EXCLUSIVE: First photos of Colombia escort in explosive Secret Service hooker scandal  —  24-year-old single mom is known as Dania, she says agent offered $30 for $800 service  —  CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA - The Daily News can reveal the first photo of the 24-year-old Colombian call girl whose encounter …

Mitt Romney's 'Obama Isn't Working' Banner Evokes Racial Stereotypes  —  Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney rolled out a new accessory at a speech in Ohio today, delivering his remarks in front of a black banner that said “Obama Isn't Working,” which is also the name …

Brian Schweitzer: Mitt Romney's ‘Family Came From a Polygamy Commune in Mexico’  —  Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer says Mitt Romney's roots in Mexico will hurt him with female voters.  —  The Daily Beast contacted the office of Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer today to talk about whether his state …

York:Obama faces defeat on pipeline as Dems defect  —  U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the southern site of the Keystone XL pipeline on March 22, 2012 in Cushing, Oklahoma.  (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)  —  While much of the political world obsesses over Twitter fights and Seamus the dog …

CAMPAIGN AGAINST JON STEWART BEGINS  —  Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:  —  Jon Stewart refused to apologize last night for the unprecedented assault on Christian sensibilities he launched on April 16.  In that episode, “The Daily Show” featured a naked woman …

Pelosi: Amend the First Amendment  —  (CNSNews.com) - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday endorsed a movement announced by other congressional Democrats on Wednesday to ratify an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would allow Congress to regulate political speech when it is engaged …

Fears Rise That Recovery May Falter in the Spring  —  WASHINGTON — Some of the same spoilers that interrupted the recovery in 2010 and 2011 have emerged again, raising fears that the winter's economic strength might dissipate in the spring.  —  In recent weeks, European bond yields have started climbing.

Paul campaign touts campaign cash  —  (CNN) - Ron Paul's Republican presidential campaign says they raised more than $2.6 million last month, bringing to nearly $10.4 million the amount they took in during the first quarter of this year.  —  The campaign of the longtime congressman from Texas …

Ted Nugent booted from Fort Knox concert line up  —  Fort Knox  —  The artist lineup for the Fort Knox annual summer concert scheduled for June 23 no longer includes right-wing rocker Ted Nugent.  —  Co-headliners REO Speedwagon and Styx remain scheduled to perform.

Democrats expressing buyers' remorse on Obama's healthcare law  —  An increasing number of Democrats are taking potshots at President Obama's healthcare law ahead of a Supreme Court decision that could overturn it.  —  The public grievances have come from centrists and liberals and reflect rising anxiety ahead of November's elections.

The Questionable Prosecution of  —  John Edwards  —  John Edwards, the Dorian Gray of the Democratic party, is one of the most loathsome characters in American politics, corrupt himself and a source of corruption in others, a preening, moralizing fraud who went so far as to have a staffer claim paternity …

Levon Helm, Drummer and Rough-Throated Singer for the Band, Dies at 71  —  Levon Helm, who helped to forge a deep-rooted American music as the drummer and singer for the Band, died on Thursday in Manhattan.  He was 71 and lived in Woodstock, N.Y.  —  His death, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center …

Crossroads groups raise $100M  —  American Crossroads, the pro-Republican super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove, and its nonprofit affiliate Crossroads GPS, will announce $100 million raised for both so far through the 2012 cycle, officials told POLITICO.  —  The cash haul runs through all of 2011 …

Cameron and the civil service coup  —  We thought CoffeeHousers might care to read James's political column from this week's magazine (on sale today), so here it is:  —  There is a split in the Cameron circle.  The divide is between those who think that the problems of the past few weeks have been a blip …

From Hope to Hardball  —  How Barack Obama became Bill Clinton.  —  Though it was obvious to almost no one at the time, Thursday, April 5, may have certified a momentous change in contemporary politics.  It was that day when Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus …

Morning Jay: Can Romney Win Back the Wealthy Suburbs?  —  The conventional wisdom in American politics is that Democrats win poor voters, Republicans win the rich, and the two sides battle over the middle class.  That used to be true - indeed, that was basically the case during …

Romney hires national security spokesman  —  Mitt Romney has hired Richard A. Grenell, a veteran Republican communications strategist who served in the George W. Bush administration, as his national security and foreign policy spokesman, a campaign official said Thursday.

Testing the Teachers  —  There's an atmosphere of grand fragility hanging over America's colleges.  The grandeur comes from the surging application rates, the international renown, the fancy new dining and athletic facilities.  The fragility comes from the fact that colleges are charging more money …

If It's Sunday, It's Meet The Republican White Men  —  An exhaustive new study by media watchdog Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting shows that the Sunday morning talk shows have been dominated over the last eight months by white, Republican men.  —  Between June 2011 and February of this year …