Weiner Tells Friends He Will Step Down  —  WASHINGTON — Representative Anthony D. Weiner has told friends that he plans to resign his seat after coming under growing pressure from his Democratic colleagues to leave the House in the wake of revelations of his lewd online exchanges with women, said a person told of Mr. Weiner's plans.

Romney: 'I'm Also Unemployed'  —  TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney sat at the head of the table at a coffee shop here on Thursday, listening to a group of unemployed Floridians explain the challenges of looking for work.  When they finished, he weighed in with a predicament of his own.

Ex-Spy Alleges Bush White House Sought to Discredit Critic  —  WASHINGTON — A former senior C.I.A. official says that officials in the Bush White House sought damaging personal information on a prominent American critic of the Iraq war in order to discredit him.

Romney, Bachmann, Cain Lead The Pack Among GOP Primary Voters  —  Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney continues to lead the race for the Republican nomination, but Michele Bachmann has surged into second place following her Monday night entry into the campaign.

Glitter Bandit Strikes Again - Tim Pawlenty Latest GOP Candidate to Get “Glittered”  —  ABC News' Matt Jaffe (@jaffematt) and Arlette Saenz (@ArletteSaenz) report:  —  Another glittered bandit struck out at a GOP presidential candidate.  —  A few weeks ago it was Newt Gingrich who was doused in glitter by a liberal activist.

Our Lefty Military  —  As we search for paths out of America's economic crisis, many suggest business as a paradigm for cutting costs.  According to my back-of-the-envelope math, top C.E.O.'s earn as much as $1 a second around the clock, partly by cutting medical benefits for employees.

Possible Al-Qaida Hit List Targets Specific Americans  —  An al-Qaida-linked website has posted a potential hit-list of sorts.  It has the names and photos of several U.S. officials and business leaders.  The site prompted the FBI to send out a new terror bulletin.

Your morning jolt: Atlanta office left $13,000 in drawer, says Newt Gingrich  —  GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich this morning pushed back against his former staff, accusing his Atlanta office of neglecting $13,000 in checks to his campaign.  —  Gingrich may want to be careful.

The Big Questions: Why Bachmann?  —  Mark Halperin's Big Questions in the new issue of TIME on the rise of the Gentlelady from Minnesota.  —  Why has Michele Bachmann suddenly become the It candidate?  —  With her impressive New Hampshire debate performance, Bachmann has gone …

Bachmann Said To Have Deal For Memoir  —  Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has made a deal to publish her memoir, selling a book to Sentinel, a conservative imprint at Penguin Group USA, two people familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday.

Senate kills off ethanol tax credits in possible break with tax pledge  —  The Senate voted 73-27 Thursday to kill a major tax break that benefits the ethanol industry, handing a political win to a bipartisan group of lawmakers that call the incentive needless and expensive.

San Francisco Mulls Goldfish Ban  —  First kittens, then puppies and hamsters and now goldfish?  —  San Francisco's Animal Control and Welfare Commission is recommending that the City ban the sale of goldfish, tropical fish and guppies in its borders, according to Matier and Ross.

Return Of The Dreaded Misery Index  —  Economy: As if the picture weren't bleak enough, here's one more data point to worry about — the Misery Index is on the rise.  —  Conceived by economist Arthur Okun in the early 1970s, the Misery Index simply adds together the inflation and unemployment rates …