• West Hollywood City Councilmember (and former Mayor) John Duran calls in at 8:06am Pacific to talk about West Hollywood’s Gay Pride, Prop. 8, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and Chastity Bono.

• Frances Callier and Angela V. Shelton (Frangela) return from the jungle and join us in studio at 8:35am Pacific for another edition of Fridays with Frangela!

• President Obama took his health care reform push on the road yesterday, saying in Green Bay, Wisconsin, that those concerned with high costs and rising deficits should be proponents of a change to an ailing system. He aimed his comments at GOP opponents of Dem-backed proposals for a government-funded national health care option intended to ensure that 47 million Americans can afford coverage.

• Iranians began voting today on whether to keep hard-line President Ahmadinejad in power for four more years or replace him with a reformist more open to loosening the country’s Islamic restrictions and improving ties with the U.S.

• The Obama administration struck a delicate balance on executive pay yesterday, blaming flawed compensation packages for encouraging disastrous risk-taking but insisting it doesn’t want to dictate how corporation reward their top people.

• Angela V. Shelton and Frances Callier (Frangela) join us in studio at 8:30am Pacific for another edition of Fridays with Frangela!

• President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney offered competing views on how to keep America safe in back-to-back speeches yesterday. Obama said his administration is trying to clean up a “mess” left behind by the Bush administration. Cheney stood up for Bush’s security record, arguing that Obama has weakened the country’s ability to combat Al Qaida and other extremists.

• The Senate late yesterday easily passed a $91 billion spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after stripping the bill of funds to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. The Senate included an amendment to prevent the public release of pictures that reportedly document the mistreatment of post-Sept. 11 detainees in U.S. Custody.

• President Obama will sign into law today a bill that will bar credit card companies from arbitrarily raising interest rates on existing balances and charging certain fees. Included in the bill is an unrelated measure that would allow people to bring loaded guns into national parks and wildlife refuges. Most provisions in the bill will take 9 months to go into effect.

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi bluntly accused the CIA yesterday of misleading her and other lawmakers about its use of waterboarding during the Bush administration, escalating a controversy grown to include both political parties, the spy agency, and the White House.

• The CIA says it has denied a request by former Vice President Dick Cheney to declassify secret internal government memos that detail whether valuable intelligence was gained from the use of torture techniques under the Bush administration. A CIA spokesman says the documents are the subject of pending litigation – making them not subject to declassification.

• President Obama is planning to resume the Bush administration’s highly controversial military tribunal system – which Obama suspended his first week in office – for some Gitmo detainees. The updated system will include expanded due-process rights for suspects. The ACLU called the expected new approach “fatally flawed” despite the changes.

• President Obama urged Congress yesterday to quickly send him legislation ending abusive credit card practices. But his populist appeal also included a stern warning to shoppers whose eyes are bigger than their budgets.

• Frances Callier & Angela V. Shelton (Frangela) join us in studio for another edition of “Fridays with Frangela!!!”

• Supreme Court Justice David Souter is retiring after 18 years on the nation’s highest court. Souter will leave after the current court term recesses in June. Souter, 69, was tapped for the court by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 but disappointed many conservatives when he turned out to be a moderate with an independent streak.

• A government official who traveled to Mexico City to support the delegation accompanying President Obama later came down with flu-like symptoms. Testing is underway to determine if the Energy Department staffer contracted the swine flu virus.

• After months of living on government loans, Chrysler finally succumbed to bankruptcy yesterday, pinning its future on a top-to-bottom reorganization and plans to build cleaner cars through an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat.

• Judy Shepard doesn’t think Rep. Virginia Fox (R-NC) was sincere when she apologized for calling the 1998 murder of Shepard’s son, Matthew, “a hoax.” Fox made the comments Wednesday when she was debating against passage of the Hate Crimes Bill.

• Jo Sullivan, Senior Vice President for Development and Communications for the ASPCA, calls in at 7:30am Pacific to talk about how to become an ASPCA Guardian.

• Angela V. Shelton and Frances Callier (Frangela) join us in studio for another edition of “Fridays with Frangela!”

• Democrats on Capitol Hill are divided on how to deal with the torture issue. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told reporters yesterday that he is against the idea of starting a “truth commission” to look into the issue. He believes the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation is adequate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said yesterday she favors a truth commission.

