Perry faces some jeers, pointed questions in NH appearance  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) faced some jeers and tough questions during a meet-and-greet on Thursday in New Hampshire.  —  During another day of stumping in the first-in-the-nation primary state, Perry was met by supporters, but also faced jeers from some in the crowd.

U.S. Inquiry Is Said to Focus on S.&P. Ratings  —  The Justice Department is investigating whether the nation's largest credit ratings agency, Standard & Poor's, improperly rated dozens of mortgage securities in the years leading up to the financial crisis, according to two people interviewed …

“Have you ever had sex with Rick Perry?”  —  An Austin Ron Paul supporter has taken out a full-page ad in the local alt weekly newspaper seeking any “stripper ... escort ... or ‘young hottie’” who has slept with Rick Perry, part of his single-minded jihad against the presidential candidate.

3 attacks target Israelis near Egypt, 6 dead  —  JERUSALEM (AP) — Assailants armed with heavy weapons, guns and explosives launched three attacks in quick succession in southern Israel near the border with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding about a dozen more, officials said.

Perry's Public Service  —  Behold, a hard-money Texas politician.  —  All the world's right-thinkers are denouncing Rick Perry for suggesting this week that Texans would get “pretty ugly” with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke if he guns the money supply any more between now and the 2012 election.

GOP candidate Michele Bachmann: I'll bring back $2 gas  —  President Michele Bachmann has a promise: $2 gas.  —  “Under President Bachmann you will see gasoline come down below $2 a gallon again,” Bachmann told a crowd Tuesday in South Carolina.  “That will happen.”

New Low of 26% Approve of Obama on the Economy  —  Ratings on Afghanistan and foreign affairs have also declined  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A new low of 26% of Americans approve of President Barack Obama's handling of the economy, down 11 percentage points since Gallup last measured it in mid …

West: I'll lead you off ‘plantation’  —  Rep. Allen West says he is a “modern-day Harriet Tubman” who wants to lead black voters away from the “plantation” of the Democratic Party.  —  There is a “21st century plantation” of African-American voters unwaveringly supporting Democrats …

S.E.C. Files Were Illegally Destroyed, Lawyer Says  —  WASHINGTON — An enforcement lawyer at the Securities and Exchange Commission says that the agency illegally destroyed files and documents related to thousands of early-stage investigations over the last 20 years, according …

Gov. John Kasich asks union leaders to compromise on Senate Bill 5; union group says repeal it, then we'll talk  —  COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. John Kasich backtracked on Senate Bill 5 on Wednesday, asking union leaders to negotiate a compromise on the collective bargaining law he championed and end efforts to repeal it.

O'Donnell walks out of CNN interview  —  (CNN) - Christine O'Donnell, the former Delaware GOP Senate candidate, walked off the set of CNN's “Piers Morgan Tonight” Wednesday when asked about her views on sexual abstinence and gay marriage.  —  “I'm not talking about policies.

Chris muscles Mike on 9/11 invite for pol  —  Hot-headed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie yesterday threw his weight around to get his way for the upcoming 10th-anniver-  —  sary 9/11 ceremony after blasting Mayor Bloomberg for excluding ex-Jersey Gov. Donald DiFrancesco from the solemn event.

Jon Huntsman: The Outsider  —  Kate Moss:  —  Kiss Me, Kate  —  Photographed by Annie Leibovtiz  —  If you're looking for the most conservative region in America, upcountry South Carolina would be a strong contender.  Greenville, the area's biggest city, is home base to Senator Jim DeMint …

Phone hacking: News of the World Hollywood reporter is arrested  —  James Desborough is arrested by London police investigating UK hacking allegations  —  James Desborough, an award-winning reporter at the former News of the World newspaper, has been arrested by officers investigating the phone-hacking scandal.

Rush Limbaugh's “Or-Bam-eo” Slur  —  Today on his radio show, Rush Limbaugh described a new Oreo that will have both chocolate and vanilla cream as a “biracial” cookie and said that “it isn't going to be long before it's going to be called the Or-Bam-eo or something like this.”

Coburn: Good thing I can't pack a gun  —  Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) ripped his colleagues during a tour of northeast Oklahoma, calling them “career elitists,” “cowards” and said, “It's just a good thing I can't pack a gun on the Senate floor.”  —  Coburn's gun-on-the- floor comment comes less …

Top 10 Least Wanted  —  “Oh, there's nothing halfway about the Iowa way to treat you,  —  When we treat you which we may not do at all.  —  There's an Iowa kind of special chip-on-the-shoulder attitude.  —  We've never been without that we recall.  -"Iowa Stubborn" from The Music Man

Presidential vacations: How does Obama compare?  —  President Obama and his family will be staying at the 28-acre Blue Heron Farm in Martha's Vineyard.  (Ivy Ashe for the Vineyard Gazette)  —  Following his three-day bus tour to promote his economic agenda — and not to mention …