Of Dystopias and Alphas  —  President Obama was on the way to Alpha when a plea came for him to be, well, more alpha.  —  LuAnn Lavine, a real estate agent from Geneseo, a rural town just up the road from Alpha, Ill., the last stop on the president's Midwestern bus tour, told The Times's Jeff Zeleny …

Rick Perry and Mitt Romney showcase a Republican divide  —  Perry and Romney — brash populist versus starchy elite — illustrate a perpetual Republican cultural gap that may define the GOP presidential contest.  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry on the stump in Iowa.

Rep. Maxine Waters: ‘The tea party can go straight to hell’  —  Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) came out swinging against Republicans in Congress on Saturday as she addressed the unemployed during a forum in Inglewood.  —  The event occurred a day after new statistics were released showing …

Sources: Pataki Considers 2012 Run For President … Sources tell NY1 former Governor George Pataki is strongly considering entering the crowded race for the Republican presidential nomination.  —  Sources say Pataki, who left office in 2007, could make an announcement as early as next week.

Obama dangerously close to a ‘Killer Rabbit’ moment  —  President heads for Martha's Vineyard vacation as unemployment lines grow  —  Is President Barack Obama on the verge of being attacked by a bunny wabbit?  —  Absolutely.  —  All the signs suggest that Obama is in immediate danger of a rabbit attack.

Perry Mines Texas System to Raise Cash  —  Two years ago, John McHale, an entrepreneur from Austin, Tex., who has given millions of dollars to Democratic candidates and causes, did something very unusual for him: he wrote a $50,000 check to a Republican candidate, Rick Perry, then seeking a third full term as governor of Texas.

Romney to quadruple La Jolla home size  —  The GOP contender plans local fundraisers for president this weekend  —  View from the beach of the 3,009-square-foot Romney home in La Jolla , which the GOP contender plans to demolish and replace with an 11,062-square-foot home.  — Meg Roussos

Koch Responds To Buffet: ‘My Business And Non-Profit Investments Are Much More Beneficial To Society’  —  America's current tax system forces people making $50,000 a year to pay a higher rate than hedge fund managers making $2.4 million an hour.  Warren Buffett penned an op-ed last week declaring …

Smacked by big market swings, investors should alter their outlook  —  With these whopping 4 percent swings — up 500 points, down 500 points, up another 500 points, down another 500 points — traders have whiplash.  We saw another huge move down Thursday, when the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P all lost big …

Intrade Now Pricing Greater Than 50% Chance Obama Will Not Be Reelected; And Observations On The Political Costs Of War  —  It appears that in the aftermath of the recent update of Obama's job approval polls which as we reported just hit an all time low, the market has formally priced …

Libya, Syria and Middle East unrest - live updates  —  • Tripoli calm as Gaddafi says ‘rats’ have been repelled  —  • Rebels claim it is ‘zero hour’ for Gaddafi as they tighten noose  —  • Syria's Assad to respond to calls for his removal in TV interview

Cummings: Black community wants Obama to ‘fight harder’  —  Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said Sunday that African-Americans want President Obama to “fight harder” to create jobs in the struggling U.S. economy.  —  Speaking on CNN's State of the Union, Cummings said the black community …

GOP may OK tax increase that Obama hopes to block  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — News flash: Congressional Republicans want to raise your taxes.  —  Impossible, right?  GOP lawmakers are so virulently anti-tax, surely they will fight to prevent a payroll tax increase on virtually every wage-earner starting Jan. 1, right?

Iran jails U.S. “hikers” as spies for 8 years  —  (Reuters) - Two Americans held in Iran for more than two years have been convicted as spies and sentenced to eight years' jail, Iranian TV reported on Saturday, a verdict that will further strain already very poor relations with Washington.