Brewer vetoes birther, campus gun bills  —  Also vetoes health care compact law  —  Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a bill Monday that would have required presidential candidates to provide their birth certificates to appear on the ballot, and another that would have allowed guns to be carried on school grounds.

Boehner Hires $5 Million Lawyer To Defend Unconstitutional Law  —  Earlier today, Speaker John Boehner's (R) office announced that American taxpayers would pay former Bush Solicitor General Paul Clement to defend the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act.  Clement, a former law clerk …

President Obama and Vice President Biden's Tax Returns and Tax Receipts  —  Today, the President released his 2010 federal income and gift tax returns.  He and the First Lady filed their income tax return jointly and reported an adjusted gross income of $1,728,096.

Trump Loses Conservatives Thanks To His Political Past  —  The latest tea leaf in the will-he-or-won't-he drama surrounding Donald Trump these days: the influential Club For Growth, the fiscal purists who were tea party before it was cool, are taking shots at Trump with both barrels.

2011 Pulitzer Prize Winners Announced  —  The New York Times won Pulitzer Prizes on Monday for its economics commentary and for its reporting on Russia in 2010, while The Los Angeles Times received the coveted public service Pulitzer.  —  The prizes, which are administered by Columbia University …

Roger Ailes Caught Spying on the Reporters at His Small-Town Newspaper  —  The small-town newspapers in New York's Hudson Valley that Fox News chief Roger Ailes owns with his wife Elizabeth are in a staff revolt after employees caught Ailes spying on them with News Corp. security goons.  More »

Why did the anti-Palin protesters think it was right and good to shout her down?  —  The more I think about it, the less sense it makes to me.  On Saturday, there was a planned Tea Party rally to take place at the King Street side of the Wisconsin Capitol.  It was the usual “tax day” event …

Will House Democrats Hold Firm On The Debt Ceiling?  —  In a savvy piece of analysis, Brian Beutler notes that the posture of the usually irrelevant House minority could actually make a big difference in the debt ceiling fight: … That said, it seems to me that it'll be difficult for Pelosi …

Today's (Needless) Hysteria: the S&P Panic  —  I agree with Clive Crook's puzzlement about the S&P downgrade “bombshell” today: … And I like James K. Galbraith's derisive guffaw, as reported by Dave Lindorff: … I know that markets run on fear, greed, instinct, and panic as much as on logic.

Justices Decline to Hear Appeal From Chinese Detainees  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Monday that it would not hear an appeal from five Chinese Muslims detained at Guantánamo Bay who seek to be released into the United States.  There were no noted dissents …

Why Did The Union Fight?  —  I've always thought there was something about the Lincoln administration's determination to fight and win the Civil War that was a bit odd.  Secession gave the regionally based Republican Party large congressional majorities that wouldn't exist if southern states had representation in congress.

S&P  —  OK, so Standard and Poors has warned that it might downgrade the US one of these days.  At first read, what it says doesn't seem too silly: it lays stress, rightly, on political gridlock.  The point should be that the US is perfectly capable both of running large deficits now and getting …

Obama, the Interpreter of the Message of Passover  —  Follow Israel news on and .  —  Passover recalls the bondage and suffering of Jews in Egypt and the miracle of the Exodus, but U.S. President Barack Obama says its message is reflected in Muslim uprisings.

Andres Serrano's Piss Christ destroyed by Christian protesters  —  • Intruders vandalise photo day after Christian protest  —  • Exhibitor blames Sarkozy speech for inflaming issue  —  When New York artist Andres Serrano plunged a plastic crucifix into a glass of his own urine …

AFSCME Union Threatens to ‘Weaponize’ Government Jobs  —  It's becoming clearer that the “public service” mentality is quickly slipping way from government employees, if it didn't hit the exits a long time ago.  —  Instead of government employees serving the public, it's clear now their belief is that the public exists to serve them.

Douthat Makes It Up On Median Family Income  —  Ross Douthat struck another blow against fact-based arguments when he told readers that the median family of four has an income of $94,900.  Douthat warned that if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire in 24 years the median family would be paying …

U.S. credit rating outlook lowered by S&P  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Standard & Poor's lowered its outlook for the nation's long-term debt Monday, saying the political grousing over the deficit could put more pressure on the still shaky economic recovery.  —  “The outlook reflects our view …