Tax Day Becomes Protest Day  —  How the tea parties could change American politics.  —  Today American taxpayers in more than 300 locations in all 50 states will hold rallies — dubbed “tea parties” — to protest higher taxes and out-of-control government spending.

Obama Tilts to CIA on Memos  —  Top Officials at Odds Over Whether to Withhold Some Details on Interrogation Tactics  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is leaning toward keeping secret some graphic details of tactics allowed in Central Intelligence Agency interrogations …

The ultimate reaping of what one sows: right-wing edition  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  Right-wing polemicists today are shrieking in self-pitying protest over a new report from the Department of Homeland Security sent to local police forces which warns of growing “right-wing extremist activity.”

Toomey announces GOP senate bid  —  Conservative Pat Toomey, a former Lehigh Valley congressman, this morning announced he is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in the 2010 election.  —  In a videotaped message on his new campaign website (www.ToomeyForSenate.com) …

U.S. Planning to Reveal Data on Health of Top Banks  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is drawing up plans to disclose the conditions of the 19 biggest banks in the country, according to senior administration officials, as it tries to restore confidence in the financial system without unnerving investors.

In Minnesota, a Battle Without End for a Senate Seat  —  ST. PAUL — Norm Coleman spends his days in the quiet living room of his small house here, thumbing through stacks of legal papers.  His United States Senate staff and offices vanished at the start of the year, as did his salary …

Pirates attack U.S. cargo ship but fail to board  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Liberty Sun, a U.S.-flagged cargo ship bound for Mombasa, Kenya, was attacked Tuesday by Somali pirates, according to a NATO source with direct knowledge of the matter.  —  The pirates never made it onto the ship.

A Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States  —  Unauthorized immigrants living in the United States are more geographically dispersed than in the past and are more likely than either U.S. born residents or legal immigrants to live in a household with a spouse and children.

This Tax Is for You  —  A levy on Joe Six Pack.  —  Today is the dreaded April 15, but at least in Oregon it's even going to cost you more to drown in your tax sorrows.  In their sober unwisdom, the state's pols plan to raise taxes by 1,900% on . . . beer.  The tax would catapult to $52.21 from $2.60 a barrel.

Let My Vote and Every Vote Be Counted  —  Today the Republicans stooped to a new low by challenging my ballot.  The Republicans' challenge is frivolous and without merit.  —  Having spent so much time campaigning alongside Scott Murphy these past several weeks, I know Scott is the kind …

The Obama Administration Is Criminalizing Dissent?  Intimidating Its Ideological Opponents?  You Must Be Joking  —  The DHS screed that Jonah and some of our Marked Men (Steyn, Hemingway and Krikorian) have weighed in on is entirely predictable.  The only conceivable surprise is that it is so blatant and has happened so soon.

IRS workers see double standard on tax errors  —  The Treasury secretary, who oversees the IRS, didn't pay all his taxes.  Neither did five other top nominees for the Obama administration, or their spouses.  —  Now, as Wednesday's tax deadline looms, some Americans are wondering …

The peasant mentality lives on in America  —  It took a good long while for news of the Teabag movement to penetrate the periphery of my consciousness — I kept hearing things about it and dismissing them, sure that the whole business was some kind of joke.  Like a Daily Show invention, say.

Banks Ramp Up Foreclosures  —  Increase Poses Threat to Home Prices; Delinquent Borrowers Face New Scrutiny  —  Some of the nation's largest mortgage companies are stepping up foreclosures on delinquent homeowners.  That will likely lead to more Americans losing their homes …

Obama Team Tells Jewish Leaders: UN Durban Text Crosses “Red Line”  —  In a private conference call with Jewish leaders on Tuesday, the Obama White House reaffirmed that it does not plan to send an official delegation to the United Nations' World Conference on Racism, citing lingering disputes over the language of the draft charter.

Met suspend officer over vigil attack  —  Scotland Yard last night suspended a second officer over brutality allegations after fresh video surfaced showing him striking a woman who was attending a vigil in honour of Ian Tomlinson, the man who died after being attacked by police at the G20 protests.

Shuster: If you plan on 'tea bagging all around the country, you're going to need a Dick Armey.'  —  On MSNBC's Countdown yesterday, David Shuster — filling in for Keith Olbermann — took Fox News to task for so aggressively promoting the right wing's anti-Obama tea parties.