C.I.A. Agents in Libya Aid Airstrikes and Meet Rebels  —  WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency has inserted clandestine operatives into Libya to gather intelligence for military airstrikes and contact rebels battling Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's forces, according to American officials.

Budget deal close with $33B in cuts  —  Budget talks came to life Wednesday but not without new tension between the White House and Senate Democrats, worried that the administration is too quick to agree to $33 billion in cuts to move Speaker John Boehner toward what remains a very uncertain deal.

Democrats consider proposing tax hikes  —  Senate Democrats are discussing plans to introduce tax policy changes that they say would raise federal revenues and broaden the budget debate beyond discretionary spending cuts.  —  Democrats feel they have been boxed by Republicans into a debate …

Shh!  Obama gets anti-secrecy award  —  The president accepted a transparency award in a closed, undisclosed meeting.  —  President Obama finally and quietly accepted his “transparency” award from the open government community this week — in a closed, undisclosed meeting at the White House on Monday.

Obama issues veto threat over union measure in FAA bill  —  President Obama has threatened to veto the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill unless a provision on union organizing is removed.  —  In a statement of administration policy Wednesday, the White House said the president's …

An Arizona Senate Race Waits to See if Giffords Emerges to Run  —  TUCSON — Representative Gabrielle Giffords is still in the hospital, but some of her most ardent backers are so enamored of the idea of her running for the Senate that they describe the inevitable campaign commercials …

VIDEO: Indiana GOP Rep Says Women Will Pretend To Be Raped To Get Free Abortions  —  Yesterday morning, the Indiana House considered an anti-abortion bill that “would put some of the tightest abortion restrictions in the nation into Indiana law.”  Introduced by state Rep. Eric Turner (R) …

Ohio Lawmakers Pass Anti-Union Bill  —  The two houses of the Ohio Legislature approved a far-reaching bill on Wednesday that would hobble the ability of public-employee unions to bargain collectively and undercut their political clout.  —  They sent the bill to Gov. John R. Kasich …

Tapper offers Carney ‘straw men’  —  The temperature in the White House briefing jumped up Wednesday afternoon as Jake Tapper and Jay Carney vented some of their frustrations with each other publicly.  —  At one point, Tapper dissed Carney by saying he could provide a “room full of straw men” for the White House press secretary.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as ‘The Governator’ — EXCLUSIVE  —  He's been a famous body builder.  He's been a killer cyborg from the future.  He's been Governor of California.  And now, in this week's exclusive cover scoop, Arnold Schwarzenegger reveals his plans for the next phase …

Report Accuses DHS of Witness Tampering and Attempted Theft of Congressional Committee Documents  —  A key congressional committee on oversight is accusing the Department of Homeland Security of non-cooperation, witness tampering and even attempted theft of committee documents.

A Well-Intentioned Bad Idea  —  International Vice President, United Steelworkers  —  By now anyone who had not yet heard of the Koch brothers has been introduced to them.  Every major newspaper and magazine has run an article about the brothers who until recently lived largely under …

The unbeatable Republican?  —  Massachusetts is a deeply Democratic state, one in which barely more than 15 percent of the seats in the state Legislature are held by Republicans and fewer than 15 percent of all registered voters belong to the GOP.  So it's hardly surprising that national Democrats …

Antitrust Cry From Microsoft  —  The wheel of technology history turns remarkably fast.  Microsoft, whose domination of the technology industry provoked a landmark federal antitrust case, is crying foul against Google and urging European Union antitrust officials to go after the search giant.

Odd Alliance: Business Lobby and Tea Party  —  The Tea Party does not have a presence in Indonesia, where the term evokes cups of orange pekoe and sweet cakes rather than angry citizens in “Don't Tread on Me” T-shirts.  —  But a Tea Party group in the United States, the Institute for Liberty …

With New ‘Monkey Bill,’ Tennessee Takes Evolution Education Back To Scopes  —  Eighty six years after the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial opened Tennessee to the debate about the teaching of evolution, the state House is trying to slam the door shut again.  Tennessee's House Education Committee approved …

Rubio Takes the Lead  —  Urges Congress to authorize military action, endorse regime change.  —  THE WEEKLY STANDARD has obtained the text of a letter freshman senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sent tonight to the Senate majority and minority leaders.  In it, Rubio proposes that the Senate authorize …

Barney Frank: On budget, GOP in ‘cloud cuckoo land’  —  Even though budget negotiations between Democrats and Republicans have resumed on Capitol Hill, the war of words between the two parties is alive and well.  —  Perhaps no better example came Wednesday night, when sharp-tongued Rep. Barney Frank …