Betting on News, AOL Is Buying The Huffington Post  —  The Huffington Post, which began in 2005 with a meager $1 million investment and has grown into one of the most heavily visited news Web sites in the country, is being acquired by AOL in a deal that creates an unlikely pairing of two online media giants.

Rep. Jane Harman likely to leave House  —  Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) is likely to resign from Congress to succeed Lee H. Hamilton as president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a close friend of Harman's told POLITICO.  The nine-term intelligence expert notified House officials …

THE HILL POLL: Voters oppose raising the $14.3T debt ceiling  —  Only 27 percent of likely voters favor raising the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, while 62 percent oppose it, according to an exclusive poll for The Hill.  —  The poll found solid opposition from Republicans …

An ObamaCare Appeal From the States  —  Twenty-one governors representing more than 115 million Americans have written to Kathleen Sebelius asking for more flexibility on health-care reform.  —  Unless you're in favor of a fully nationalized health-care system, the president's health-care reform law is a massive mistake.

Obama: I'm not moving to center  —  President Obama on Sunday dismissed the notion that his administration in recent weeks has pivoted toward the political center to raise his approval ratings as the 2012 campaign nears.  —  After ushering through Congress measures to throw a lifeline …

Despite talk of concessions, Egyptian military cracking down  —  Mostafa al Hassan, a human rights lawyer, was detained by the Egyptian military during anti-government protests.  On Sunday Hassan, shown in the offices of the Hisham Mubarak Law Center in Cairo, said the roundup of dissidents …

Bush 2012  —  John J. Miller has a cover story in the new issue of National Review that's a compelling portrait of the accomplishments of Jeb Bush.  Four years after leaving the Florida governor's mansion, he remains one of the most impressive Republican politicians in the country …

U.S. Envoy To Egypt Frank Wisner's Law Firm Has Represented The Mubarak Regime In The Past  —  Over the weekend, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's hand-picked envoy to Egypt, former U.S. diplomat Frank Wisner, caused a diplomatic row when he suggested at the Munich Security Conference …

Droughts, Floods and Food  —  We're in the midst of a global food crisis — the second in three years.  World food prices hit a record in January, driven by huge increases in the prices of wheat, corn, sugar and oils.  These soaring prices have had only a modest effect on U.S. inflation …

Senators look for immigration deal  —  Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have rekindled their alliance on immigration reform, taking some early steps to test the political will for addressing the contentious issue this year.  —  Their call list hasn't focused …

Donald Rumsfeld to Diane Sawyer: 'It's Possible' Troop Decisions Were a Mistake in Iraq  —  ‘Not the Case’ That Iraq Is Like Vietnam; Denies Turning Bush's Attention to Iraq Post-9/11  —  More than four years after leaving public life, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld continues …

Blue Dogs have ‘no communication’ with Pelosi, Dem leadership, says Shuler  —  There's been “no communication” this Congress between House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and members of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition, one of its top members said Monday.

Texas' finances not as rosy as they seemed  —  The state prides itself as a model of conservative spending and responsible budgeting.  But a new $27-billion budget gap undercuts its image as a business-seducing, fiscally adaptive state.  —  Reporting from Austin, Texas …

How President Obama plays media like a fiddle  —  In early November, Barack Obama was one sad sack of a president—his agenda repudiated by midterm voters, his political judgment scorned by commentators, his future darkened by a growing belief he might be a one-time president.