IRS sending millions of rebate alerts
WASHINGTON – Don’t be alarmed. More than 130 million households will get letters from the IRS starting next week — and it’s good news, not bad.

ACLU: 900,000 Names on U.S. Terror Watch Lists
The FBI now keeps a list of over 900,000 names belonging to known or suspected terrorists, the American Civil Liberties Union said today. Last September, the ACLU notes, the Department of Justice’s Inspector General reported the FBI watch list was at 700,000 names, and growing at 20,000 names per month.

One in 100 US adults behind bars: study
WASHINGTON (AFP) — More than one in 100 adults are now behind bars in the United States, home to the world’s largest penal population, with a startling one in nine young black men incarcerated, a study showed Thursday… America also has the dubious distinction of leading the planet in the rate of incarceration, which is higher than nations like South Africa and Iran, the study said.

State Dept. orders another review of troubled Baghdad embassy
The State Department’s new embassy construction chief has rejected his predecessor’s certification that the $740 million new U.S. embassy in Baghdad is “substantially completed” and has instead begun a top-to-bottom review of the troubled project.

Pennsylvania nuclear plant investigated
WASHINGTON – The chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledged Thursday that more should have been done to thoroughly investigate a tip that security guards routinely took naps while on the job at a Pennsylvania nuclear plant.

Conservatives block ethics reform bill. (Think Progress)
Yesterday evening, House Democrats were forced to pull an ethics reform proposal after widespread opposition by Republicans, as well as a few Democrats. Several lawmakers insisted that the current system “is working” and there is no need for an independent, bipartisan Office of Congressional Ethics. In an effort to scuttle the office, senior House Republican aides have drawn up a hit list of Democratic lawmakers to target with investigations.  3:32

Republicans Block Consideration of Housing Relief Package in Senate
Senate Republicans yesterday blocked consideration of a bill designed to prop up the struggling housing industry. The mortgage industry has waged a stiff lobbying campaign against the bankruptcy provision.

Committee authorizes subpoena for Blackwell
On a party line vote, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee today approved giving its chairman the authority to subpoena former Republican Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to testify about the 2004 election.

Senate shelves Iraq U.S. troop withdrawal bill
A liberal Democrat’s attempt to impose quick U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq collapsed in the U.S. Senate, as expected, but leaders on Thursday insisted they will retool legislation and force votes in coming months.

Texas contest includes primary, caucus
AUSTIN, Texas – People here like to say everything is bigger in Texas, and their oversized presidential contest is no different with not just a primary election, but a caucus added on, too.

Clinton counts on women for comeback
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Fighting to survive, Hillary Rodham Clinton is counting on female power to energize her faltering presidential bid. She’s hoping a double-digit lead among women in Ohio is the answer.

McCain’s Canal Zone Birth Prompts Queries About Whether That Rules Him Out
John McCain’s likely nomination as the Republican candidate for president and the happenstance of his birth in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936 are reviving a musty debate that has surfaced periodically since the founders first set quill to parchment and declared that only a “natural-born citizen” can hold the nation’s highest office. Mr. McCain was born on a military installation in the Canal Zone, where his mother and father, a Navy officer, were stationed.
This non-issue is as silly as those who are saying Hillary Clinton can’t be president because the Nineteenth Amendment only gave women the right to vote, not the right to be president.

UN experts criticize New Orleans housing
NEW ORLEANS – Two human rights experts for the United Nations on Thursday criticized a federal plan to raze public housing projects in New Orleans, saying it will force the predominantly black residents into homelessness.

Abu Ghraib prison turned soldiers evil by design: researcher
MONTEREY, California (AFP) – The very design of Abu Ghraib in Iraq turned good soldiers into evil tormentors that humiliated and brutalized prisoners, a famed social psychologist said Thursday… [Stanford University professor Philip Zimbardo] is renowned for the 1971 Stanford prison experiment in which students on summer break play roles as guards or prisoners in a mock prison in the basement of a building on the university’s campus in Northern California. The pretend guards grew so sadistic and the prisoners so cowed that the experiment was halted prematurely out of concern for the students.

Economy & Finance

Wall Street stocks head for lower open
NEW YORK – Wall Street headed for opening losses Friday after disappointing earnings from American International Group Inc. and Dell Inc. underscored the challenging economic environment in which companies now operate.

Bush says US not headed into a recession
WASHINGTON – President Bush said Thursday the country is not recession-bound and, despite expressing concern about slowing economic growth, rejected for now any additional stimulus efforts. “We acted robustly,” he said.

Growth dries up
The U.S. economy slowed sharply in the fourth quarter, growing at a slightly lower than anticipated 0.6% annual rate.

Bush blasts Senate mortgage bill
Charging that it would do more to help lenders and speculators than struggling homeowners and also lead to higher interest rates, President Bush urges lawmakers to  reject a Senate bill allowing bankruptcy judges to alter the terms of mortgages.
When did Bush start objecting to helping lenders and speculators, as opposed to struggling homeowners?

Oil crosses $103 courtesy of Bernanke comments (by Chris in Paris at AMERICAblog)
The weak dollar policy is just crushing consumers and careless comments by Bernanke just don’t help. In all likelihood they probably thought they could control the dollar and keep it in a range to help promote exports. It’s a misguided policy but certainly one that many subscribe to in politics. Unfortunately for everyone else, the Administration failed in so many other areas and the rug has been pulled from under their feet. They lost any control they had over this situation long ago and the collapsing banking industry is compounding the problem.

Consumer spending stalls in January
WASHINGTON – Consumer spending was essentially flat for the second straight month in January, raising new concerns about a possible recession.

Euro keeps on climbing against dollar
BERLIN – The euro continued its rapid climb to new highs against the dollar on Friday, hitting $1.5238 in early European trading.