Obama suggests value-added tax may be an option  —  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama suggested Wednesday that a new value-added tax on Americans is still on the table, seeming to show more openness to the idea than his aides have expressed in recent days.

Obama Issues Sharp Call for Reforms on Wall Street  —  WASHINGTON - President Obama is traveling to the shadow of Wall Street on Thursday to counter what he calls “the furious efforts of industry lobbyists” trying to weaken or kill new financial regulations that he says are needed to stave off a second Great Depression.

Pelosi tells Reid: Immigration bill before climate change is ‘fine’  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) she is “fine” with the Senate taking up immigration reform before climate change legislation.  —  Pelosi made the comments in a private meeting …

Exclusive: WellPoint routinely targets breast cancer patients  —  (Reuters) - One after another, shortly after a diagnosis of breast cancer, each of the women learned that her health insurance had been canceled.  First there was Yenny Hsu, who lived and worked in Los Angeles.

The tea party's exaggerated importance  —  2009 was the year when many journalists concluded they were slow to recognize the anti-government, anti-Obama rage that gave birth to the tea party movement.  —  2010 is the year when news organizations have decided to prove they get it.  —  And get it.

‘South Park’ Episode Is Altered After Muslim Group's Warning  —  A message posted on SouthParkStudios.com, the Web site of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's production company.  —  8:56 a.m. |  Updated  —  An episode of “South Park” that continued a story line involving the Prophet Muhammad …

Michael Steele Acknowledges GOP Had “Southern Strategy” For Decades  —  A lot of people are pointing to a new set of remarks Michael Steele made about the Republican Party and race, in which Steele acknowledged that the GOP hasn't given African Americans a reason to support the party.

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — April 2010  —  The first Kaiser Health Tracking Poll fielded since the passage of health reform last month finds that 8 in 10 Americans know that President Obama signed the legislation into law.  But 55 percent say they are confused about the law and more than half …

Existing-Home Sales Rise on Home Buyer Tax Credit and Favorable Market Conditions  —  Buyers responding to the homebuyer tax credit and favorable affordability conditions boosted existing-home sales in March, marking the beginning of an expected spring surge, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

'I've gone from being Churchill to a Nazi in a week': Clegg defends attack on Britain's ‘delusions of grandeur’ over WWII  —  A rattled Nick Clegg today sought to defend himself over his claim that the British people have a ‘more insidious cross to bear’ than Germany over World War II.

BANKS: Deposits Guaranteed … Through the great banking houses of Manhattan last week ran wild-eyed alarm.  Big bankers stared at one another in anger and astonishment.  A bill just passed by both houses of Congress would rivet upon their institutions what they considered a monstrous system of guaranteeing bank deposits.

Millions face tax increases under Dems budget plan  —  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's Democratic allies in the Senate promise to cut the deficit by almost two-thirds over the next five years, but their budget plan could threaten about 30 million people with tax increases averaging $3,700 …

4/22: Making Change with the 50 Dollar Bill  —  A Republican congressman from North Carolina has proposed legislation that would replace the image of President Ulysses S. Grant on the fifty dollar bill with that of President Ronald Reagan.  Do Americans want this change to occur?

Bringing Thunder-ous change to New Jersey  —  The bridge spanning the Delaware River connects New Jersey's capital with this town where the nation's most interesting governor occasionally eats lunch at Cafe Antonio.  It also connects New Jersey's government with reality.

In Pa. House race, identity politics with a twist  —  It's happened so often that it's now a cultural cliche: the gay politician pretending to be straight.  In most parts of the nation, homosexuality or bisexuality is a clear electoral liability.  —  Not in Center City's 182d state House district.