Santorum says Obama agenda not “based on Bible”  —  COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum challenged President Barack Obama's Christian beliefs on Saturday, saying White House policies were motivated by a “different theology.”

Ron Paul gains votes in delayed Maine caucus, but Romney keeps lead  —  GOP hopeful Mitt Romney held on to his lead in Maine's caucuses Saturday after votes postponed by bad weather were finally tallied.  —  Ron Paul gained 83 votes on Romney following the caucus in Washington county …

Texans rally against Keystone XL oil pipeline easement  —  Eddy Radillo was among dozens of Texans who rallied outside the Lamar County Courthouse in Paris, Texas, against plans to condemn land for an easement for the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.  (Sam Craft/The Paris News)

Voting Rights Act under siege  —  In a political system where even the most trivial issues trigger partisan rancor, the Voting Rights Act has stood for several decades as a rare point of bipartisan consensus.  —  Until now.  —  An intensifying conservative legal assault on the Voting Rights Act …

Payroll tax cut package pushes nation closer to hitting debt ceiling  —  The payroll tax package that Congress passed on Friday accelerated the timeline for another battle over the debt ceiling.  —  Last summer's bitter clash over the debt limit took the nation to the brink of default …

Sunday Morning Layup Drill  —  ‘Hope and Change’ is sooo 2008 - Team Obama is looking for a new slogan for 2012:  —  WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Winning The Future.  Greater Together.  We Don't Quit.  —  They may not be official but those are all phrases that could in one form …

Paul Ryan: Obama contraception ruling reveals ‘paternalistic, arrogant’ attitude  —  Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Sunday blasted the Obama administration's moves to mandate religious affiliated groups to provide contraception coverage as “paternalistic” and “arrogant.”

Gingrich: Romney will be ‘badly weakened’ if he loses Michigan  —  Newt Gingrich said Sunday that rival Mitt Romney's campaign would be “very badly weakened” by a loss in the Feb. 28 Michigan primary and dismissed the idea - floated by some conservatives concerned about the GOP field's performance …

Lives Forever Linked Through Kidney Transplant Chain 124  —  RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Rick Ruzzamenti admits to being a tad impulsive.  He traded his Catholicism for Buddhism in a revelatory flash.  He married a Vietnamese woman he had only just met.  And then a year ago, he decided in an instant to donate his left kidney to a stranger.

John Fairfax, Who Rowed Across Oceans, Dies at 74  —  He crossed the Atlantic because it was there, and the Pacific because it was also there.  —  He made both crossings in a rowboat because it, too, was there, and because the lure of sea, spray and sinew, and the history-making chance …

The ‘Safe, Legal, Rare’ Illusion  —  AMID the sound and fury of the latest culture-war battles — first over breast cancer dollars and Planned Parenthood, and then over the White House's attempt to require that religious employers cover contraception and potential abortifacients …

Misconception  —  With his mandate that all employers, including religiously affiliated institutions such as Catholic hospitals and charities, provide workers with health insurance that covers contraceptives, President Obama handed Republicans a terrific opportunity to talk about the growing intrusiveness of government.

Austerity and Growth  —  Or, actually, shrinkage.  —  Watching Europe sink into recession - and Greece plunge into the abyss - I found myself wondering what it would take to convince the chattering classes that austerity in the face of an already depressed economy is a terrible idea.

Maryland House almost didn't pass gay marriage bill  —  Mark Gail/THE WASHINGTON POST - Bishop Angel Nunez speaking at the Maryland Marriage Alliance press conference on Thursday in Annapolis.  Looking on is Derek McCoy, director of the group.  —  The cadre of Maryland lawmakers …

Arizona Republican Sheriff And Congressional Candidate Paul Babeu Dragged Out Of The Closet  —  Pinal County Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu has a reputation as a hard man— especially hard on immigrants.  Some people have claimed he's a sadist who takes delight in splitting up families and gratuitously ruining people's lives.