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 …

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 …

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.) …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

Federal judge strikes down ban on corporate giving to candidates  —  A ruling by a federal judge in Virginia makes it legal for corporations to contribute directly to candidates for federal office in a case likely to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.  —  U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris' ruling …

Clyburn protests McClatchy article on Obama and race  —  WASHINGTON — House Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn objected Thursday to coverage of his views on the impact of President Barack Obama's race on assessments of his performance in the White House.

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 …

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.

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 …

Dayton vetoes voter ID  —  While rejecting the photo ID bill, he ordered up a panel to look for ways to improve elections.  —  Saying that election reform measures should reflect a broad bipartisan consensus, Gov. Mark Dayton Thursday slapped down a GOP bill that would have required voters to present a photo ID at the polls.

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 …

Mumbai massacre terrorist tells court of second scheme to hit Danish newspaper  —  Not long after his schemes led to the deaths of more than 160 people in Mumbai in 2008, David Headley had a dream.  —  It was early 2009 and he envisioned the Prophet Mohammed's tomb, with his own final resting place …

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.

$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 …

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.

A swing and a miss from Boehner on Medicare  —  Two weeks ago, a large group of House Republicans got together to call for some sort of rhetorical truce on Medicare.  They acknowledged that they may have engaged in a little demagoguery to get elected in 2010, but they want to “wipe the slate clean” …

America's Forgotten Liberal  —  JANUARY was the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth, and the planet nearly stopped turning on its axis to recognize the occasion.  Today is the 100th anniversary of Hubert H. Humphrey's birth, and no one besides me seems to have noticed.