Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It  —  LINDSTROM, Minn. — Ki Gulbranson owns a logo apparel shop, deals in jewelry on the side and referees youth soccer games.  He makes about $39,000 a year and wants you to know that he does not need any help from the federal government.

TPMDC  —  McConnell: GOP Will Fight To Let ANY Employer Deny Birth Control Coverage  —  Not satisfied with President Obama's new religious accommodation, Republicans will move forward with legislation by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) that permits any employer to deny birth control coverage …

Santorum suggests Romney may have rigged CPAC poll  —  Rick Santorum suggested on Sunday that Mitt Romney's campaign may have rigged a straw poll of conservative activists by paying the entrance fee for supporters.  —  Romney beat Santorum by 7 points Saturday in a straw poll of almost 3,500 attendees …

'Do not follow me down the road to jihad.  Go and get a good education in the West': Osama Bin Laden's extraordinary instructions to his young children  —  Osama Bin Laden told his children to live peacefully in the West where they would get a good education, his brother-in-law has revealed.

Whitney Houston's death: Medics performed CPR for about 20 minutes  —  Beverly Hills paramedics found singer Whitney Houston unresponsive at a room at the Beverly Hilton hotel and declared her dead after performing CPR on her for about 20 minutes, officials said.

EXCLUSIVE: Conservative Board Unanimously Condemned Gaffney's ‘Reprehensible’ And ‘Unfounded’ Attacks  —  This is the first in a two-part series about the Islamaphobia network and CPAC.  —  Frank Gaffney and John Bolton, who condemned Gaffney in a unanimous ACU resolution

We Need a Second Party  —  WATCHING the Republican Party struggling to agree on a presidential candidate, one wonders whether the G.O.P. shouldn't just sit this election out — just give 2012 a pass.  —  You know how in Scrabble sometimes you look at your seven letters and you've got only vowels that spell nothing?

Democrats' star speaker Van Jones fires up crowd — and emerges party “leader of the future”?  —  San Diego - Van Jones, the former Obama Administration green czar who resigned in controversy, appears on the fast track to a political comeback — emerging as a star at this weekend's California …

Break Up the Banks?  Here's an Alternative  —  BAILING out financial institutions deemed “too big to fail” has become wildly unpopular, as people across the political spectrum are now talking about splitting up America's large banks.  But such breakups are probably not the best way forward …