Republicans Seize Control of State Senate  —  ALBANY - Republicans seized control of the New York State Senate on Monday, in a stunning and sudden reversal of fortunes for the Democratic Party, which controlled the chamber for barely five months.  —  A raucous leadership fight erupted …

U.S. says TARP issue out of Court's reach  —  The Obama Administration argued Monday that no court, including the Supreme Court, has the authority to hear a challenge by Indiana benefit plans to the role the U.S. Treasury played in the Chrysler rescue, including the use of “bailout” (TARP) funds.

Obama's Top Targeter Bullish on Montana and Worried About Gingrich; Predicts Deeds Win Tomorrow  —  Ken Strasma, recognizable to many 538 readers as Barack Obama's national targeting director in 2008, is the first participant in a new series of interviews we will be conducting with consultants …

‘TOLD YA SO’  —  Sarah Palin hits FOXNEWS tonight for the big ‘Told Ya So’ interview, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.  —  As President Obama vows to spend the ‘stimulus’ faster, Governor Palin tells host Sean Hannity: ‘You gotta quit digging that hole!’  —  HANNITY: What do you make of - look at the state of the economy now...

Health Care Reform for Beginners: The Many Flavors of the Public Plan  —  For most of you, this is the big one.  The inclusion of a strong public insurance option has become, for most observers I know, the single most recognizable marker for victory.  If the public plan exists, liberals have won.

AMATEURS.... As disappointing as it was to see the National Review's Ed Whelan expose the identity of Obsidian Wings' publius over the weekend, there were at least one encouraging development of note: bloggers from the left and right who don't agree on much agree that Whelan crossed a line.

Breaking: Lieberman-Graham Dropped From Supplemental  —  According to sources on the Hill, the Lieberman-Graham detainee photo suppression amendment is out of the conference report of the supplemental.  —  For everyone who made phone calls — pat yourself on the back.

Trust on Issues  —  Voters Now Trust Republicans More than Democrats on Economic Issues  —  Voters now trust Republicans more than Democrats on six out of 10 key issues, including the top issue of the economy.  —  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% …

Nobel Winner Krugman Sees U.S. Recession Ending Soon  —  The U.S. economy probably will emerge from the recession by September, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said.  —  “I would not be surprised if the official end of the U.S. recession ends up being, in retrospect …

The 15 Hottest Conservative Women In The New Media  —  After doing The 10 Hottest Liberal Women In Politics last week, I thought that in order to be fair, I should feature the women on the Right as well.  So, in the spirit of the Hill's 50 Most Beautiful lists, I present to you “The 15 Hottest Conservative Women In The New Media.”

Sotomayor Breaks Her Ankle  —  The X-ray revealed a small fracture in her ankle.  She was released from the hospital after less than two hours and is now using crutches, said Ben LaBolt, an assistant press secretary at the White House.  —  “This morning, on the way to Washington, D.C., Judge Sotomayor tripped at LaGuardia Airport.

The genteel face of neo-fascism  —  British National party MEP and former National Front chairman who started political life in group set up in honour of Hitler  —  It was on Hitler's birthday, deliberately chosen, that the National Socialist Movement was formed in Britain in the 1960s.

Hard Labor in North Korea  —  As you've no doubt heard, two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, have been arrested by the North Korean government and sentenced to twelve years hard labor.  I've been trying to Google around for more information on the DPRK's labor camps …

Obama Rated Highest as Person, Lowest on Deficit, Spending  —  Obama doing better than Bush and Clinton at similar points in their first year in office  —  PRINCETON, NJ — While 67% of Americans view President Barack Obama favorably, his overall job approval rating and his ratings on specific areas are less positive.

Source: Booby-trapped horses used in failed terror attack  —  Article's topics: Gaza Strip, IDF, Palestinians  —  Under the cover of morning fog, a group of around 10 Palestinian gunmen armed with “huge amounts of explosives” launched a failed Gaza border assault at the Karni Crossing on Monday …

The Reintroduction of Kirsten Gillibrand  —  After a shaky first hundred days, the junior senator from New York is trying to start over.  —  The shuttle that transports senators from the Capitol to their offices shimmies a bit, like a kiddie roller coaster.

Hastert's son announces run for Congress, wants to be part of ‘next generation of leadership’  —  ELBURN - Ethan Hastert has announced he'll run for his father's old seat in Congress.  —  Hastert, 31, said Monday that he's forming a committee to begin his campaign and fundraising for the 14th District Congressional seat.

Re: The Cairo Speech  —  President Obama's Cairo speech was nothing short of an earthquake — a distortion of history, an insult to the Jewish people, and an abandonment of very real human-rights victims in the Arab and Muslim worlds.  It is not surprising that Arabs and Muslims in a position to speak were enthusiastic.

Lebanon  —  Happy news from Lebanon, and Tony Badran's analysis is, as always, excellent.  The defeat of Hezbollah has regional significance.  It will undoubtedly affect the Iranian “elections,” since one of Ahmadinejad's major claims has been that his tough line has produced success after success.

Comrade of the Month Finalists  —  Below are the finalists for May's “Comrade of the Month” award.  An email was sent to Club members on Friday asking them to vote for their #1 pick.  The final results will be issued later.

Understanding the Kennedy health care bill  —  Over the weekend a draft of Senator Kennedy's (D-MA) health care bill leaked.  After playing with Adobe Acrobat, here is the text of the draft Kennedy bill as a text file (173 K), and as a single Acrobat file (3.4 MB).  Update: I fixed the broken link to the PDF.

China Requires Censoring Software on New PCs  —  BEIJING — China has issued a sweeping directive requiring all personal computers sold in the country to include sophisticated software that can filter out pornography and other “unhealthy information” from the Internet.