International:
Iran said to assemble two uranium units
Shrugging off the threat of tougher U.N. sanctions, Iran has set up more than 300 centrifuges in two uranium enrichment units at its underground Natanz complex, diplomats and officials said Monday.

The move potentially opens the way for larger scale enrichment that could be used to create nuclear warheads. Iranian leaders have repeatedly said the Natanz underground hall would house first 3,000 centrifuges and ultimately 54,000 machines.
It also poses a direct challenge to the Security Council, which late last month imposed limited sanctions targeting programs and individuals linked to Tehran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs — and warned of stricter penalties within 60 days unless Iran freezes enrichment.
Read more here.

It's Still Not Too Late
In a recent interview in GQ Magazine, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) revealed that the Bush administration tried to get Congress to approve military action anywhere in the Middle East -- not just in Iraq -- in the fall of 2002. The White House "sent over a resolution for Congress to approve. Well, it was astounding. It said they could go anywhere in the region," said Hagel. In 2003, the administration rebuffed an offer by Iran to help stabilize Iraq. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, said, "We thought it was a very propitious moment to (strike the deal). But as soon as it got to the White House, and as soon as it got to the vice president's office, the old mantra of 'We don’t talk to evil'...reasserted itself." Former administration insider Richard Perle, a leading neoconservative proponent of the Iraq war, said recently that Bush would attack Iran before he leaves office. "If he is told, 'Mr. President, you are at the point of no return,' I have very little doubt that this president would order the necessary military action," Perle said.

Senate conservatives filibuster Iraq debate.
The Senate vote “sidetracked a nonbinding measure expressing disagreement with Bush’s plan to deploy an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq. The vote was 49-47, or 11 short of the 60 needed to go ahead with debate, and left the fate of the measure uncertain.”

The vote was along party lines, except for Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who voted for the filibuster, and Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Norm Coleman (R-MN) who voted against it. Four senators, including John McCain (R-AZ), did not vote. Read the details

National:
Bush Sends Congress $2.90T Spending Plan
President Bush sent a $2.90 trillion spending plan to a Democratic-controlled Congress on Monday, proposing a big increase in military spending, including billions more to fight the war in Iraq, while squeezing the rest of government to meet his goal of eliminating the deficit in five years.

"The president's budget is filled with debt and deception, disconnected from reality and continues to move America in the wrong direction," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D.

The president insisted that he had made the right choices to keep the nation secure from terrorist threats and the economy growing.

"My formula for a balanced budget reflects the priorities of our country at this moment in its history: protecting the homeland and fighting terrorism, keeping the economy strong with low taxes and keeping spending under control while making federal programs more effective," Bush said.

Fitzgerald Targets Cheney in Libby Tapes...
Fitzgerald began his questioning by determining what he already knew to be true - that Libby was not the source of syndicated columnist Robert Novak's story revealing that the wife of an outspoken Bush administration critic worked for the CIA.

Almost immediately after that, however, Fitzgerald steered the discussion toward Cheney and how his office responded to the growing criticism from former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who claimed to have led a fact-finding mission that refuted some prewar intelligence on Iraq. Read it

Bye-Bye Big Easy
President Bush is expected to "shift $1.3 billion away from raising and armoring levees, installing floodgates and building permanent pumping in Southeast Louisiana in order to plug long-anticipated financial shortfalls in other hurricane-protection projects, a move Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) describes as a retreat from the president's commitment to protect the whole New Orleans area," the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported on Friday.

In Other News...
"After years of stockpiling findings and allegations," House oversight chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) will "unleash four days of hearings this week aimed at exposing an array of ‘waste, fraud and abuse' in government." The first hearing will feature former Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, who says he will present a "5,000- to 6,000-word treatise" explaining corruption during his tenure.

The United States will push for more U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran if Tehran continues to ignore council demands for suspension of the country's uranium enrichment program, the State Department said Monday.

Recordings of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reveal the Republican griping about Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike and expressing sympathy for Mexican immigrants, but saying they should embrace the United States.

From The Right: Dinesh D'Souza: 9/11 and the Clinton Abdication More than five years after 9/11, the crucial question of why the Islamic radicals decided to strike America remains unanswered.

From The Left: Scott Galindez: Ann Wright- A Courageous Leader "This is the only time in my many years serving America that I have felt I cannot represent the policies of an administration of the United States.".

Quote Of The Day:
"Conservatism only wants the best for people, as many people as possible achieving, meeting their goals, setting lofty ones, utilizing ambition and drive and desire and passion to achieve those dreams and goals. The liberals smirk at that sort of thing." -Rush Limbaugh

(Sources: AP, Breitbart, MyWay, DrudgeReport, CenterForAmericanProgress, GQ, TownHall, FOXNews, ThinkProgress, USAToday, AtlantaJournalConstitution, RushLimbaugh, TruthOut)