BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL  —  Gingrich reaction: Republicans livid, accuse former speaker of hypocrisy in attack on Ryan  —  This morning Republicans are just beginning to assess the damage that former House Speaker and current presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has done to the GOP budget plan currently before Congress.

Gingrich Blasts House GOP's Medicare Plan  —  Presidential Candidate Calls It ‘Right-Wing Social Engineering,’ Agrees With Obama About Need for Insurance Mandate  —  White House hopeful Newt Gingrich called the House Republican plan for Medicare “right-wing social engineering,” …

Gingrich Was for Ryan's Budget Before He Was Against It  —  A couple of weeks ago, I spent a day following Newt Gingrich around New Hampshire.  After a radio interview in Concord, Gingrich had a lunchtime Guinness at the Barley House in Concord with Thomas Wilhelmsen, the CEO of a local hospital who first met Gingrich in the mid-1990s.

America Held Hostage  —  Six months ago President Obama faced a hostage situation.  Republicans threatened to block an extension of middle-class tax cuts unless Mr. Obama gave in and extended tax cuts for the rich too.  And the president essentially folded, giving the G.O.P. everything it wanted.

Geithner tells Congress the US has reached $14.3T debt limit  —  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has informed lawmakers that the government has officially hit the debt limit.  —  Geithner made the announcement in a Monday morning letter to congressional leaders that said he was reducing …

Police Seek Evidence From I.M.F. Chief on Sex Attack  —  Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the leader of the International Monetary Fund, spent most of Sunday at the Manhattan Special Victims Unit in East Harlem as prosecutors sought additional evidence, including possible DNA evidence on his skin …

French gals burned by pol ‘in heat’  —  He's un animal.  —  IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn acted like a “chimpanzee in heat” during a creepy previous grab-and-grope with a French journalist — an incident with eerie similarities to his alleged attack on a Manhattan hotel maid Saturday, according to an explosive interview.