Forbes, by Richard A. Epstein Posted By: garnet- Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:38:28 GMT A recent Paul Krugman zinger laments how Democrats and Republicans inhabit parallel universes. He left no doubts which one he lives in. As a libertarian who finds it difficult to be consistently loyal to either party, let me say why in this instance the Republicans have not behaved as badly as Krugman's caustic rhetoric suggests on three issues: unemployment benefits, the estate tax and health care. In his view, only hard and insensitive elitists worry about the second. In hard times, all the action should go on the first and third items, where his impatient more'now'is'better mentality flourishes,

CNET News, by Elinor Mills Posted By: Photoonist- Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:17:02 GMT For the second time in less than six months, visitors to the Drudge Report say they got malware in addition to the Web site's usual sensational headlines. ''I can personally vouch for disinfecting my mom's desktop yesterday after visiting this Web page, even taking a screenshot after beginning remedial steps to address the attempted infection,'' a CNET reader wrote in an e'mail early on Tuesday. ''I'm an IT professional in South Carolina so I know and understand the technology involved.''

Associated Press, by Robert Burns Posted By: Photoonist- Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:07:40 GMT Washington ' ' For a guy who professes to have no interest in running for president, Gen. David Petraeus can come off as surprisingly eager to talk about it ' sometimes without even being asked. In a recent appearance at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia he turned a question about his retirement plans into an opportunity to deny he has political ambitions. (Snip) Ambitious, shrewd, articulate, famously competitive ' Petraeus has a three'decade record of accomplishment, a penchant for publicity and a reputation for toughness that sets him apart in today's military.

Associated Press, by Alan Clenenning Posted By: Photoonist- Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:01:34 GMT Brasilia, Brazil '' Brazil's president warned Tuesday that U.S.'proposed sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program could lead to war in the Middle East. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in an interview with The Associated Press that sanctions could isolate Iran so much that tensions would spiral out of control. And that, he suggested, might lead to war. ''We don't want to repeat in Iran what happened in Iraq''

Deutsche Presse'Agentur, by April MacIntyre Posted By: Photoonist- Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:58:19 GMT Fed up with actor Sean Penn's defense of President/Dictator Hugo Chavez, Fox Business news reporter Stuart Varney issue a plea this morning (March 9) to HBO "Real Time" star, filmmaker, author and social pundit, Bill Maher. ''"If you are listening, Mr. Maher, please have me on your show, I would love to discuss Hugo Chavez with you.'' Last Friday's ''Real Time With Bill Maher'' saw table guests Arianna Huffington and Andrew Ross Sorkin weigh in on a variety of issues, and Oscar winning actor Sean Penn came and sat with Maher s

Washington Post, by Garance Franke'Ruta Posted By: mickeymat- Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:58:12 GMT Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, a fierce opponent of Democratic health'care reform efforts who has said America under President Obama is headed toward socialism, told a Canadian audience her family used to go to Canada to get medical care when she was growing up."My first five years of life we spent in Skagway, Alaska, right there by Whitehorse. Believe it or not '' this was in the '60s '' we used to hustle on over the border for health care that we would receive in Whitehorse. I remember my brother, he

CNET News, by Declan McCullagh Posted By: Photoonist- Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:50:34 GMT Jeremy Bray received an e'mail message this morning with an unwelcome surprise: Amazon.com told him it had canceled its affiliate program, which provides small payments for referring customers, for everyone in the state of Colorado. The reason? A state law, which Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter signed last week, slaps onerous new restrictions on large out'of'state sellers like Amazon,(Snip) Fifteen other states have considered or are considering enacting laws targeting Amazon and other e'commerce companies that typically do not charge sales tax for shipments sent outside their home state, according to a report released Monday.

Newsbusters, by Tom Blumer Posted By: Photoonist- Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:40:23 GMT Rush mentioned this on the air as his show opened. It comes from the Associated Press, in a later paragraph of an Obama cheerleading item (''Obama pitches health plan in spirited appearance''; AP picture at right is from that story) by Julie Pace and David Espo. The paragraph in question opens by giving readers the impression that either Pace, Espo, or another AP person has actually seen language in whatever iteration of ObamaCare happens to be floating around House chambers these days. But then it backs down and says it's only ''described by a Democratic aide,'' meaning that the wire

Politics Daily, by Patricia Murphy Posted By: StormCnter- Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:37:15 GMT In July 2008, Sen. Barack Obama took time out of his packed presidential campaign schedule to address a crucial block of voters whom he would need in his fight against Sen. John McCain in the November elections. During his speech to the League of Latin American Citizens, a leading Latino organization, Obama lamented the lack of presidential leadership on immigration reform in 2006, and promised to do better. "We need a president who isn't going to walk away from something as important as comprehensive immigration reform when it becomes politically unpopular," he told the group.

Chicago Tribune, by Oscar Avila Posted By: Photoonist- Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:34:06 GMT Underscoring arguments for strong participation in this year's census, a new report details the billions of dollars that Illinois and the Chicago region have received in federal funds tied to the previous count. Researchers with the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, found that Illinois received $19.1 billion in 2008 in federal funds tied to census counts, about a third of all the federal assistance it received. Of that amount, the Chicago area received at least $12.6 billion