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 …

For Lawmaker Examining Terror, a Pro-I.R.A. Past  —  WASHINGTON — For Representative Peter T. King, as he seizes the national spotlight this week with a hearing on the radicalization of American Muslims, it is the most awkward of résumé entries.

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.

Newt Gingrich Tells 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 …

Americans Oppose Republican Attack on Unions in Poll  —  Americans reject Republican efforts to curb bargaining rights of unions whose power they say is dwarfed by corporations, a Bloomberg National Poll finds.  —  As battles rage between state workers and Republican governors in Wisconsin and Ohio …

Obama and Bush  —  The announcement that military show trials are to recommence at Guantanamo Bay, combined with the brutal and vindictive treatment of Bradley Manning, make it clear that, as regards willing to suppress basic human and civil rights in the name of security …

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.

DID YOU HEAR THE ONE ABOUT THE $7.5 MILLION CLEAN-UP?.... Late last week, Republicans in Wisconsin raised a new concern about the pro-labor protests at the state capitol: they're making an expensive mess.  —  Specifically, the Walker administration said the repair and clean-up costs associated …

Democrats Raise Stakes on Budget  —  WASHINGTON—Senate Democratic leaders, seeking to break an impasse over Republican-backed spending cuts, on Tuesday proposed broadening the scope of budget negotiations into more politically volatile terrain that includes taxes, subsidies and entitlement programs.

Charlie Sheen is not filial  —  Actor Charlie Sheen is a classic example of the difference in Western and Eastern values and norms.  —  Ignoring public pleas from his father, Sheen has continued a weeklong media blitz, exhibiting obvious signs of mania.  With no firm hand to guide them …

TRENDING: ‘Birther’ debate alive and well in New Hampshire  —  (CNN) - The New Hampshire state legislature is attempting to take politics out of the equation when a House committee considers an amendment that would require presidential candidates to present birth certificates when filing …

LEAVING BEHIND A VALUABLE DIAMOND.... Last year, the Senate Banking Committee twice approved Peter Diamond's nomination to the Federal Reserve.  And twice, the Senate wasn't allowed to vote on Diamond because Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) threw tantrums and blocked the nominee.

Battle of the Bike Lanes  —  At the risk of incurring the wrath of the bicycle lobby, a constituency that pursues its agenda with about as much modesty and humor as the Jacobins pursued theirs, and which has found its heroine in transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan …

First Thoughts: Overlapping battlegrounds  —  The overlapping presidential and Senate battlegrounds... Watch the Southwest... Critics and friends beg the executive branch to do more on Libya and the budget stalemate... Senate votes on competing budget bills at about 3:00 pm ET …

Common mistakes of left-wing economists?  —  T., a loyal MR reader, asked for a compendium.  This is my off-the-cuff list, but in the interests of fairness I'm doing one on market-oriented economists as well.  What are some of the common views found on the left which I consider …

E-mails: Wisconsin governor offers concessions on budget bill  —  (CNN) — An e-mail exchange released by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's office on Tuesday has revealed a series of potential Republican concessions to a three-week standoff over a budget bill that would restrict the collective bargaining rights of most public workers.

Obama a ‘Radical’?  Get Real  —  The president isn't outside the Democratic Party's mainstream.  Republicans will find him easier to beat once they realize the problem is that mainstream.  —  The president had finally let the mask drop and revealed himself, once and for all …

Joe Manchin goes rogue  —  Several weeks ago, freshman Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) strolled through the Hart Senate Office Building and ended up in what should be enemy territory: a face-to-face meeting with the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.