Obama Meeting Fails to End Stalemate Over Federal Budget  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama and Congressional leaders said Wednesday that a late-night White House bargaining session produced no budget breakthrough that would avert a government shutdown this weekend but agreed the two sides …

Donald Trump.  Seriously?  —  Donald Trump finished second in the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll testing the 2012 Republican presidential field.  AFP PHOTO/Emmanuel DunandIn the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, businessman and reality television star Donald Trump finished second behind …

Obama friend arrested in Hawaii  —  (CNN) - A friend of President Barack Obama was arrested Monday for allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover officer posing as a prostitute, according to CNN affiliate Hawaii News Now.  —  Robert Richard Titcomb, 49, was arrested with three …

OBAMA: Get Used To High Gas Prices.  “Obama needled one questioner who asked about gas prices, now averaging close to $3.70 a gallon nationwide, and suggested that the gentleman consider getting rid of his gas-guzzling vehicle.”  —  High gas prices aren't a bug, they're a feature.

Election fraud allegations fly in close Wisconsin Supreme Court race  —  Wisconsin citizens and election experts are questioning the veracity of the state's Supreme Court race, which the Associated Press reports left-wing legal activist JoAnne Kloppenburg won by 204 votes over Justice David Prosser …

Obama's support among blacks slips unexpectedly, Hispanics too  —  Barack Obama rode to a comfortable presidential election win in 2008 on the electoral wings of a coalition based on liberal whites, independents and blacks, especially blacks.  —  Obama lost much of his independent support during …

Amendment that says climate change is occurring fails in House  —  The House rejected a Democratic amendment Wednesday that would have put the chamber on record backing the widely held scientific view that global warming is occurring and humans are a major cause.

EVEN THE THREAT OF A SHUTDOWN IS EXPENSIVE.... If congressional Republicans go through with their threat and shut down the government tomorrow night, the costs will be considerable.  It's ironic that those hoping to cut the budget will force a shutdown that's needlessly expensive.

First homosexual caveman found  —  Archaeologists have unearthed the 5,000-year-old remains of what they believe may have been the world's oldest known gay caveman.  —  The male body - said to date back to between 2900-2500BC - was discovered buried in a way normally reserved only for women …

Judge gives ‘Juror No. 799’ indefinite jury duty after she makes racist remarks on questionnaire  —  An incensed federal judge sentenced a racist Brooklyn woman to indefinite jury duty on Tuesday after she trashed the NYPD and minorities.  —  “This is an outrage, and so are you!”

Maryland man glued to Wal-Mart toilet seat  —  (CNN) — Police in Maryland are on the hunt for the perpetrator of what appears to be an April Fools' prank that left a man glued to a toilet at a Wal-Mart store.  —  If caught, the jokester who doused the seat with glue at the Elkton Wal-Mart …

I can't believe my best friend is a Republican  —  I love everything about Janet — except how she stands for all the things I find bad and wrong in the world  —  Janet and I would likely have never met, save for the thing that unites so many women across divides of income and age: fat.

Federal Departments Lay Out Plans in the Event of a Government Shutdown  —  WASHINGTON — With the possibility of a government shutdown looming, Obama administration officials raced Wednesday to identify essential government services that would have to be provided if the government ran out of money.

Labor Panel to Press Reuters Over Reaction to Twitter Post  —  In what would be the first government case against an employer involving Twitter, the National Labor Relations Board told Thomson Reuters on Wednesday that it planned to file a civil complaint accusing the company of illegally reprimanding …

BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL  —  Obama pays tribute to Al Sharpton  —  Chief Political Correspondent Follow Him @ByronYork  —  During his trip to New York Wednesday, President Obama stopped by the Sheraton Hotel for the 20th anniversary celebration of the National Action Network …