Boehner's hard line on debt ceiling gets cool reception from Wall St.  —  NEW YORK - House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Monday laid down an aggressive new marker in the debt limit fight, calling for spending cuts that exceed any additional borrowing authority that Congress approves.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver announce separation  —  The former first lady has moved out after 25 years of marriage.  Maria Shriver helped bolster Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign against charges that he groped women during his movie career.  —  Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver …

U.S. Braced for Fights With Pakistanis in Bin Laden Raid  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama insisted that the assault force hunting down Osama bin Laden last week be large enough to fight its way out of Pakistan if confronted by hostile local police officers and troops, senior administration and military officials said Monday.

Chomsky's Follies  —  The professor's pronouncements about Osama Bin Laden are stupid and ignorant.  —  Anybody visiting the Middle East in the last decade has had the experience: meeting the hoarse and aggressive person who first denies that Osama Bin Laden was responsible for the destruction …

Gingrich Set to Run, With Wife in Central Role  —  WASHINGTON — Callista Bisek's friends from rural Wisconsin were stunned when, well over a decade ago, she confided that she was secretly dating an older, married man: Newt Gingrich.  —  Still in her 20s when they met …

Ron Paul's land of second-rate values  —  Before last week's South Carolina Republican debate, Ron Paul supporters complained that their candidate was not getting the first-tier attention his polling and fundraising should bring.  It is true that Paul has often been overlooked and dismissed, as one might treat a slightly dotty uncle.

Perry declines Obama's invite  —  Rick Perry has declined the White House's request that he greet President Obama when Air Force One lands in Texas on Tuesday, the Republican governor's office says.  —  “We did try to arrange something with the White House,” Lucy Nashed, a spokeswoman for Perry, told POLITICO.

Beyond Obama's Bin Laden Bounce  —  A week after the news broke of the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden, bettors at Intrade, a political futures market, are barely any more likely to think that Barack Obama will win re-election.  —  As of this writing, Mr. Obama's Democrats are given …

‘Burn a Bush’?  Michelle Obama invites rapper Common to a poetry reading  —  First Lady Michelle Obama has scheduled a poetry evening for Wednesday, and she's invited several poets, including a successful Chicago poet and rapper, Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr., AKA “Common.”

Republican rift widens on Medicare  —  A deep rift is opening wider and wider in the Republican Party over controversial proposals to cut Medicare.  —  Senate Republicans have decided to avoid jeopardizing their chances of capturing the upper chamber in next year's elections and will not echo …

Health Care Reform Appeal to be Heard by Panel Appointed by Democratic Presidents  —  ABC News' Ariane de Vogue (@Arianedevogue) reports:  —  Today in Richmond, as Justice Department lawyers prepare to defend the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals …

Suspect in flight disturbance had Calif. ID  —  SAN FRANCISCO - The passengers sat stunned as they watched a man walk quickly toward the front of American Airlines Flight 1561 as it was descending toward San Francisco.  He was screaming and then began pounding on the cockpit door.

Danger: Falling Tyrants  —  The Jordanian monarchy represents the sort of regime the United States finds itself defending.  It is not the most difficult regime in the Middle East to defend—throughout the early stages of the Arab revolt, Bahrain's royal family, engaged in the often violent suppression …

‘Introduction to Labor Studies’ - My First-Hand Account  —  My name is Philip Christofanelli.  I was a student in the University of Missouri's “Introduction to Labor Studies” course.  The class was taught simultaneously by Professor Don Giljum of University of Missouri-Saint Louis (UMSL) …

In Reversal, City University Trustees Approve Honorary Degree for Tony Kushner  —  In a hastily convened meeting of their executive committee, City University of New York trustees approved an honorary degree for Tony Kushner on Monday night to try to quell widespread criticism over the board's decision …

Microsoft Near Deal to Acquire Skype  —  Software Giant Could Pay Nearly $8 Billion for Company  —  Microsoft Corp. is close to a deal to buy Internet phone company Skype Technologies SA for between $7 billion and $8 billion—the most aggressive move yet by Microsoft to play …

Obama's illegal alien nation  —  Administration fails to enforce program to deport criminals  —  President Obama is in El Paso Tuesday to give a speech on what he calls “the broken immigration system.”  He'd know because he's the one helping break it.  Nowhere is this more apparent …

Poll: Economy fears temper Obama's bin Laden bump  —  But president sees significant jump in questions about leadership, national security, foreign affairs  —  Below:  —  Deputy political director  —  WASHINGTON — In the days after Barack Obama ordered the successful mission to kill Osama bin Laden …