Top Dems Provide Fresh Detail On High-Income Tax Proposal That Led GOP To Abandon Debt Talks  —  Two of the top Democrats in Congress are calling out their Republican counterparts for abandoning high-stakes debt talks, and have provided new details about the tax proposals that sent the GOP packing.

Consensus Reached on Religious Exemptions in Gay Marriage Bill  —  ALBANY — The Cuomo administration and legislative leaders have reached agreement on language to protect religious institutions from obligations to recognize same-sex marriage, two people involved in the negotiations said on Friday afternoon …

Fighting Words: DeMint Warns Republicans They May Be ‘Gone’ if They Support Debt Ceiling Increase  —  Conservative firebrand Sen. Jim DeMint has a message to fellow Republicans in Congress: If you support increasing the debt ceiling without first passing a balanced budget amendment …

Seized Phone Offers Clues to Bin Laden's Pakistani Links  —  ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The cellphone of Osama bin Laden's trusted courier, which was recovered in the raid that killed both men in Pakistan last month, contained contacts to a militant group that is a longtime asset …

First look: Fear over Greece grows - New this morning: Bernanke numbers drop - Hot this morning: Oil bounces back - Boehner under pressure  —  MIND MELD: WHY WALL STREET HATES WASHINGTON - Bring up Washington's understanding of financial markets around Wall Street and you get rolled eyes and four-letter words.

Scott Walker To Sign Budget Bill At Business Of Convicted Tax Felon  —  This Sunday, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) will be signing into law his budget bill at an event at a local Wisconsin business.  The budget radically reshapes Wisconsin's priorities, slashing investments in Main Street Wisconsin …

Exclusive: Top U.S. admiral admits we are trying to kill Qaddafi  —  The top U.S. admiral involved in the Libya war admitted to a U.S. congressman that NATO forces are trying to kill Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi.  The same admiral also said he anticipated the need for ground troops …

‘Columbo’ star Peter Falk dies at 83  —  Veteran actor own five Emmys, four for popular detective role  —  Peter Falk, the Emmy- and Tony-winning stage, screen and TV actor, best known to world audiences as the always-underestimated police detective in the long-running telepic series …

Reaping what they've sown  —  Georgia Republicans recently passed a very harsh anti-immigrant measure into law, successfully driving a lot of undocumented workers out of the state.  Republicans who championed the measure said the new law would improve Georgia's economy.

Romney Goes Classic  —  Clicking around on In These Times (!), I noticed this ad directing me to Mitt Romney's campaign site.  —  Those people aren't dressed like Americans in the year 2011, are they?  No. That's because this is copied from (or lovingly designed in tribute to!) …

An update on Google Health and Google PowerMeter  —  In the coming months, we're going to retire two products that didn't catch on the way we would have hoped, but did serve as influential models: Google Health (retiring January 1, 2012; data available for download through January 1, 2013) …

GOP candidates talk abortion  —  (CNN) - In a presidential race thus far centered on the economy, nearly half of the 2012 GOP field took a break Friday to turn the election's spotlight on abortion.  —  Five candidates appeared-in person or via Skype-at the National Right to Life convention in Jacksonville …