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 …

Sarah Palin emails set for release  —  The state of Alaska will release 24,199 pages of Sarah Palin's government e-mails on Friday, nearly three years after the initial public records requests were made.  —  At 9 a.m. Alaska time (1 p.m. Eastern), 17 media organizations and individuals …

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.

EXCLUSIVE: JOHN EDWARDS NAILED BY DEAD WIFE's VIDEO TESTIMONY!  —  IN a devastating act of ultimate revenge, a dying Elizabeth Ed­wards recorded a bombshell secret videotape for prosecutors - nailing her cheating husband John as he will stand trial on charges that could land him behind bars for 30 years.

Pawlenty benefits from turbulence in Republican presidential field  —  A successful economic speech, one rival's campaign implosion and another's decision to skip an influential Iowa straw poll have given Tim Pawlenty a very good week.  —  His campaign hopes to keep the momentum going …

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.

Tracy Morgan's Homophobic Remarks In Anti-Gay Stand Up Set UPDATE: Morgan Apologizes … Tracey Morgan , Tracy Morgan , Tracy Morgan Homophobic , Tracy Morgan Homophobic Standup Set , Tracy Morgan Kill His Son If He Were Gay , Tracy Morgan Stand Up Comedy , Tracy Morgan Anti-Gay …

The Price of Taxophobia: Inefficient Taxes  —  Ever since Ronald Reagan's election in 1980, American politics has been dominated by the presence of a large and powerful ideological movement that's primarily dedicated to the cause of tax cuts.  One result, as shown by my econ team colleagues' suite …

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 …

Weiner finds a friend in Charlie Rangel  —  Randy rep Anthony Weiner has finally found a friend.  —  His congressional colleague Rep. Charles Rangel — who's been on the wrong side of his own House ethics probe — said today that things could be a lot worse for the pervy pol.

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.

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.

Gates: NATO Has Become Two-tiered Alliance  —  NATO has turned into a two-tiered alliance of members who consume security and those who produce it, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today.  —  Gates spoke to NATO's Security and Defense Agenda assembly the day after a meeting of the alliance's defense ministers concluded.

EXCLUSIVE: Obama extends protections to gay couples under Medicaid  —  Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius (Blade file photo by Michael Key)  —  The Obama administration is set on Friday to issue policy guidance to states expanding their ability to offer same-sex couples …

AT & T gave cash to merger backers  —  AT&T is lining up support for its acquisition of T-Mobile from a slew of liberal groups with no obvious interest in telecom deals — except that they've received big piles of AT&T's cash.  —  In recent weeks, the NAACP, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance …

China ratings house says US defaulting: report  —  A Chinese ratings house has accused the United States of defaulting on its massive debt, state media said Friday, a day after Beijing urged Washington to put its fiscal house in order.  —  “In our opinion, the United States has already been defaulting …

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 …

Matthews: Weiner in Trouble Because His Behavior Offends ‘Culturally Backward’ Christian Conservatives  —  On Thursday's Hardball, Chris Matthews determined that Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner could be in danger of being forced out of Congress by Blue Dog Dems who face uphill battles …

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 …

'I'm a Marxist,' Dalai Lama tells Chinese students  —  Usually what we hear from the Dalai Lama is an insistant yet soothing voice for compassion and peace.  —  So Tsering Namgyal, a journalist based in Minneapolis, was jolted by the Dalai Lama's talk to 150 Chinese students this month at the University of Minnesota.

Justices Say Fleeing Police by Car Is a Violent Felony  —  WASHINGTON — Fleeing from the police in a car is a violent felony that can subject criminals to mandatory 15-year prison terms, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in a 6-to-3 decision.  —  The decision was the court's fourth encounter since 2007 …