• The Pentagon will release “a substantial number” of photographs showing abuse of prisoners at prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the ACLU, which says the photos provide visual proof that prisoner abuse by U.S. personnel was widespread.

• Surrounded by some of the country’s top credit card company executives, President Obama yesterday called for an end to “unfair rate increases,” “abusive fees,” and “confusing terms and conditions” facing American consumers.

• Tonight Show host Jay Leno fell ill and checked himself into a Los Angeles hospital yesterday. The nature of his illness is unknown.

For those of you in Portland, OR who are wondering where The Stephanie Miller Show went, we have good news! You can now hear us LIVE every weekday from 6am to 9am Pacific on 970AM, The Talker!

• Eric Burns, President of Media Matters for America, calls in at 7:30am Pacific to talk about Fox News’ ongoing paranoia about President Obama, and Fox’ “Tea Parties” next week.

• Angela V. Shelton and Frances Callier (Frangela) join us in studio at 8:30am Pacific for another edition of Fridays with Frangela!

• The Obama administration will ask Congress for another $83.4 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of September. The supplemental spending bill (outside the budget) is likely to be the last such request submitted to Congress to pay for the wars. Obama began including war spending in his 2010 budget.

• President Obama yesterday urged families to take advantage of near-record low mortgage rates by refinancing their home loans. He said that there are 7 to 9 million people across the country who could take advantage of lower rates and that it would be “money in their pocket.”

• Somali pirates holding an American hostage on a drifting lifeboat vowed today to fight any attack by U.S. naval forces stalking them at high sea. “We’re not afraid of the Americans.. we will defend ourselves if attacked,” one of the pirates told Reuters.

• Ten priests from the order that founded the University of Notre Dame say the school risks its “true soul” and could distance itself from the Catholic Church by inviting President Obama to campus next month.

• President Obama appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night, addressing issues about AIG and restating his support for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. In an off-hand comment, he also compared his bowling to The Special Olympics. The White House released a statement, saying Obama did not intend to offend.

• Denouncing a “squandering of the people’s money,” lawmakers voted decisively yesterday to impose a 90% tax on millions of dollars in employee bonuses paid by troubled insurance giant AIG and other bailed-out companies. The House vote was 328-93. Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate and President Obama quickly signaled general support for the concept.

• President Obama told Iran’s people and leaders that the United States wants to engage their country and end decades of strained relationship, but not unless their officials stop making threats. Obama made these statements in a video message with Farsi subtitles.

• A spokesman for the IRS said yesterday that the agency “stands ready to take collective action if the need arises” to get back taxes from 13 still unnamed companies that received billions of dollars in federal bailout money.

ALSO: Be sure to check out Steph on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” (now a part of John King’s “State of the Nation”) this Sunday at 10am Eastern / 7am Pacific!

• Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) calls in at 7:30am Pacific to talk about Congress’ passage of the omnibus spending bill.

• Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) calls in at 8:06am Pacific to talk about his offer to debate Rush Limbaugh.

• Angela V. Shelton and Frances Callier (Frangela) have fallen ill today, and won’t be able to do their regular “Fridays with Frangela” segment.  They will be filling in for Steph and the Mooks during their vacation later this month, however!

• Confronting misgivings, even in his own party, President Obama mounted a stout defense of his blueprint to overhaul the economy yesterday, declaring the national crisis is “not as bad as we think” and his plans will speed recovery. He said that Americans shouldn’t be whipsawed by bursts of either bad or good news and he was “highly optimistic” about the long term.

• President Obama and Vice President Biden yesterday rallied a gathering of state officials yesterday, telling the people he is counting on to help turn around the economy and warning anew that he will not tolerate wasteful spending of his $787 billion economic stimulus package.

• GOP national chairman Michael Steele said yesterday that he’s opposed to abortion and that Roe v. Wade should be repealed, commenting a day after GQ Magazine quoted him as saying abortion was “an individual choice.”

• Admitted Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff pled guilty to 11 felony counts of fraud yesterday and a Manhattan judge ordered him handcuffed and taken straight to jail. He faces a 150 year sentence.

• Marc Elias, Attorney for the Franken campaign, calls in at 6:30am Pacific to discuss the latest in the Coleman / Franken trial.

• Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) calls in at 7:06am Pacific to talk about President Obama’s budget, the mortgage plan, and the latest on the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

• Frances Callier and Angela V. Shelton (Frangela) join us in studio at 8:30am Pacific for another edition of “Fridays with Frangela!”

• President Obama yesterday called for a comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. health care system, warning that soaring medical costs present “one of the greatest threats not just to the well-being of our families… but to the very foundation of our economy.”

• The U.S. Senate postponed a planned vote on a $410 billion spending plan yesterday, with Dem leaders saying they would allow GOP changes to the bill to be considered after coming up just short of the support they needed. The decision delays a dilemma for President Obama, who was not in office when the bill was being put together.

• The Senate Intelligence Committee has launched a review of the Bush administration’s controversial interrogation and detention program. The purpose of the review is to fully understand the program and to help “shape detention and interrogation policies in the future,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), chairwoman of the committee.

• Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, has withdrawn his name from consideration as surgeon general of the U.S.

Hey everyone… as you probably can tell, Steph isn’t here today because she’s taking care of a family emergency, so enjoy Frangela and The Mooks today!!

• Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) calls in at 7:30am Pacific to talk about President Obama’s new budget, the economy, and Obama’s speech to Congress this week.

• President Obama told congressional leaders yesterday he’s planning to pull all combat troops out of Iraq by August 2010, which falls short of his campaign promise of bringing all combat forces home within 16 months. Obama also said he plans to keep 35,000 to 50,000 support troops on the ground in Iraq after combat troops are out.

• President Obama yesterday unveiled a $3 trillion-plus budget that he says will halve the federal deficit by the end of his first term. The budget for fiscal year 2010 includes substantial investments in health care reform, renewable energy, and education. Obama also projects the deficit for fiscal year 2009 will reach $1.75 trillion.

• The government is on the verge of closing a deal that could significantly boost its ownership stake in Citigroup to 40% from 8% today. In return, it will demand changes be made on the troubled banking giant’s board and other conditions.

• The mayor of Los Alamitos, CA says he will resign after being criticized for sharing an e-mail picture depicting the White House lawn planted with watermelons under the title “No Easter egg hunt this year.”

• Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) calls in at 7:30am Pacific to talk about the Obama presidency and the stimulus and housing bills.

• Angela V. Shelton and Frances Callier join us in studio at 8:30am Pacific for another edition of Fridays with Frangela!

• President Obama visited Canada yesterday in his first foreign trip as head of state, meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss possible remedies for the global economic downturn, global warming, and the ongoing struggle against Taliban and Al Qaida elements in Afghanistan.

• World stock markets dropped sharply today, with benchmarks in Japan and Hong Kong sliding about 2 percent or more, after gnawing economic fears sent Wall Street tumbling to its lowest close in more than six years yesterday.

• A day after publishing a cartoon that drew fire from critics who said it evoked historically racist images, the New York Post apologized in a statement on its website – even as it defended its action and blasted some detractors.

• Vice President Joe Biden yesterday presided at a ceremonial swearing-in for the new CIA director, Leon Panetta, at the intelligence agency’s headquarters in Langley, VA, where he was cheered by employees.

Bark Park Song can be downloaded here!

• Frances Callier & Angela V. Shelton (Frangela) join us in studio at 7:30am Pacific for another edition of Fridays With Frangela!!!

• House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) calls in at 8:30am Pacific to tell us about the progress being made in passing President Obama’s economic stimulus plan.

• The Senate plans to vote on the $789 billion compromise stimulus late tonight after an all-day debate, Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday from the chamber floor. The House, which had planned to vote on the package yesterday, delayed it until today after many rank-and-file Dems who were unhappy with some spending cuts demanded time to read the compromise measure.

• Republican Sen. Judd Gregg withdrew his nomination as President Barack Obama’s commerce secretary yesterday, citing “irresolvable conflicts” over the administration’s stimulus bill and the upcoming 2010 census. He’s the second nominee to withdraw from consideration for the post after Bill Richardson withdrew in January.

• The Senate last night confirmed Leon Panetta as CIA director by unanimous consent. Panetta, who served as President Clinton’s chief of staff, now becomes the oldest person to head the spy agency at 70.

• A Continental Airlines plane crashed into a home near Buffalo, NY late last night, killing 44 passengers and 4 crew members. One person in the home was also killed.