1. Pakistan is rapidly stockpiling nuclear arms, leading some in Congress to wonder if we should stop giving them billions in military aid. [NYT]

2. In his heavily protested speech at Notre Dame, President Obama admitted the two sides of the abortion debate are mostly irreconcilable, but still called for common ground. [Politico]

3. Top Republicans, including RNC Chair Michael Steele and house minority leader John Boehner, say they support Dick Cheney's attacks on the President. [Politico]  

1. President Obama fired David D. McKiernan, signaling a major change in leadership and direction in Afghanistan. [NYT]

2. An American soldier shot and killed 5 other U.S. servicemen at a counseling center in Baghdad yesterday. [NYT]

3. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs distanced President Obama from comedian Wanda Sykes, who joked that Rush Limbaugh the "20th hijacker" at a dinner on Sunday night. [WP] 

1. Al Qaeda is preying on Pakistan, working to strenghten radical, anti-American Islamist groups stirring up resistance in the country. [NYT]

2. Major U.S. healthcare providers will pledge to reduce costs by $2 trillion over the next decade. [WSJ]

3. The strain of flu virus that grew into H1N1, or swine flu, likely began in Kansas around 1917. [WP]   

1. President Obama will propose $17 billion in federal budget cuts today, which still amount to only 1.4% of the government's deficit. [NYT]

2. The Republican Party is looking hard for moderates to run in the party's races in 2010. [Politico]

3. If you're wondering if Star Trek is worth the midnight trek tonight, the answer is yes: Abrams treats the classic "as a text rich enough to be lovingly retranslated." [Slate]  

1. Obama will propose changes to the U.S. tax code to discourage companies from exporting jobs oversears. [Reuters]

2. Violent, confusing things we don't understand are happening in Pakistan. [WP]

3. Looking to rebuild their party's brand and message, Republicans are turning to former Bush aides. [Politico]

1. Supreme Court Justice David Souter has announced his retirement at the end of the term in June. [NYT]

2. President Obama forced Chrysler into a managed bankruptcy to allow a "life-saving alliance" with the Italian automaker Fiat. [NYT]

3. More than two dozen states are completely unprepared to handle swine flu should a "full-blown" outbreak erupt. [WP]  

1. The government of Mexico is drastically cutting down public gatherings, shuttering all government offices, restaurants, and barring spectators from professional sports games. [NYT]

2. Bankruptcy is imminent for Chrysler after a deal to restructure the company's debt fell apart yesterday. [NYT]

3. Congress passed President Obama's $3.5 trillion budget on his 100th day in office, handing him a significant victory and a major policy shift. [WSJ] 

*** DAY 100 ***

1.  Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter announced his decision to become a Democrat, handing the Republican Party a pointedly-timed blow. [Politico]

2.  Olympia Snowe, the Republican senator from Maine, writes that the Republican Party "needs moderates" and "didn't have to lose Arlen Specter." [NYT]

3. So we know all about Obama's first 100 days. How did the Republicans rate during their first 100 days out of office? [Slate]  

1. With 152 deaths and 1,600 cases of swine flu in Mexico, countries around the world are tightening their borders. [NYT]

2. In his first regular column for the New York Times, Ross Douthat argues that the Republicans would be better off had Dick Cheney, with his right-wing resistance agenda, had run for president and lost. [NYT]

3. Amazon has purchased Lexcycle, a company that makes popular e-book applications for the iPhone. [WSJ]  

The New York Times leads with, and the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times front, two deadly bombings in Iraq yesterday that put the country's two-day death toll over 150. Sunni insurgent groups took responsibility for the attacks, which fueled worry that the country might explode into sectarian violence as the U.S. withdraws.