Clinton: Shutdown would hurt GOP but might not be ‘traumatic’ for economy  —  A government shutdown might not have a “traumatic” effect on the economy, former President Bill Clinton said Monday.  —  Clinton, who faced a shutdown during his 1995 budget negotiations with congressional Republicans …

GOP Aim: Cut $4 Trillion  —  Budget Plan Would Transform Medicare, Reset Budget Debate; Democrats Balk  —  Republicans will present this week a 2012 budget proposal that would cut more than $4 trillion from federal spending projected over the next decade and transform the Medicare health program …

It Doesn't Get Any Clearer Than That: “Free speech is a great idea, but we're in a war”  —  Here's what Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said today about Florida pastor Terry Jones' burning of a Koran, which has been used an excuse by Afghanis to murder 22 people, including seven United Nations workers:

A Tea Party Star Stirs Iowans, and She Isn't Palin  —  WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Sarah Palin, the reigning heroine of many social conservatives, has given few signals that she will make a presidential bid.  Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2008 on the strength of his appeal …

Jon Huntsman, the rock ‘n’ roll years  —  Jonny Huntsman didn't quite make it through his senior year of high school, and the cause was pretty plain to his classmates.  One recalled the long-haired, diffident Salt Lake City high schooler sitting next to him in history class “hitting his desk as if it were a piano.”

Samantha Power to be the next Secretary of State?  —  Irish-born adviser now key to Obama foreign policy  —  A flattering New York Times profile has increased speculation that Samantha Power, the Dublin-born aide to President Obama, could be his next Secretary of State or National Security Adviser.

A SUCKER'S BET.... The effort to pass a budget for the remainder of the fiscal year will be the principal challenge for policymakers over the next few days, but while that work continues, congressional Republicans will also start a massive fight over the next budget.

Petraeus Says Quran Burning Endangers War Effort  —  KABUL—The Quran burning by a Florida church, which sparked three days of deadly rioting in Afghanistan, poses new dangers for the U.S.-led war effort against the Taliban, coalition commander U.S. Gen. David Petraeus warned in an interview.

Foreclosure crisis: Fed-up judges crack down disorder in the courts  —  Angry and exasperated by faulty foreclosure documents, judges throughout Florida are hitting back by increasingly dismissing cases and boldly accusing lawyers of “fraud upon the court.”  —  A Palm Beach Post review …

Politico's Roger Simon: 'Obama's The Greatest Orator Of Modern Times'  —  Politico's Roger Simon said Sunday Barack Obama is the greatest orator of modern times.  —  Chatting with Howard Kurtz on CNN's “Reliable Sources,” Simon also said journalists are just now looking beyond …

10 things to watch during the shutdown battle  —  The forecast on Capitol Hill this week calls for brinksmanship, heated rhetoric and a climactic ending that could have a major impact on the 2012 elections.  —  With less than a week to go before the April 8 government shutdown deadline …

Bachmann hires former top Huckabee staffer  —  From Mark Zdechlik:  —  Rep. Michele Bachmann's political action committee has hired Wes Enos, the Iowa political director for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee when he ran for president in 2008.  —  Bachmann chief of staff Andy Parrish confirmed Enos …

AP source: Couric leaving news anchor post  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Katie Couric is leaving her anchor post at “CBS Evening News” less than five years after becoming the first woman to solely helm a network TV evening newscast.  —  A network executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity …

Jimmy Carter Lobbies for Cuban Spies  —  Why lend legitimacy to the Castro brothers?  —  They say that Cuba is a place where time stands still and it certainly seemed that way last week when Jimmy Carter arrived in Havana to fraternize with the Castros.  The image of the 86-year-old American …