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 …

Obama launches reelection campaign with e-mail, web video  —  The president pledges to focus on his job, but will pick up the tempo of campaigning this month with several fundraisers.  The campaign is hoping to raise a record $1 billion.  —  President Obama speaking in March (Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images))

KSM to be tried by military commission at Gitmo; Holder set to make announcement today  —  Attorney General Eric Holder today will announce that self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad will be tried in a military commission, CBS News has learned.

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 …

MONEY TALKS  —  Eight of the current Supreme Court Justices are known for their zeal in questioning lawyers.  That tendency was on display last week during the oral argument over the constitutionality of an Arizona law known as the Citizens Clean Elections Act, a law that attempts …

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 …

John Phillips: Why Hillary Clinton must run in 2012  —  If Hillary Clinton's primary voters and President Obama had their relationship status listed on their Facebook pages, it would change from “Married” to “It's complicated.”  —  To be fair, Hillary voters never fell in love with Obama, they just fell in line.

Re: Lindsey Graham and the First Amendment  —  Andrew, ever since I ran into a spot of bother in Canada, I've found myself giving speeches in defense of freedom of expression in Toronto, London, Copenhagen, etc.  I did not think it would be necessary quite so soon to take the same stand …

Now Libya steps on President Obama's message  —  President Barack Obama's decision to intervene in Libya has presented him with a whole new set of political problems with members of both parties.  But its most worrisome effect for the White House is the way it's undermining his efforts …

Critics' review unexpectedly supports scientific consensus on global warming  —  A UC Berkeley team's preliminary findings in a review of temperature data confirm global warming studies.  —  A team of UC Berkeley physicists and statisticians that set out to challenge the scientific consensus …

The Hill Poll: GOP seen as more reasonable in spending-cut debate  —  A plurality of likely voters believes Republicans have been more reasonable than Democrats in the negotiations over spending cuts.  —  A new poll conducted for The Hill showed 41 percent polled said the GOP had been …

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 …

Setting The Record Straight on GE's Taxes  —  There's a heated debate over General Electric's taxes in places ranging from the front page of the New York Times to the blogosphere to, of all places, “The Daily Show.”  In the 10 days since the Times touched off this debate …

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.”

The Case For Freshman Ineligibility  —  Secretary of Education Arne Duncan took the opportunity of “March Madness” to note the scandalously poor academic performance of the unpaid professional basketball players who NCAA schools pretend are student athletes.

Diminished Individualism Watch  —  A few weeks back I commented on a George Will column in which he said that … So I think that it is my civic duty to report that yesterday, as I got off Amtrak 161 from Trenton to Washington — having spent 2 1/2 hours being made more amenable to collectivism …