Once critical of financial regulation bill, Republicans change their tone  —  Key Senate Republicans on Tuesday began to back away from their sharp criticism of proposed new financial regulations and expressed optimism that a bipartisan deal on a bill that would drastically change …

Obama's Bounce Goes Flat, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; But Voters Confident He Will Pick Good Judge  —  President Barack Obama's job approval, which bounced slightly to a 45 - 46 percent split March 25 in the wake of his health care victory, has flattened out at 44 - 46 percent …

Most transparent White House ever...  Police chased reporters away from the White House and closed Lafayette Park today in response to a gay rights protest in which several service members in full uniform handcuffed themselves to the White House gate to protest “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.”

U.S. attorney, IRS and FBI investigating Florida GOP credit card use  —  Federal law enforcement agencies have launched a criminal investigation into the use of American Express cards issued by the Republican Party of Florida to elected officials and staff, according to sources familiar with the probe.

Ariz House: Check Obama's Citizenship  —  PHOENIX — The Arizona House on Monday voted for a provision that would require President Barack Obama to show his birth certificate if he hopes to be on the state's ballot when he runs for reelection.  —  The House voted 31-22 to add the provision to a separate bill.

EVEN LINDSEY GRAHAM DOESN'T DESERVE THIS.... I'm not generally in the habit of defending Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), but some of the abuse he's been receiving from the right is ridiculous.  —  Over the weekend, an even-crazier-than-usual Tea Party event was held in Greenville, South Carolina …

Paulson Confronts Goldman Fallout  —  Hedge Fund Allays Investors' Concern; ‘I Felt Reassured’  —  John Paulson hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing.  But the hedge-fund billionaire has gone on the offensive to reassure investors that his huge firm will emerge unscathed from a case …

Earthquake in New Jersey: Majority of School Budgets Defeated  —  In a crushing rejection of the thug tactics of the teacher's unions, voters turned out in unusually high numbers Tuesday to reject a majority of proposed school budgets across the state of New Jersey, handing Governor Chris Christie …

Mike Allen, the Man the White House Wakes Up To  —  Before he goes to sleep, between 11 and midnight, Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, typically checks in by e-mail with the same reporter: Mike Allen of Politico, who is also the first reporter Pfeiffer corresponds with after he wakes up at 4:20.

RNC Spent $340K On Hawaii Meeting  —  The RNC spent more than $340K at a semi-annual meeting in Honolulu in Jan., the latest example of the party spending lavishly on itself while GOP officials worry they won't have enough money to take advantage of a promising national landscape this fall.

Iran boosts Qods shock troops in Venezuela  —  Pentagon predicts U.S. clash with Islamist paramilitary  —  Iran is increasing its paramilitary Qods force operatives in Venezuela while covertly continuing supplies of weapons and explosives to Taliban and other insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq …

Alaska Governor Up For Re-election Joins Lawsuit Suing Federal Government Over Health Care  —  Yesterday, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell (R) announced that Alaska will join 20 other states suing the federal government over the constitutionality of health care reform.

Matthews: Republicans Like Rubio Taking Part in ‘Stalinesque’ Purge of GOP  —  Chris Matthews — who was offended by Rush Limbaugh calling the Obama administration the “regime”— claimed the Republicans were engaged in a “Stalinesque” purge.  On Tuesday's Hardball Matthews charged …

Both national party committees spend big chunks on fancy meals, hotels, travel  —  Both the national Democratic and Republican party committees spend about two-thirds of the money they take in on the care and comfort of committee staffs and on efforts to raise more funds, with lavish spending on limousines …

Insider: Top Ohio homeland security officials falsify credentials, obtained fake diploma mill degrees***Updated***Updated 2x  —  ***Sticky until noon.  Scroll down for more updates.  Our correspondent inside the Ohio Department of Homeland Security brings even more troubling news.

Sarkozy to submit bill banning Islamic face veils  —  PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered legislation that would ban women from wearing Islamic veils that fully cover the face and body in public places, the government said Wednesday.  —  It is Sarkozy's first political action toward …

Timothy McVeigh Was No Libertarian: The Fallacy of Conflating Two Very Different Types of “Anti-Government” Movements  —  Some commentators are associating the Oklahoma City bombings of 15 years ago and other far right violence with the rise of “anti-government” sentiment in opposition …

GOPer Tries to Ape My Snark  —  I'm not quite sure what to make of this.  A couple weeks ago our Eric Kleefeld came up with video showing Nevada Senate candidate Sue Lowden suggesting that “bartering” for medical care would be a good way to rein in spiraling health care costs.

Charges Said to Be ‘New Low’ for Gambinos  —  When members of the Gambino crime family correctly suspected in the late 1990s that a nephew of one of their most powerful captains was cooperating with the government, they plotted to kill him, the authorities say.

Arizona has turned into a police state: ‘Show me your papers’  —  I had a friend who isn't into politics, but would say that Bush's goal was to enact martial law over the country.  I told her she was not based in reality.  But this new law in Arizona gives the police exactly that type of power …

McCain's Integrity  —  There is a new round of “where have you gone, John McCain?” liberal commentary starting up.  I used to find this amusing, but it is all based on a profound misunderstanding of McCain the politician.  Recently, McCain has been making a fool of himself by repudiating …

Losing faith in government  —  Data continues to pour in from a variety of sources indicating that faith in government is at a record low.  Pew Research Center's latest survey found that only 22 percent of those polled trust the federal government “almost always or most of the time.”

Technical difficulties at the Supreme Court  —  During oral arguments today in the case City of Ontario v. Quon, which considers whether police officers had an expectation of privacy in personal (and sexually explicit) text messages sent on pagers issued to them by the city …