GOP Know-Nothings Fought Pandemic Preparedness  —  When House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who has long championed investment in pandemic preparation, included roughly $900 million for that purpose in this year's emergency stimulus bill …

Cantor, Obama let sparks fly  —  House Republican Whip Eric Cantor returned from spring break determined to shed the “Dr. No” tag Democrats have hung around his neck — only to find himself in a face-to-face argument with the president over who started this year's rift with the House GOP.

Pelosi playing defense on torture  —  Nancy Pelosi didn't cry foul when the Bush administration briefed her on “enhanced interrogation” of terror suspects in 2002, but her team was locked and loaded to counter hypocrisy charges when the “torture” memos were released last week.

Money for Nothing  —  On July 15, 2007, The New York Times published an article with the headline “The Richest of the Rich, Proud of a New Gilded Age.”  The most prominently featured of the “new titans” was Sanford Weill, the former chairman of Citigroup, who insisted that he and his peers …

Thain Fires Back at Bank of America  —  John Thain figured seven months ago that he was just one rung down the corporate ladder from becoming chief executive of the largest consumer bank in the U.S. Now, he is trying to climb back from the professional disaster that followed.

New FAS-FAX Shows (More) Steep Circulation Losses  —  NEW YORK The Audit Bureau of Circulations released this morning the spring figures for the six months ending March 31, 2009, showing that country's largest metros continue to shed daily and Sunday circulation, now at a record rate.

White House Cheat Sheet: Obama's Tough Call on Torture  —  President Obama faces a tough decision on how to handle the use of harsh interrogation tactics during the previous administration.  AP Photo by Gerald Hebert.  —  President Obama finds himself in a difficult political position …

Obama team reverses union transparency  —  Finance reporting rules deemed too onerous for labor leaders  —  The Obama administration, which has boasted about its efforts to make government more transparent, is rolling back rules requiring labor unions and their leaders to report information about their finances and compensation.

More Atheists Shout It From the Rooftops  —  CHARLESTON, S.C. — Two months after the local atheist organization here put up a billboard saying “Don't Believe in God?  You Are Not Alone,” the group's 13 board members met in Laura and Alex Kasman's living room to grapple with the fallout.

The Media Elite's Secret Dinners  —  Last Tuesday evening, Rahm Emanuel quietly slipped into an eighth-floor office at the Watergate.  —  As white-jacketed waiters poured red and white wine and served a three-course salmon and risotto dinner, the White House chief of staff spent two hours chatting …

Say Yes.  What Are You Waiting For?  —  Spring is here, that glorious season when young men's fancies lightly turn to thoughts of love, as the poet Tennyson once suggested.  “Lightly” is right.  —  The average age of American men marrying for the first time is now 28.

Just Imagine: The First 100 Days of John McCain  —  If things had gone differently.....  John McCain, the oldest first-term president in history, is proving as rambunctious and pugnacious as the youngest one, Teddy Roosevelt.  Of course, Teddy probably would have sent the Marines to Venezuela …

GOP BASE OPPOSES PROGRESS.... It's hard to say whether Republican Party leaders on the Hill or in the RNC have any genuine interest in moving the party back towards the political mainstream, but in some ways, it doesn't really matter.  Even if GOP leaders saw the utility of moderating the party, the Republican base wouldn't allow it.

Shortage of Doctors Proves Obstacle to Obama Goals  —  WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials, alarmed at doctor shortages, are looking for ways to increase the supply of physicians to meet the needs of an aging population and millions of uninsured people who would gain coverage under legislation championed by the president.