Obama Won't Personally Sign Patriot Act Extension  —  ABC News' Matthew Jaffe (@jaffematt) and Devin Dwyer (@devindwyer) report: Congress officially passed an extension of the Patriot Act tonight, just hours before key provisions of the national security law were due to lapse at midnight.

Mitt Romney Sends Leftover Pizza to Obama Chicago HQ  —  ABC's Emily Friedman (@abcemily) reports: After spending the day in Chicago fundraising, Mitt Romney sat down with small business owners at Gino's East, a pizza joint famous for their deep-dish pizza.  —  Not wanting any of the leftover slices …

DNC chairwoman doesn't drive American  —  The chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) appears to drive a foreign car, despite criticizing Republican presidential candidates for supposedly favoring foreign auto manufacturers.  —  Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) …

Medicare and Mediscares  —  Yes, Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, is a sore loser.  Why do you ask?  —  To be sure, Mr. Ryan had reason to be upset after Tuesday's special election in New York's 26th Congressional District.  It's a very conservative district …

State of Uncertainty for Romney Camp as It Looks to Iowa  —  URBANDALE, Iowa — At this point four years ago, Mitt Romney's television commercials had been running here for 13 weeks.  His campaign headquarters, bustling with activity, provided one of the best jobs around for Republican operatives.

Tyler Cowen, America's Hottest Economist  —  The George Mason University professor has written a bestseller, The Great Stagnation, keeps an influential blog, and reads way too many books  —  Tyler Cowen sits with a cranberry juice and a pile of books he no longer intends to read.

What Obama did to Israel  —  Every Arab-Israeli negotiation contains a fundamental asymmetry: Israel gives up land, which is tangible; the Arabs make promises, which are ephemeral.  The long-standing American solution has been to nonetheless urge Israel to take risks for peace …

The Economy Is Wavering.  Does Washington Notice?  —  The latest economic numbers have not been good.  Jobless claims rose last week, the Labor Department said on Thursday.  Another report showed that economic growth at the start of the year was no faster than the Commerce Department initially reported …

GOP forces Senate pro-forma session, blocking Warren recess appointment  —  GOP opposition is preventing the Senate from completely adjourning for the Memorial Day recess.  —  GOP opposition is preventing the Senate from completely adjourning for the Memorial Day recess.

Koepp decamps Newsweek, returns to Time Inc.  —  Turns out, you can go home again.  —  Time Inc. raided Tina Brown and Newsweek to bring Steve Koepp back inside the tent as editorial director of its fledgling book unit, Time Home Entertainment, Inc.  —  The news created a buzz among …

In 2012 campaigns, spoilers from the Tea Party worry GOP  —  The Democrats' upset victory in New York's special election Tuesday shows that Tea Party candidates could prevent Republicans from winning the White House and Senate, GOP senators say.  —  Political analysts interpret Kathy Hochul's …

Palin's road trip  —  An adviser to President Obama's re-election campaign told the Washington Post this week, “Unless it's Palin or Gingrich, we expect a very close race no matter who emerges.”  —  With that in mind, it's probably worth mentioning that the former half-term Alaska governor certainly seems …

Pawlenty spins low poll numbers  —  (CNN) - Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty said he sees his low national poll numbers as an opportunity for his candidacy.  —  “I like the fact that these folks who are established, well known and yet and there's no real favorite in the face …

John Edwards Meets Privately with Bunny Mellon, Potential Witness in Cover Up Case  —  ABC's James Hill reports: John Edwards, while facing looming criminal indictment, spent the afternoon in Upperville, Virginia, visiting one of the key players in the alleged scheme to cover-up his affair.

Mark Zuckerberg's new challenge: Eating only what he kills (and yes, we do mean literally...)  —  Last year Mark Zuckerberg set out to learn Chinese.  Now he's determined to get in touch with his food.  If the goats, lobsters and chickens of Silicon Valley aren't trembling, they should be.

$500 Million Obama Administration Program Will Help Kids ‘Sit Still’ in Kindergarten  —  (CNSNews.com) - Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told CNSNews.com on Wednesday that the administration's new $500 million early learning initiative is designed to deal with children …

Barney admits helping his partner get a job at Fannie Mae in 1990s  —  Back in the George W. Bush era, Barney Frank, either in his role as a senior member or Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, was one of the Congress's biggest cheerleaders for Fannie Mae, the Government Sponsored Enterprise …

Allen West Suggests Anti-War Congressmen Should ‘Get Shot At A Few Times’  —  In the wake of the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the House came closer than it ever has to voting for an end to the war in Afghanistan today when a bipartisan amendment that would have required President Obama …