CNN investigation: Obama born in U.S.  —  Editor's note: Tune in to “AC360°” on Tuesday beginning at 10 p.m. ET to see the remainder of Gary Tuchman's investigation into President Barack Obama's birthplace.  —  (CNN) — Was Barack Obama really born in America?

Knowledge Counts Pt. 3  —  I've noted several times that when it comes to issues like Medicare and Social Security, establishment journalism is most focused on whether political rhetoric is inflammatory than on whether it might be true.  Or put a different way, the details …

Paul Krugman: For entitlement reform before he was against it  —  Not that you needed any more evidence that New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is a flip-flopping charlatan, but here's the latest.  —  Today, he assails GOP proposals to raise the Medicare age and, by extension, the Social Security retirement age.

Obama revealed: A moderate Republican  —  America is mired in three wars.  The past decade was the hottest on record.  Unemployment remains stuck near 9 percent, and there's a small, albeit real, possibility that the U.S. government will default on its debt.  So what's dominating the news?

Proposition 8 supporters say ruling should be voided  —  A group opposed to gay marriage says Judge Vaughn R. Walker should have disclosed that he was in a long-term same-sex relationship and recused himself from presiding over the Proposition 8 case.  —  Vaughn R. Walker presided over a 12 …

Katie Couric: I Am Leaving CBS Evening News  —  After weeks of widespread speculation about her future, Katie Couric is finally ready to go on the record.  —  “I have decided to step down from the CBS Evening News,” Couric tells PEOPLE exclusively.  “I'm really proud of the talented team …

Conversation with a Birther  —  This call to the show from Winston in Alabama confirms why the birther conspiracy will never go away, a fascinating look at why crazy beliefs endure.  Even after all the facts were explained to Winston, and after he appeared to agree that the facts were right …

Why Republicans May Be Skipping 2012 Presidential Run  —  Haley Barbour's decision to forego a run for the presidency in 2012 puts him in the company of a half dozen top Republicans who have considered — and rejected — a challenge to President Obama next year.  —  The question is: why?

Financiers Switch to GOP  —  Hedge-Fund Titans Who Backed Democrats Open Their Wallets for Republicans  —  Hedge-fund managers made a big bet on Barack Obama and other Democrats in 2008.  Now, with the 2012 contest gearing up, some prominent fund managers have turned their backs on the party and are actively supporting Republicans.

MANCHIN KNOWS NOT OF WHAT HE SPEAKS.... Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), after about six months on the job, has struggled at times, occasionally badly.  But on fiscal issues, the center-right Democrat appears to be getting worse.  —  Today, Machin will formally endorse a Republican proposal …

President Obama to Congress: “I Hope We Can All Agree That, Instead of Continuing to Subsidize Yesterday's Energy Sources, We Need to Invest in Tomorrow's”  —  This afternoon the President wrote a letter to leaders of both parties in Congress on the subject of tax breaks for oil companies.

TRENDING: RNC Chairman dismisses birther talk  —  Washington (CNN) - Donald Trump has spent weeks raising questions about President Barack Obama's birth certificate, but Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Tuesday that so-called “birther” claims are a distraction from more pressing issues facing the nation.

U.S. Effort to Remove Drug CEO Jolts Firms  —  A government attempt to oust a longtime drug-company chief executive over his company's marketing violations is raising alarms in that industry and beyond about a potential expansion of federal involvement in the business world.

GOP's gamble on the budget pays off, so far  —  WASHINGTON — A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds that House Republicans, who took a political risk in passing a controversial budget blueprint last week, have survived so far with some key advantages intact as Congress moves toward the debate …

Behind A Major Law Firm's Decision To Ditch Its Defense Of DOMA  —  When the Atlanta-based law firm King & Spalding announced on April 18 that it would represent the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act …

College Teams, Relying on Deception, Undermine Gender Equity  —  Ever since Congress passed the federal gender-equity law known as Title IX, universities have opened their gyms and athletic fields to millions of women who previously did not have chances to play.

“The Confederacy is Cool!”  Says Large Number of Southern Republicans  —  For the last few weeks, Public Policy Polling has been questioning GOP voters in the South on a variety of issues, from their thoughts on Republican presidential candidates, to their views on interracial marriage.

‘Hub’ Schlafly, TV engineer who helped invent teleprompter, dies at 91  —  Hubert J.  “Hub” Schlafly Jr., a television engineer who aided countless politicians and performers when he helped invent the scrolling public-speaking crutch known as a teleprompter, died April 20 of undisclosed causes …

Another life line for Death Row cop-killer Mumia abu Jamal  —  1980s Death Row cop-killer Mumia abu Jamal, darling of the progressive Left, will get yet another day in court: … Yes, they called him a “death row activist.”  —  Only marginally less obnoxious than when AFP called him a “human rights campaigner.”

Dan Webster confronted by angry town hall crowd  —  (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel / April 26, 2011)  —  A town hall meeting held in Orlando by U.S. Rep. Dan Webster degenerated into bedlam Tuesday, with members of the crowd shouting down the freshman Republican congressman and yelling at one another.

High gas prices cut into driving habits — and Obama's approval rating  —  Soaring gasoline prices are biting into household incomes and nibbling at Americans' fuel consumption — and support for President Obama, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Arizona governor: ‘Birther’ sentiment ‘leading our country down a path of destruction’  —  Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R), who vetoed a bill last week that would have required presidential candidates to prove they were born in the U.S. to get on the state's ballot, implored members of her party Monday to move on.

Reducing Health Costs With Voluntary Death Panels  —  Andrew Sullivan notes that if people were a little more responsible about planning for our own demise that this could reduce health care spending: … Of course put in terms of “everyone” it's creepy and totalitarian.

Don't laugh at Paul  —  Ron Paul's not as big of a joke as people think.  —  Do I think he has a serious chance at the Republican nomination?  Not really.  But I think he could play a much bigger role in the race than people might expect.  Consider some of these recent poll numbers:

The Limits of School Reform  —  I find myself haunted by a 13-year-old boy named Saquan Townsend.  It's been more than two weeks since he was featured in The New York Times Magazine, yet I can't get him out of my mind.  —  The article, by Jonathan Mahler, was about the heroic efforts …

Scott Brown gets Democratic challenger  —  Democratic activist Alan Khazei announced Tuesday that he will vie for his party's nomination to face Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R).  —  Khazei, co-founder of the non-profit group City Year, posted the announcement on his website and said he is holding a kickoff event in Boston.

Hard Keynesianism in the European Union  —  John Quiggin and I have a piece on the eurozone mess in the new issue of Foreign Affairs.  The piece is subscriber-only, but we're allowed to post it (in Web format) for six months or so on a personal or institutional website.  Accordingly, the piece can be found below the fold.