Daniel Stone

Washington lately has been abuzz with the advent of question time in America. It makes for great TV by teasing out pent-up partisan tension. But it also just makes democracy better.

Numbers abound in the fiscal-year 2011 budget released by the White House this morning. The full package runs just over $3.8 trillion for next year, which includes a 6 percent increase in education spending, an additional $160 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the $300 in tax cuts over the next decade that President Obama foreshadowed in his State of the Union address last week.

Walking through the Capitol the evening of President Obama's big speech is a bit like trying to casually stroll through Fort Knox. Security checkpoints every 10 steps, and gaggles of reporters flanking members as they file into the chamber.

Gosh, what's a preppy with a big wallet and a big heart to do to prove to his buddies down at the club that he's doing his part to stop the suffering in Haiti? Maybe pop the collar on his new Ralph Lauren Haiti Relief Polo Shirt. Pick your color, only 98 bucks. All proceeds to charity. Thanks, Ralph. Helping the needy never looked so chic.

It wasn't so long ago that Arnold Schwarzenegger, the budget-breaking governor of California, used his star power to win the state's top job. He had no experience as a top executive, really, nor as a politician, but everyone knew him as the rock solid man-bot from The Terminator, not to mention the world's first pregnant man in Junior.

In advance of President Obama's State of the Union Message tonight, NEWSWEEK partnered with YouTube to launch discussions with four experts in their various fields on the most pressing issues facing America: education, national security, the economy, and the climate crisis.

Here's NYU economist Nouriel Roubini, also known as "Dr. Doom" for his often bleak economic outlook. Of all the options on how to address a still-sagging economy, Roubini sees no good choices.

In advance of President Obama's State of the Union Message tonight, NEWSWEEK partnered with YouTube.com to launch discussions with four experts in their various fields on the most pressing issues facing America: education, national security, the economy, and the climate crisis.

Of all of the balls that President Obama and Congress seem to be juggling, the one that may have fallen is preparation for the threat of a bioweapons attack on the homeland.

It's not that Nancy Pelosi doesn't like the Senate health-care bill (at this point, she'd probably take anything that walks that could reasonably be classified as health-care reform).

Reeling from a surprising defeat, how do Democrats prepare for November? By going back to 2008.

Washington government and media types like to joke about the D.C. bubble and echo chamber, the phenomenon of things happening in Washington only really mattering in Washington.

From the people who brought you The District—specifically the ace Newsweek video team—comes the definitive multimedia account of President Obama's first year in office. From the stimulus package to the beer summit to the escalation in Afghanistan, it's all covered—with the year's most significant statistics to boot. To watch the video, click the player below.

With fresh numbers today, CBS released a poll on the popularity of Sarah Palin, one of the most bemusing figures of the past year. Since Palin's failed bid for vice president on John McCain's ticket, the question has been whether Palin wants to reach higher, perhaps with presidential ambitions.

"What will it all mean?" is the question du jour, as Bay State voters elect a replacement senator. Fortunately, the feeble tubes of the Internet offer a look at what some folks think is the answer.

You might notice on the dateline above that it's Jan. 14, almost halfway through the month that usually serves as bookends to presidential years. Usually around this time, members of Congress return groggily from the holiday recess and then settle into their seats for the president's State of the Union address at the end of the month.

 The melee continues at NBC, where late-night hosts continue to slam each other and the network as executives try to rearrange the late-night line-up. No one's happy, least of all being Conan O'Brien, who was asked last week to bump his Tonight Show to midnight to accommodate a half-hour program hosted by Leno at 11:35.

Six of one, a half dozen of the other might be the best way to sum up the president's latest shift in popularity. For the first time in his administration, those who see Obama's first year as a success versus failure are split evenly at 45 to 45 percent, according to a new Quinnipiac poll released today."It's a passing grade, not exactly the marks his mother would want to put on the refrigerator, but still a passing grade," said Peter Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac University's Polling...

Protect the environment or create renewable energy? A new bill shows they're far from the same thing.

Several weeks ago, we published a gallery of GOP contenders for the 2012 presidential nomination. Logical candidates like Tim Pawlenty and Sarah Palin were on the list, and also dark horses like Newt Gingrich and Dick Cheney.

Will 2010 be the year of the outraged conservative? It depends who you ask, but most on the right agree that any party─the GOP or a new one yet to emerge─will be able to tap into populist anger toward the Democrats at the polls this year.

  A bit off the beaten path of politics, admittedly, but a story about sea lions that's sweeping several large news outlets is no less a case study in the occasional hyperbole of viewer-hungry media.

Barack Obama might be president, but he's also the nation's top dad, underscored by the latest episode to unfold on the island of Oahu, where the first family is vacationing this week.

 Obama and Biden praised the Senate vote on Christmas EveCharles Dharapak / AP On a day that such sweeping and historic legislation passed through the Senate, President Obama, across town, was compelled to weigh in.

Earlier today, President Obama sat down with NewsHour's Jim Lehrer to talk policy. Lehrer pressed Obama for his thoughts on the Senate health bill awaiting passage tomorrow and on the Afghanistan troop surge the president ordered last month.

After another early-morning vote today, the Senate edged closer to passing it's hard-fought health-care package. At this point, calculus doesn't matter anymore.

One side of Pennsylvania Avenue may be intensely focused on passing a historic health-care bill by Christmas, but at the other end it was an afternoon full of surprises and holiday cheer.

It's fairly ironic that while the city of Washington has screeched to a halt under a mountain of snow, the usual glacial-paced Senate has kicked into high gear.

Late in the afternoon on Friday, with the clock ticking down to zero, a rather dramatic scene unfolded that surprised even several top leaders at the climate negotiations in Copenhagen.

While most Americans slept, President Obama spoke to delegates Friday morning in Copenhagen on the final day of the U.N. climate conference. We reported yesterday that Obama's speech would matter, not just because of the symbolism of the U.S. head of state addressing the world but also because until now U.S. negotiators have been unable to reach an agreement with other countries that have demanded larger steps on emissions cuts and mitigation funding.Obama's address was brief, an eight-minute...