Romney leads in Iowa, Cain surging  —  Mitt Romney has the lead in PPP's first Iowa poll since Mike Huckabee and Donald Trump exited the race, but with six different candidates polling in double digits it's clear this thing is wide open.  —  Romney polls at 21%.  Sarah Palin and Herman Cain are tied for second at 15%.

Weiner's tweet-hearts  —  By S.A. MILLER in Washington and PERRY CHIARAMONTE AND CHUCK BENNETT in NY  —  It takes a certain type of woman to set his heart a-Twitter.  —  Rep. Anthony Weiner follows only a select 198 of his nearly 49,000 Twitter fans — and a surprising number of them are total babes.

Gov. Christie arrives at son's high school baseball game in State Police helicopter  —  TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie arrived at his son's baseball game this afternoon aboard a State Police helicopter.  —  Right before the lineup cards were being exchanged on the field …

GOP lawmaker rejects White House trip, says he won't be ‘lectured to’ by Obama  —  A freshman GOP lawmaker rejected an invitation to the White House on Wednesday, saying he didn't want to be “lectured” by President Obama.  —  “I have respectfully declined the president's invitation to the White House today …

‘Paul’ and ‘Barack’ talk Medicare  —  When it comes to Medicare, the one thing everyone agrees on is that it's time for an “adult conversation.”  So let's listen in on two imaginary participants — “Paul” and “Barack.” … Paul: Okay, you guys won the first round.  Congratulations on that New York House seat.

Our Current Time for Choosing  —  Anyone who disagrees with Paul Ryan's Medicare reforms has a moral obligation to propose an alternative.  —  This year marks the centennial anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth—and America finds itself at a crossroads that brings to mind the title …

Sen. DeMint mulls White House bid  —  Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) says he is considering running for president after frustrated conservative activists have pleaded with him to run.  —  DeMint told The Hill that he has discussed a White House bid with his wife and will pray on the question …

Matt Drudge's disgusting race war awareness campaign  —  Matt Drudge's non-political obsessions used to be harmless things like “extreme weather” and “pictures of Olympic wrestlers.”  Since the election of Barack Obama, though, Drudge — the proto-blogger and reclusive creator of the noted Courier …

Robert Lucas Argues That Barack Obama Is The Most Important Leader In American History  —  I'd been dimly aware of Robert Lucas' argument (PDF) that the Great Recession can be explained without reference to such petty concepts as aggregate demand, but until I read Gavyn Davies' summary …

Wall Street Baffled by Slowing Economy, Low Yields: Trader  —  Wall Street is having a hard time figuring out what to do now that the U.S. economy appears to be sputtering and yields are so low, Peter Yastrow, market strategist for Yastrow Origer, told CNBC.

GOP fears Kucinich resolution  —  Seeking to avoid a showdown over Libya, House GOP leaders have pulled back from a floor vote on a resolution by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) that would bar U.S. involvement in the NATO-led campaign to topple Muammar Qhadafi.

Ku Klux Klan protests Westboro Baptist Church (Video)  —  Members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan. (Michael S. Williamson - THE WASHINGTON POST) As President Obama honored fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, three members of the Westboro Baptist Church protested …

77,000 fed employees paid more than governors  —  Government salaries put under scrutiny  —  ** FILE ** A congressional study revealed that 7,283 federal employees in Maryland made more than Gov. Martin O'Malley's $150,000 salary in 2009.  (Associated Press)

S.E.C. Case Stands Out Because It Stands Alone  —  At the height of the housing boom, the 26th floor of Goldman Sachs's former headquarters on Broad Street in Lower Manhattan was the nerve center of Goldman's fast-growing mortgage trading business.  —  Hundreds of employees worked closely in teams …

Study finds many corporations pay effective tax rate of zero  —  A number of U.S. corporations had an effective tax rate of less than zero in recent years, a new study has found.  —  Citizens for Tax Justice released an examination on Wednesday that said that a dozen major companies had …