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 …

Kloppenburg declares victory  —  By Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel  —  Supreme Court candidate JoAnne Kloppenburg declared victory Wednesday, based on results reported by the Associated Press.  —  The Associated Press shows Kloppenburg received 740,090 votes and incumbent David Prosser received 739,886 votes.

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

Two George Soros Events Aim to Remake the Financial Order and the Media — So Where's the Reporting?  —  FILE: Billionaire financier George Soros speaks at a Reuters Newsmaker event in New York on Sept. 15, 2010.  —  Apparently, megalomaniacs need schedulers.  —  Just ask George Soros.

Manchin: I'll donate my salary to charity if there's a shutdown  —  Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has joined the growing ranks of lawmakers calling on President Obama, Vice President Biden and members of Congress to forfeit their salaries in the case of a government shutdown.

NBC's Brokaw: Saudis ‘So Unhappy’ With Obama They Sent Emissaries to China, Russia Seeking Enhanced Ties  —  (CNSNews.com) - Reporting from Baghdad, Iraq yesterday, NBC's Tom Brokaw said the Saudi Arabian monarchy is “so unhappy with the Obama administration for the way it pushed out President Mubarak …

‘Shut It Down!’  Mike Pence and AFP Tea Partiers leave little doubt who's pushing for a shutdown  —  Republicans have been playing the innocent the past couple of weeks as the now-imminent government shutdown began looming closer, even though it was obvious they were taking their cues …