Obama mandate on birth control coverage stirs controversy  —  WASHINGTON - Congressional leaders and Republican presidential candidates joined Catholic religious groups on Wednesday in denouncing the Obama administration's mandate requiring health insurers to offer birth control coverage, but the White House stood its ground.

The Contraception Coverage Debate Isn't Just About the Bishops  —  Obama should do right by the progressive Catholics who made his health reforms possible and expand the religious exemption to the new contraceptive mandate in the law.  —  If abortion rights advocates are feeling their oats this week, they have good reason.

TPM2012  —  Will Dems Shoot Themselves In The Foot On Contraception?  —  The intense media debate over the White House push to require all insurance plans to cover contraception is barely 48 hours old.  And already some Democrats are bailing on President Obama.

Santorum takes on ‘environmental terror’  —  Oklahoma City (CNN) - Speaking in one of the top energy-producing states in the country, Rick Santorum tailored his stump speech here on Thursday to appeal to a raucous crowd of domestic energy-loving Okies.  —  Reaffirming his support …

The Top Twelve Reasons Why You Should Hate the Mortgage Settlement  —  As readers may know by now, 49 of 50 states have agreed to join the so-called mortgage settlement, with Oklahoma the lone refusenik.  Although the fine points are still being hammered out, various news outlets (New York Times …