Santorum moves ahead in Michigan  —  Rick Santorum's taken a large lead in Michigan's upcoming Republican primary.  He's at 39% to 24% for Mitt Romney, 12% for Ron Paul, and 11% for Newt Gingrich.  —  Santorum's rise is attributable to two major factors: his own personal popularity …

Dem lawmaker: Obama budget is a ‘nervous breakdown on paper’  —  Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) expressed concern President Obama's budget would go too far to rein in government spending in the midst of an economic recovery, calling the forthcoming proposal a ‘nervous breakdown on paper.’

Inside Media Matters: Sources, memos reveal erratic behavior, close coordination with White House and news organizations  —  This is the first in a Daily Caller investigative series on Media Matters For America.  Daily Caller reporters Alex Pappas and Will Rahn contributed to this report.

Severe Conservative Syndrome  —  Mitt Romney has a gift for words — self-destructive words.  On Friday he did it again, telling the Conservative Political Action Conference that he was a “severely conservative governor.”  —  As Molly Ball of The Atlantic pointed out, Mr. Romney “described conservatism as if it were a disease.”

Why America Keeps Getting More Conservative  —  Even with the president's approval rating showing signs of life and the Republicans busily bashing themselves over the head — “one is a practicing polygamist and he's not even the Mormon,” retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recently quipped …

Religious Freedom and Contraception (among other things)  —  I'm amazed by the turns this issue has taken.  I posted about it two weeks ago.  My post had problems.  Among other things, I slighted legal issues to focus on what I took to be really going on, motivation-wise.

Whitney Houston album price hike sparks controversy  —  Sony Music under fire after cost of greatest hits set on iTunes rises by more than 60% after singer's death  —  Sony Music has come under fire after it increased the price of a Whitney Houston album on Apple's iTunes Store hours after the singer was found dead.

Israel says bombs target embassies in India, Georgia  —  (Reuters) - Bombers targeted staff at Israel's embassies in India and Georgia on Monday, wounding four people, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of involvement.

Contraception and the cost of culture wars  —  Politicized culture wars are debilitating because they almost always require partisans to denigrate the moral legitimacy of their opponents, and sometimes to deny their very humanity.  It's often not enough to defeat a foe.

NJ Senate OKs gay marriage bill in milestone vote  —  TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey lawmakers gave their blessing to legalizing gay marriage for the first time Monday as the state Senate passed a bill that would allow nuptials for same-sex couples, despite Gov. Chris Christie's insistence that he will veto such legislation.

Ludwig Von Mises Makes the Libertarian Case against “Free Love” (and Implicitly Against Birth Control)  —  UPDATE at end.  —  Huh.  So apparently the GOP is going all-in on the birth control stuff.  TPM: “Republicans will move forward with legislation by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) …

Congress Debt Ceiling Debacle May Repeat Before Presidential Election … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  2012, Debt Ceiling, Congress, Deficit, Democrats, Economy, Elections 2012, Jobs, Obama, Politics, Video, State Of The Union 2012, Debt, Election, Elections, Hostage, Treasury, Politics News

Hawaii, Alaska, D.C. Lead in Gov't Jobs  —  Federal, state, and local government employment all declined nationally in 2011  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nearly 3 out of every 10 workers in Hawaii (29.7%), Alaska (29.6%), and the District of Columbia (29.1%) work for federal, state, or local government …