THE CAP TIMES: The billionaire brothers whose political action committee gave Gov. Scott Walker $43,000 and helped fund a multi-million dollar attack ad campaign against his opponent during the 2010 gubernatorial election have quietly opened a lobbying office in Madison just off the Capitol Square. Charles and David Koch, who co-own Koch Industries Inc. and whose combined worth is estimated at $43 billion, have been recently tied with Walker’s push to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public workers. The two have long backed conservative causes and groups including Americans for Prosperity, which organized the Tea Party rally Saturday in support […]

[Illustration by ALEX FINE] Tea Party Express organizer/talk radio host/frequent CNN guest Mark Williams is encouraging Tea Partiers to go to the SEIU home page and sign up for upcoming pro-union rallies at the Wisconsin capitol building, masquerade as a union sympathizer and then behave in a way that would paint protesters as greedy, lazy thugs in the eyes of the media and the general public (SEE BELOW).  Last summer Williams was universally reviled (even by the Tea Party) for penning a blatantly racist “open letter” to Abe Lincoln from the “colored people” which chided blacks for “striving for welfare,” […]

[Artwork by DonkeyHotey] NEW YORK TIMES: President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt prepared to address the nation Thursday, with government officials indicating that they expected him to step aside, and Egypt’s military announcing that it is intervening in state affairs in an attempt to stop a three-week old uprising. The military declared on state television that it would take measures “to maintain the homeland and the achievements and the aspirations of the great people of Egypt” and meet the demands of the protesters who have insisted on ending Mr. Mubarak’s 30-year rule. Several government officials said Mr. Mubarak is expected to […]

PROPUBLICA: Before he took office, President Obama repeatedly promised voters and Democrats in Congress that he’d fight for changes to bankruptcy laws to help homeowners—a tough approach that would force banks to modify mortgages. “I will change our bankruptcy laws to make it easier for families to stay in their homes,” Obama told supporters at a Colorado rally on September 16, 2008, the same day as the bailout of AIG. Bankruptcy judges have long been barred from lowering mortgage payments on primary residences, though they could do it with nearly all other types of debt, even mortgages on vacation homes. […]

ATTYTOOD: “Philadelphia sucks,” Beck declares at the end of today’s rant, which is focused on his notion — and feel free to debate this, as I know you will — that it’s not safe to walk around the City of Brotherly Love at 6 p.m. (6 p.m.?) without getting robbed or shot. MORE PREVIOUSLY: Beck and his fellow right-wing gabber Sean Hannity got dumped today by the city’s top-ranked talk-radio outlet, WPHT 1210-The Big Talker, in a major shakeup aimed at keepin’ it local. While Hannity and Beck — nationally the No. 2 and No. 3 most-listened-to talk hosts behind […]

                          LOS ANGELES TIMES: Tom DeLay, the once powerful Texas Republican congressman found guilty of money laundering and conspiracy, was sentenced Monday to three years in prison. The former Republican House majority leader, dubbed “The Hammer” for his take-no-prisoners style, was convicted in November of conspiring to illegally funnel $190,000 in corporate campaign donations to Republican candidates for the Texas Legislature. The prison sentence applies to the conspiracy count. DeLay did not receive prison time for the money laundering count. He was given 10 years probation, and faces […]

ASSOCIATED PRESS: A person with knowledge of the investigation says federal authorities have opened a criminal probe of Delaware Republican Christine O’Donnell to determine if the former Senate candidate broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to protect the identity of a client who has been questioned in the probe. The case, which has been assigned to two federal prosecutors and two FBI agents in Delaware, has not been sent to a grand jury. O’Donnell, who set a state record by raising more than $7.3 million in a tea […]