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 …

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 …

Top Senate Democrat wants meeting with Walker  —  By Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel  —  Madison — The leader of Senate Democrats hiding out in Illinois is seeking a face-to-face meeting with Gov. Scott Walker and the Senate GOP leader.  —  Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller (D-Monona) …

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 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.

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 …

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 …

Clarence Thomas' dangerous conceit  —  The Supreme Court justice argues that criticism of him is an attack on the court itself.  But a single justice doesn't define the institution.  —  Louis XIV of France was infamous for his view that there was no distinction between himself and the state …

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.

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 …

Liberal group pushes for $382 billion stimulus  —  Liberals have come up with a counterpoint to House Republicans' “cut and grow” austerity plan: have the government spend billions to hire millions of the unemployed.  —  With conservatives clamoring to cut federal spending and public sector jobs …

Lack of GOP Front-Runner for 2012 Is Atypical  —  John McCain and Barry Goldwater the only GOP presidential nominees to emerge late  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The wide-open battle for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination — with nearly a three-way tie among Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin …

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 …

Recall drives could make history  —  Rarely have multiple lawmakers faced such action  —  By Craig Gilbert of the Journal Sentinel  —  As improbable as the last three weeks have been in state politics, Wisconsin is about to embark on another wild ride into the political unknown …

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 …

Why Monogamy Matters  —  Social conservatives can seem like the perennial pessimists of American politics — more comfortable with resignation than with hope, perpetually touting evidence of family breakdown, social disintegration and civilizational decline.  —  But even doomsayers get the occasional dose of good news.

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 …