The Problem Was the Wife  —  The problem was the wife.  Aides to Newt Gingrich have resigned from his presidential campaign in protest of what they felt was a takeover by Callista Gingrich, the candidate's wife since 2000.  —  The euphemism offered by departing staffers was they disagreed with Gingrich's “strategy” for the campaign.

Sarah Palin snub by Margaret Thatcher aides infuriates US rightwing  —  Rush Limbaugh joins supporters accusing Thatcher's circle of disgracing former PM with ‘Palin is nuts’ comment  —  A firestorm on the US right has erupted after the Guardian reported that Sarah Palin will be denied …

House Dems to call for expiration of Bush tax rates in debt-limit deal  —  A group of House Democrats is calling for any deal to raise the debt ceiling to bring about the end of the Bush tax rates for the wealthy.  —  The lawmakers, led by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), also say that …

Weiner can't afford to quit the DC day job  —  Even if scandal-stained Rep. Anthony Weiner didn't want to stay in office, he needs to stay in office.  —  Unlike many of his peers in the House, Weiner doesn't have a business or even a law degree to fall back on.

Rule by Rentiers  —  The latest economic data have dashed any hope of a quick end to America's job drought, which has already gone on so long that the average unemployed American has been out of work for almost 40 weeks.  Yet there is no political will to do anything about the situation.

Two separate and reliable source in Texas tell me serious preparations are being made for Governor Rick Perry, 61, to seek the Republican nomination for president.  —  Dave Carney and Rob Johnson — the former top Perry aides who on Thursday left Newt Gingrich's campaign …

Stewardship?  Or ideology?  —  The Republicans swept November's midterm election by making it highly ideological, a referendum on two years of hyper-liberalism — of arrogant, overreaching, intrusive government drowning in debt and running deficits of $1.5 trillion annually.  It's not complicated.

God Caught Backing Multiple GOP Candidates for President  —  Photo: Cain:Steve Pope/Getty; Santorum: Jeff Fusco/Getty Images; Bachmann: Darren McCollester/Getty Images; sky: iStockphoto  —  After a thorough investigation, Daily Intel has discovered that God is separately backing …

Do more on jobs, Dems tell Obama  —  Senior Senate Democrats are growing frustrated by what they see as President Obama's passivity on the economy, and are beginning to discuss a large infrastructure package funded by tax increases.  —  Some Democrats, such as Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin …

Mark Foley: Resigning Might Help Weiner Get His Life Back on Track  —  Mark Foley, the disgraced former congressman, knew exactly what he had to do when news broke that he traded sexually explicit emails with teenage boys who had been congressional pages: resign.

The Lone Star Jobs Surge  —  The Texas model added 37% of all net U.S. jobs since the recovery began.  —  Richard Fisher, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, dropped by our offices this week and relayed a remarkable fact: Some 37% of all net new American jobs since the recovery began were created in Texas.

Evidence That Weiner Was Talking Dirty to Underage Girls?  Part 3  —  Early this morning I posted Evidence That Weiner Was Talking Dirty to Underage Girls?  Part 2.  In that post, I provided evidence that Weiner had discussions with an underage girl ("Ethel") regarding fighting for his country in a cape and tights.

Companies Spend on Equipment, Not Workers  —  Companies that are looking for a good deal aren't seeing one in new workers.  —  Workers are getting more expensive while equipment is getting cheaper, and the combination is encouraging companies to spend on machines rather than people.

Pawlenty's Fuzzy Budget Math  —  On Monday, presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty gave a major speech on economic policy in which he laid out his plan to get America's fiscal house back in order.  The proposal, which includes huge cuts in personal income-tax rates and ambitious spending restraints …

Uncertainty Remains Over E. Coli Source  —  BERLIN — After days of confusion, German authorities said Friday that they had finally narrowed down the most likely cause of one of the world's worst recorded E. coli infections to contaminated, home-grown bean-sprouts.

Beshear leads Williams in Ky. governor's race by 21 points after ad blitz, cn|  2 poll shows  —  After airing ads for the last three weeks, Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear posted a 21-point lead over the Republican challenger David Williams, according to the latest cn|  2 Poll.

Rocky start for DNC chairwoman  —  Democrats knew they were getting an outspoken partisan when Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz took over the reins of the Democratic National Committee a month ago.  —  But they might not have known just how outspoken.  —  In the four weeks since she succeeded Tim Kaine …

Ruling Favors a 10-Inch Citizen of France  —  PARIS — France was punished on Thursday for not taking proper care of its hamsters.  —  The Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the European Union's highest court, ruled Thursday that France had failed to protect the Great Hamster of Alsace …

Brash Style Alienates Weiner From Peers  —  Even as top Democrats intensified pressure on him to resign, Representative Anthony D. Weiner of New York tried to power through the day on Thursday and suggest things were getting back to normal.  —  “I'm going to go back to my community office …

Rick Santorum's Case for Big Government  —  Like many social conservatives, he insists you can't have small government without strong families and religious faith.  Don't many Americans already lack those things?  —  Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels stoked controversy in the conservative movement …

GOLDEN HOOKAH WINNER: Dope-Smoking, Menstruating Monkey Study Got $3.6 Million in Tax Dollars  —  (CNSNews.com) - The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a division of the federal government's National Institutes of Health (NIH), has spent $3,634,807 over the past decade funding research …