner v. Switzer, a case in which Texas refused an individual convicted of a capital crime access …

Degrees and Dollars  —  It is a truth universally acknowledged that education is the key to economic success.  Everyone knows that the jobs of the future will require ever higher levels of skill.  That's why, in an appearance Friday with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, President Obama declared that …