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?

Poll: What kind of president would Donald Trump make?  —  WASHINGTON — Republicans may be ready for a fling with Donald Trump, but a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows they have reservations about installing him in the White House.  —  The real estate developer and reality TV star …

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?

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.

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.

Donald Trump Loves Jefferson Davis  —  Or at least, his retirement home.  I'm doing some digging into Republican candidates' positions on and involvement in the arts, so on a whim, I Nexised “Donald Trump donated.”  Turns out the Donald ponied up $25,000 for the post-Katrina restoration of Beauvoir …

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 …

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?

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 …

Hal Rogers's ‘empire’ of nonprofits under scrutiny  —  Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), the new chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has funneled more than $236 million in federal funds since 2000 to a web of nonprofit groups he created back home in the Bluegrass State, according to a new report by an ethics watchdog group.

Haley Barbour, the GOP's best candidate not to run |  James Richardson  —  My boss's decision not to pursue the 2012 Republican nomination is a big disappointment - to many Americans  —  Just as the campaign season was squared to launch in earnest, the rumoured Republican presidential primary field lost …

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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 …