John Updike, a Lyrical Writer of the Middle-Class Man, Dies at 76  —  John Updike, the kaleidoscopically gifted writer whose quartet of Rabbit novels highlighted a body of fiction, verse, essays and criticism so vast, protean and lyrical as to place him in the first rank of American authors …

House GOP member to Rush: Back off  —  Rush Limbaugh may command a large following, but his caustic comments Monday about the GOP's congressional leadership have at least one Republican House member defending his colleagues and offering an unusually candid critique of the talk radio powerhouse and his fellow commentators.

Obama plan hits House floor today  —  President Barack Obama's economy recovery plan hits the House floor Wednesday after a day of final adjustments by Democrats, adding more tax relief in the Senate and excising a handful of expenditures that have drawn the ire of conservatives.

Democrats Among Stimulus Skeptics  —  Republican criticism of the stimulus package that the House will vote on tonight has focused on its soaring price tag, but some Democrats on Capitol Hill and other administration supporters are voicing a separate critique: that the plan may fall short …

GOP targets Reid in new ad buy  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — National Republicans are using their first television ad buy of the 2010 election cycle to criticize Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, in his own backyard, a Republican source tells CNN.  —  The National Republican Senatorial Committee …

Bailout Recipients Hosted Call To Defeat Key Labor Bill  —  Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.

Bill received $2M in foreign cash  —  Bill Clinton pulled down $5.7 million in speaking fees last year - almost entirely from foreign sources, including nearly $2.1 million after news circulated that Hillary Clinton was in line for Secretary of State.  —  Former President Clinton's globetrotting …

Aides Say Obama's Afghan Aims Elevate War  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama intends to adopt a tougher line toward Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, as part of a new American approach to Afghanistan that will put more emphasis on waging war than on development, senior administration officials said Tuesday.

Guess Who's Not Going Away?  —  Fully intent on pursuing national office in 2012, Sarah Palin has launched SarahPAC, to dole out money to Republican candidates.  Upcoming appearances include the RNC and C-PAC.  She's hired Washington power broker Robert Barnett to work a book deal …

Backlash Against Bush Apparent in RNC  —  Many Members Seek New Chairman to Steer Party in a Different Direction  —  As they begin meeting in Washington today, many members of the Republican National Committee are focusing their ire against what they considered George W. Bush's anti-conservative policies …

New York City fears return to 1970s  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - While many U.S. cities worry that their economies are deteriorating to the level of the 1930s Great Depression, New York City fears reliving a more recent decade that features strongly in city lore.

Hope, Change, and the Egg of Power  —  Yes, it's true.  Barack Obama has an ‘Egg of Power’ in the Oval Office.  —  jcm ::  7 seconds ago

‘Che’ spurs debate, Del Toro walkout  —  UPDATED:  —  A controversial new biopic about Cuban revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara is awakening old passions and provoking vigorous defenses and denunciations of the iconic revolutionary and - in the case of an interview with The Washington Times - a dramatic walkout.

How late is too late?  —  One big question in the stimulus discussion is how much we should be worried about lags in implementation.  Every economics textbook — mine too! — warns that stimulus based on public spending has a habit of peaking much too late, and therefore ends up being counterproductive.

Redistricting is a hidden weapon for gloomy GOP  —  As Republicans brace for a 2010 election cycle that begins their long road back to the majority, they do have one major weapon in their arsenal — redistricting.  —  In 2000, Republicans used redistricting to solidify their majorities.

James Hansen's Former NASA Supervisor Declares Himself a Skeptic - Says Hansen ‘Embarrassed NASA’, ‘Was Never Muzzled’, & Models ‘Useless’  —  This is something I thought I'd never see.  This press release today is from the Senate EPW blog of Jame Inhofe.  The scientist making the claims …

Social Network of US Counterinsurgency Policy Authors  —  [Update: this work has come to the attention of the COIN community, in particular the folks at Abu Muqawama who were kind enough to discuss what it might mean.  Aside from the fact that the original version contained not one but three misspelled names …

Stimulus Plan Would Provide Flood of Aid to Education  —  WASHINGTON — The economic stimulus plan that Congress has scheduled for a vote on Wednesday would shower the nation's school districts, child care centers and university campuses with $150 billion in new federal spending …

New Bill Asks For Cameraphones To Go Clickety Clack  —  Smile, say cheese and hold that pose till you hear the ‘click’.  A new bill introduced in the Congress by New York Republican Rep. Peter King requires mobile phones with digital cameras “to make a sound” when a photograph is taken.

Don't call us dogs, say Slumdog protesters in cinema rampage  —  Armed police guard picturehouses after India's poor claim that hit film title violates their human rights  —  Armed police guarded cinemas in eastern India today after slum dwellers ransacked a picture house showing Slumdog Millionaire …

PROXY WAR FAIL.  —  Via David Axe, it appears that the Somali government has collapsed following the seizure of its capitol, Baidoa, by Islamist fighters.  Ethiopian troops withdrew from Baidoa less than a day before its fall.  The collapse of the Somali provisional government represents …

Tales From The Inside: What Obama Told Republicans  —  President Barack Obama went to Capitol Hill today to push Republicans to back his $825 billion stimulus plan.  While they probably won't, he won points for reaching out to the minority, making good on campaign promises.

WON'T GO THERE  —  From WaPo ...  The gist of the rest of the article is that the Obama folks aren't going to go clearly in any of the widely discussed options, but rather mix and match.  But these two points, tucked in at the end of the article, tell us the key points.

What Obama's Nixing Family Planning Money Tells Us  —  President Barack Obama asked Comittee Chairman Henry Waxman to remove family planning money from the stimulus bill after Republicans objected.  This is on the heels of nixing bankruptcy reform because, well, Republicans objected.

Carbon tax is a poison pill  —  There's a reason Republicans are stumping for a carbon tax, and it ain't to reduce emissions  —  This may piss off some people I respect a great deal.  Nonetheless, after hearing it in several off-the-record conversations in D.C. last week, I believe it's something that needs to be said publicly: