SEC Said to Vote 3-2 to Sue Goldman Sachs Over CDOs  —  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission split 3-2 along party lines to approve an enforcement case against Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to two people with knowledge of the vote.  —  SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro sided …

Tancredo: Send Obama ‘back’ to Kenya  —  Former congressman Tom Tancredo's speech at the National Tea Party was a misstep that gave organizers their only lasting, negative coverage.  At a Sunday afternoon tea party rally in Greenville, S.C., where he was the keynote speaker, Tancredo stepped in it again.

Top GOP Officials Writing Off Crist  —  Top GOP officials in DC now believe it is a virtual certainty that FL Gov. Charlie Crist (R) will bolt the GOP and run instead as an independent, sources tell Hotline OnCall.  —  Over the weekend, Crist pulled TV advertisements that had been running in key markets …

Sen. Collins pledges to block Democratic Wall Street bill  —  Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced after meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday that she will vote to filibuster a Democratic Wall Street reform bill.  —  Her announcement hurts Democratic chances …

This Is Apple's Next iPhone  —  You are looking at Apple's next iPhone.  It was found lost in a bar in Redwood City, camouflaged to look like an iPhone 3GS.  We got it.  We disassembled it.  It's the real thing, and here are all the details.  —  While Apple may tinker with the final packaging …

THE THEOCRATIC WING OF THE GOP.... A certain former half-term governor appears to be drifting even further away from the American mainstream.  Over the weekend, appearing at an evangelical Christian women's conference in Louisville, Sarah Palin rejected the very idea of separation of church and state …

Romney Does Not Support the Repeal of Obamacare's Individual Mandate  —  After Obamacare passed the House on March 21st, I was heartened by the rapid response of Gov. Mitt Romney who announced his commitment to fighting the implementation of the measure tooth-and-nail in an Op-Ed for the National Review:

An alarming outbreak of ‘regime’ amnesia  —  Time's Joe Klein got some attention over the weekend when he said, on “The Chris Matthews Show,” that statements from Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin are “right up close to being seditious.”  What received less attention was the statement immediately following Klein's …

Lieberman, Collins serve administration subpoenas on Ft. Hood  —  Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine.) on Monday issued subpoenas to the Obama administration regarding the shootings at Ft. Hood last year.  —  The two senators had threatened to subpoena the administration …

LEAVE THE 19TH AMENDMENT ALONE.... I like to think I can take a joke, and appreciate political commentary intended as humor, but this item from Thomas Mitchell, editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, wasn't amusing.  The headline read, “Time to repeal the 19th Amendment?”

Lib Dems surge 10 points in poll  —  Labour forced into third place for first time ever in Guardian/ICM voting series, which began in 1984  —  The extraordinary surge in support for the Liberal Democrats continued to gather pace today as a Guardian/ICM poll put the party in second place on 30%, up ten points in a week.

The Obama Effect  —  One argument many of us made in favor of the election of Barack Obama was that he would instantly help the US recover from its nadir of global reputation in the Bush-Cheney pre-emptive war-and-torture era.  No, I sure didn't argue that this would change everything overnight …

Top Qaeda Leaders in Iraq Killed in Raid  —  BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Iraqi intelligence officers have located and killed Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced on Monday.  —  Mr. Maliki said the intelligence team also killed Abu Omar al-Baghdadi …

North Carolina Democrats' votes against health care push labor to form party  —  RALEIGH, N.C. — A political rebellion is brewing inside an old funeral home near the state Capitol here.  Frustrated liberals and labor organizers are taking aim at the Democratic Party, rushing to gather enough signatures …

McCain tacks right on immigration  —  Sen. John McCain has endorsed a tough Arizona anti-immigration bill that will let police arrest people who aren't carrying identification, the latest move in McCain's rightward shift in advance of a tough Republican Senate primary this summer.

The Beholden State  —  How public-sector unions broke California  —  The camera focuses on an official of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), California's largest public-employee union, sitting in a legislative chamber and speaking into a microphone.

It's the demand, stupid  —  Christina Romer remembers the first time she really had to walk Barack Obama through the scope of the mounting recession.  “As I was briefing the President-Elect by phone, I found myself saying, ‘I am so sorry, the numbers are horrible.’ The President-Elect replied, 'It's not your fault.

FBI says 66-year-old man arrested after March threat against Rep. Brown-Waite  —  A 66-year-old man was arrested Sunday for threatening Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) last month, the FBI said.  —  The man, Erik Lawrence Pidrman, was arrested by FBI and local law enforcement agents Sunday afternoon.

[Abacus] The Goldman defence documents  —  A big hat tip to the FT's Francesco Guerrera here.  —  Presenting Goldman Sachs' detailed defence of Abacus 2007-AC1 CDo — Part I and Part II  —  There's so much here worthy of discussion, it is difficult to know where to start.

QUOTE OF THE DAY.... Last week, the Boston Globe talked to Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) about his opposition to Wall Street reform.  He initially explained that he disapproves of the bill because it adds “an extra layer of regulation,” but that's absurd.  Asked how the legislation could be improved …

Iranian cleric: Promiscuous women cause quakes  —  BEIRUT - A senior Iranian cleric says women who wear immodest clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes.  —  Iran is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, and the cleric's unusual explanation …

Rising again  —  Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter gave a shout-out to the old South in his address to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans earlier this month.  —  “It's been a pleasure to be in your presence, of the the Republicans of the South, who will help us all rise again …

World warming to US under Obama, BBC poll suggests  —  Views of the US around the world have improved sharply over the past year, a BBC World Service poll suggests.  —  For the first time since the annual poll began in 2005, America's influence in the world is now seen as more positive than negative.