NPR executives caught on tape bashing conservatives and Tea Party, touting liberals  —  A man who appears to be a senior National Public Radio senior executive, Ron Schiller, has been captured on camera savaging conservatives and the Tea Party movement.  —  “The current Republican Party …

E-mails reveal possible Walker concessions on union bill  —  By Jason Stein and Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel  —  Madison — Gov. Scott Walker's office released documents Tuesday showing he's willing to give on some points of his union bargaining bill to break the Capitol standoff …

Welfare State: Handouts Make Up One-Third of U.S. Wages  —  Government payouts—including Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance—make up more than a third of total wages and salaries of the U.S. population, a record figure that will only increase if action isn't taken before the majority of Baby Boomers enter retirement.

In Wake Of Muslim Hearings, Rep. King Gets Security Upgrade  —  L.I. Congressman Says Hostile Phone Calls Flooding His Office  —  NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Long Island Congressman Peter King is facing threats — and getting extra security.  —  But he vowed Monday to forge ahead …

Searching for Marizela: An update  —  SEATTLE — The photo above from Marizela's friends/family shows the tattoo on her left inner arm that reads “lahat ay magiging maayos” — a Tagalog saying for “all will be well.”  —  Thanks so much to all of you for your prayers and for helping to spread the word across the Internet.

Reid: Save federal funding for the cowboy poets!  —  File this under: Did Harry Reid just say that?  —  In the middle of his tirade against House Republicans' “mean-spirited” budget bill on the Senate floor Tuesday, the Senate Majority Leader lamented that the GOP's proposed budget cuts …

GOP Sen. Lugar says he'll support House Republican spending cuts  —  Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), who faces a Tea Party-backed challenge in his 2012 primary, has withdrawn his stated opposition to House-passed spending cuts.  —  Lugar said Tuesday afternoon that he made a mistake …

Can Any One Of These People Beat President Obama?  —  To do so, one of these candidates has to win the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.  What follows is a cheat sheet of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the GOP presidential candidates and a quick assessment of where they stand now.

Intruder calls 911, afraid homeowner may have gun  —  (CNN) — This time it was the intruder who called 911.  —  A man who broke into a house in Portland, Oregon, called police — afraid the homeowner may have a gun.  —  The suspect, Timothy James Chapek, was in the bathroom taking a shower …

Vilsack: ‘I took it as a slam on rural America’  —  Yesterday afternoon, I got an e-mail from a “usda.gov” address.  “Secretary Vilsack read your blog post ‘Why we still need cities’ over the weekend, and he has some thoughts and reflections, particularly about the importance of rural America,” it said.

Israel Considers Military ‘Upgrade’  —  JERUSALEM—Israel will need to boost military spending and may seek an additional $20 billion in U.S. security assistance to help it manage potential threats stemming from popular upheavals in the Arab world, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday.

NPR, PBS campaigns to keep federal funds called unlawful  —  NPR and PBS stations nationwide are rallying their audiences to contact Congress to fight against Republicans' proposed spending cuts, but some affiliates' pleas may violate laws preventing nonprofits or government-funded groups from lobbying.

GOP steps up attacks on Obama energy policy  —  Republicans are tapping into Americans' growing anxiety over rising oil and gas prices to step up attacks on President Barack Obama's energy policies.  —  This week, they're taking to the Senate floor, issuing news releases and chatting …

Senate Democrats weigh making big mistake on health-care reform  —  I'm getting some worried e-mails from Hill staffers who think Senate Democrats might rubberstamp a policy House Republicans passed to undermine the Affordable Care Act.  It's the sort of policy decision that won't get much attention …

Obama headlines party fundraiser in Boston  —  Boston, Massachusetts (CNN) - President Barack Obama plays the role of fundraiser-in-chief Monday evening, helping the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raise an estimated $1 million.  —  The president headlines a DCCC fundraiser at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Obama's new executive order on Guantanamo  —  (updated below)  —  President Obama yesterday signed an Executive Order which, as The Washington Post described it, “will create a formal system of indefinite detention for those held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay” and …

Republican Senators Introduce National Right to Work Act  —  Bill would stop discrimination against millions of workers who don't want to join unions  —  WASHINGTON, D.C.  —  Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), introduced the National Right to Work Act to reduce workplace discrimination …

21 Priests Suspended in Philadelphia  —  The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced Tuesday that it had placed 21 priests on administrative leave from active ministry in connection with credible charges that they had sexually abused minors.  —  The mass suspension was one of the single …

Drive to recall Wisconsin GOP senators gaining steam, Dems say  —  So how's the drive to recall Wisconsin GOP state senators going?  If these new numbers the Wisconsin Democratic Party shares with me are accurate, it's already exceeding expectations in a big way.

Missouri still very much a tossup  —  PPP's 2nd poll on the 2012 US Senate race in Missouri finds pretty much the same thing as the first one.  Voters are closely divided on Claire McCaskill's job performance and she polls in the mid-40s against all of her prospective Republican opponents.