WI Senate GOP Leader Admits On-Air That His Goal Is To Defund Labor Unions, Hurt Obama's Reelection Chances  —  A prank call from a man purporting to be petrochemical billionaire David Koch to Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) a few weeks ago revealed that Walker had crafted his “budget repair” bill in a bid to crush the labor unions.

NPR CEO Vivian Schiller Resigns  —  This follows yesterday's news that then-NPR fundraiser Ron Schiller (no relation) was videotapped slamming conservatives and questioning whether NPR needs federal funding during a lunch with men posing as members of a Muslim organization …

David Broder dies; Pulitzer-winning Washington Post political columnist  —  David S. Broder, 81, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post and one of the most respected writers on national politics for four decades, died Wednesday at Capital Hospice in Arlington of complications from diabetes.

Newt Gingrich tells The Brody File he 'felt compelled to seek God's forgiveness'  —  Newt Gingrich, who is expected to run for President tells The Brody File that he “felt compelled to seek God's forgiveness” over his past marital infidelity.  And now that he's at the grandfather stage he is …

Man charged with attempted MLK Day bombing linked to neo-Nazi group  —  A Stevens County man charged with the attempted bombing along the route of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane has links to a neo-Nazi group, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Vicious Assault Shakes Texas Town  —  CLEVELAND, Tex. — The police investigation began shortly after Thanksgiving, when an elementary school student alerted a teacher to a lurid cellphone video that included one of her classmates.  —  The video led the police to an abandoned trailer …

Government Shutdown Opposed by Americans in Poll Faulting Republican Cuts  —  Americans are sending a message to congressional Republicans: Don't shut down the federal government or slash spending on popular programs.  —  Almost 8 in 10 people say Republicans and Democrats should reach …

As King Targets Muslims, There Have Been Almost Twice As Many Plots Since 9/11 From Non-Muslim Terrorists  —  Tomorrow, Rep. Peter King (R-NY), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, will hold hearings singling out the Muslim American community for supposedly aiding and abetting domestic radicalization and terrorism.

Palin would base campaign in Scottsdale  —  The prospect of Sarah Palin running for president is, increasingly, dismissed by a political class that sees her facing weak poll numbers — especially in key early states — and doing nothing to correct them or to buil the infrastructure for a run.

Like NPR, PBS Met With Fictional Donors  —  NPR was not the only media organization duped by the Republican provocateur James O'Keefe.  —  PBS confirmed Wednesday that like NPR, one of its executives attended a lunch with people who posed as members of the Muslim Education Action Center Trust, a fictional group.

Julianne Moore To Play Sarah Palin In HBO Movie ‘Game Change’  —  Julianne Moore is set to star in HBO Films' Game Change.  Directed by Jay Roach, the movie is based on Mark Halperin and John Heilemann's 2010 book about the 2008 Presidential elections and follows John McCain's presidential campaign …

Exclusive: Bill Gross Dumps All Treasuries, Brings Total “Government Related” Holdings To Zero, Flees To Cash - No QE3?  —  Based on still to be publicly reported data by Pimco's flagship Total Return Fund, the world's largest bond fund, in the month of January, has taken its bond holdings to zero …

Michele Bachmann's ‘bombshell’ on a ‘hidden’ $105 billion  —  “There was a Congressional Research Service report that just was issued in February, and we discovered that secretly, unbeknownst to members of Congress, over $105 billion was hidden in the ‘Obamacare’ legislation to fund the implementation of ‘Obamacare’.

World's Billionaires 2011: A Record Year In Numbers, Money And Impact  —  BRIC countries surge; Carlos Slim widens lead atop list.  —  This 25th year of tracking global wealth was one to remember.  The 2011 Billionaires List breaks two records: total number of listees (1,210) and combined wealth ($4.5 trillion).

White House moving to repair troubled relationship with Cabinet  —  News this week of the first departure of a Cabinet secretary from the Obama administration comes amid a wide-ranging effort under the new chief of staff, William M. Daley, to repair badly frayed relations between the White House and the Cabinet.