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(CNN) — The Obama administration’s rush to sweep the recent Russian spy scandal off the table as quickly as possible with this swap is a bad move on several counts.

It is understandable and correct that President Barack Obama values the overall U.S.-Russian relationship above the question of whether a few Russian spies spend years in jail.

The “reset” campaign was an excellent idea; too bad no one in our Department of State knew how to correctly spell the word in Russian when Secretary Hillary Clinton presented the “button” to the Russian Foreign Minister.

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I know it takes money to get elected, but why does it take millions to do this. All that money could be used for people who has no home. Put money they have taken out of Social Security and never put back. It is just they should put some of that money in a account every time there is an election and they could help some of what they have taken and should have left alone.

WASHINGTON – Deep-pocketed unions, business groups and others are spending heavily in the year’s early primaries, including a staggering $9.6 million to influence a Democratic Senate race in Arkansas, adding volatility to a struggle for control of Congress that has already produced its share of surprises.

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Washington (CNN) — Financial reform? Not exactly. The bill before Congress does nothing to address the fundamental background causes of the crash of 2008.

Wall Street may have been the instrument of the crash. But the crash was made elsewhere: in Washington’s failed policies for middle-class families — and in China’s distorted rush for economic growth.

The story is not a simple one. But I hope you will pay attention to the details. If you don’t, you may find that the pocket that has been picked is your own.

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WASHINGTON – Can you trust Washington?

Nearly 80 percent of Americans say they can’t and they have little faith that the massive federal bureaucracy can solve the nation’s ills, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center that shows public confidence in the federal government at one of the lowest points in a half-century.

The poll released Sunday illustrates the ominous situation facing President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party as they struggle to maintain their comfortable congressional majorities in this fall’s elections. Midterm prospects are typically tough for the party in power.

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(CNN) — Police arrested a 64-year-old Washington state resident who authorities say made death threats against Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

A department statement said the suspect, identified as Charles Alan Wilson of Selah, Washington, made the threats in phone messages to Murray’s office between March 22 and April 4.

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SAN FRANCISCO – In a repudiation of the Bush administration’s now-defunct terrorist surveillance effort, a federal judge ruled Wednesday that government investigators illegally wiretapped the phone conversations of an Islamic charity and two American lawyers without a search warrant.

U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker said the plaintiffs provided enough evidence to show “they were subjected to warrantless electronic surveillance” by the National Security Agency.

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New York (CNN) — New York’s Commission on Public Integrity is charging Gov. David Paterson with an ethics violation for accepting free tickets to the first game of last year’s World Series, the commission said Wednesday.

Paterson violated the state’s restriction on gifts for public officials in October when he sought free tickets to the game in Yankee Stadium between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies, the commission said. The commission also said Paterson lied under oath about intending to pay for the tickets.

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Washington (CNN) — President Obama’s announcement Tuesday of loan guarantees for nuclear power plants may encourage new construction, but a problem still remains that has plagued atomic energy for decades: what to do with nuclear waste?

On the left, opponents of nuclear power say the president should not be using taxpayer money to help build more power plants that will produce even more radioactive material, so long as the government has not figured out where to put it all.

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Washington (CNN) — Vice President Joe Biden and his predecessor Dick Cheney sparred Sunday over terrorism and the Iraq war, duking it out on the most prominent of platforms: the political TV talk show.

In separate appearances on different programs, Cheney called the Obama administration “dead wrong” about al Qaeda and Iraq, while Biden accused Cheney of trying to “rewrite history” and downplay Obama’s actions against terrorism.

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Apex, Nevada (CNN) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that he is “very proud” of having told Barack Obama early on that he believed he was a viable candidate for president and could win election.

Responding to the controversy surrounding a newly published remark he made privately about Obama’s race in 2008, Reid sought to emphasize his longstanding support for the nation’s first African-American president.

“I can still remember the meeting that took place in my office with Sen. Barack Obama, telling him that I think he can be elected president,” Reid said.