Santorum moves ahead in Michigan  —  Rick Santorum's taken a large lead in Michigan's upcoming Republican primary.  He's at 39% to 24% for Mitt Romney, 12% for Ron Paul, and 11% for Newt Gingrich.  —  Santorum's rise is attributable to two major factors: his own personal popularity …

Gregoire signs gay marriage into law  —  With Gov. Chris Gregoire's signature on Monday, Washington joins six other states and the District of Columbia in allowing same-sex couples to marry.  —  OLYMPIA — Surrounded by applauding gay couples and with media from around the country looking on …

Dem lawmaker: Obama budget is a ‘nervous breakdown on paper’  —  Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) expressed concern President Obama's budget would go too far to rein in government spending in the midst of an economic recovery, calling the forthcoming proposal a ‘nervous breakdown on paper.’

Inside Media Matters: Sources, memos reveal erratic behavior, close coordination with White House and news organizations  —  This is the first in a Daily Caller investigative series on Media Matters For America.  Daily Caller reporters Alex Pappas and Will Rahn contributed to this report.

Obama proposes $800 million in aid for “Arab Spring”  —  (Reuters) - The White House announced plans on Monday to help “Arab Spring” countries swept by revolutions with more than $800 million in economic aid, while maintaining U.S. military aid to Egypt.  —  In his annual budget message to Congress …

Why America Keeps Getting More Conservative  —  Even with the president's approval rating showing signs of life and the Republicans busily bashing themselves over the head — “one is a practicing polygamist and he's not even the Mormon,” retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recently quipped …

House GOP scrambles payroll tax cut calculus  —  In a dramatic reversal, House GOP leaders said Monday they'll attempt this week to pass a 10-month extension of the payroll tax holiday without saying how they'd pay for it.  —  Republicans say it's not their first choice …

Severe Conservative Syndrome  —  Mitt Romney has a gift for words — self-destructive words.  On Friday he did it again, telling the Conservative Political Action Conference that he was a “severely conservative governor.”  —  As Molly Ball of The Atlantic pointed out, Mr. Romney “described conservatism as if it were a disease.”

Whitney Houston album price hike sparks controversy  —  Sony Music under fire after cost of greatest hits set on iTunes rises by more than 60% after singer's death  —  Sony Music has come under fire after it increased the price of a Whitney Houston album on Apple's iTunes Store hours after the singer was found dead.

Obama's Dangerous Game With Iran  —  Can the president keep nukes out of the mullahs' hands, prevent the global economy from imploding, manage the wild card that is Israel—and get reelected?  —  Well before he moved into the White House, Barack Obama began talking to Israel about Iran's nuclear program …

‘Former Homosexual’ Calls for Dan Savage's Arrest  —  DL Foster, an anti-gay activist and professed “former homosexual,” called for the arrest of author Dan Savage for his role in founding the It Gets Better Project, which has consistently been in the crosshairs of Religious Right activists …

Contraception and the cost of culture wars  —  Politicized culture wars are debilitating because they almost always require partisans to denigrate the moral legitimacy of their opponents, and sometimes to deny their very humanity.  It's often not enough to defeat a foe.

Ludwig Von Mises Makes the Libertarian Case against “Free Love” (and Implicitly Against Birth Control)  —  UPDATE at end.  —  Huh.  So apparently the GOP is going all-in on the birth control stuff.  TPM: “Republicans will move forward with legislation by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) …