NORM GERAS POSTS a communication from Tehran.

A NEGATIVE VIEW on American I.T. grads from an Indian CEO. But Lou Minatti has his own questions.

WAXMAN-MARKEY: What This Bill Will Do and Won’t Do for the Climate.

IN THE MAIL: From Edward Willett, Terra Insegura.

MORE ON WALPINGATE: AmeriCorps feared bad press if IG investigation continued.

Meanwhile, some questions about Amtrak’s Inspector General. Is there some sort of pattern here?

PART II: William Forstchen, author of One Second After, talks with Cliff May about the threat of an EMP attack. “We are looking at a potential future Pearl Harbor. . . . We have to get out of the Cold War paradigm.”

IRAN: Are conservatives more libertarian than the libertarians? Depends on the libertarians in question.

MEGAN MCARDLE:

Ezra wins on points. But here’s the thing: Army hospitals have all the advantages that single-payer advocates love about the VA. They’re unified. There’s no profit incentive–indeed, the doctors are on quite low salaries. They have great incentives for preventive care. They certainly don’t have any profit motive to provide bad care. So why did Walter Reed suck? And what guarantees that the VA is the system we’ll follow, rather than the multiple other dysfunctional government systems everyone hates?

And it’s not like the VA is so great. There’s the nationwide botched-colonoscopy problem, which still hasn’t been properly addressed. Then there’s that whole rogue cancer unit thing.

WSJ: Lawmakers Tussle Over Mozilo Probe.

Mr. Issa said he understands there is some resistance within the committee to issuing a subpoena, but he still hopes one will go out.

The Friends of Angelo program has proved embarrassing for some loan recipients, whose ranks included two U.S. senators, Democrat Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Democrat Kent Conrad of North Dakota. Both men, subjects of a Senate Ethics Committee investigation, have denied wrongdoing and said they didn’t do any favors to Countrywide.

Mr. Dodd has said his mortgage was at a market rate. Both senators, who also have said they weren’t aware of receiving special treatment, are cooperating with the ethics probe. The ethics committee didn’t return a call for comment.

I’m not expecting much from the Ethics Committee.

ANDY KESSLER: The federal government is about to spend big on health-care IT. Too bad the medical industry has a vested interest in inefficiency.

Kessler is the author of The End of Medicine. You can listen to our interview with him here.

CELEBRATING 30 years of the Sony Walkman.

STRATEGYPAGE: “In Pakistan, Taliban leaders are suddenly trying to distance themselves from the growing number of terrorist attacks. The Taliban, and some politicians, now insist that these atrocities have nothing to do with Islam.”

SUNLIGHT FOUNDATION: What the frak is going on with the Cap and Trade bill? “Despite having a bill, H.R. 2454, that has been reported out of the Energy & Commerce Committee and discharged by eight other committees, there is now, suddenly, a new bill that is almost 300-pages longer — but it’s still being considered as H.R. 2454. Stay with me here.”

DANA MILBANK: Packaged Entertainment from the Obama Show:

Pitney asked his arranged question. Reporters looked at one another in amazement at the stagecraft they were witnessing. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel grinned at the surprised TV correspondents in the first row.

The use of planted questioners is a no-no at presidential news conferences, because it sends a message to the world — Iran included — that the American press isn’t as free as advertised. But yesterday wasn’t so much a news conference as it was a taping of a new daytime drama, “The Obama Show.” Missed yesterday’s show? Don’t worry: On Wednesday, ABC News will be broadcasting “Good Morning America” from the South Lawn (guest stars: the president and first lady), “World News Tonight” from the Blue Room, and a prime-time feature with Obama from the East Room.

Nico Pitney has done a swell job covering Iran. But, still, remember the outrage over Jeff Gannon? . . .

UPDATE: From journalism to “gerbilism?”

ADVERTISING AGE: Why ‘Going Galt’ Isn’t the Solution for Newspapers. The story’s interesting, but I’m mostly enjoying the way that phrase has gone viral.

Kinda like “Army of Davids.”

WSJ: Group Shines Light on Hefty Government Pensions.

IRAN: Protest Organizers Arrested.

SHOCKER: McCain won’t run in 2012. (Via JWF, who comments, “I doubt the GOP is going to let the media pick their candidate next time around.”)

MURTHA UPDATE: Challenger Asks Murtha to Return Donations. “Kuchera, a Windber defense contractor, was raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service in January.”

ANOTHER Inspector General scandal?

A CALL FOR Congressional hearings on Walpingate. “Say it aint so, Joe. Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut independent Democrat, seems to be punting away his duty to protect the independence of federal inspectors general. Mr. Lieberman is a man of integrity who takes pride in his independence. That’s why it is disappointing that he has been so quick to accept the weak White House excuses for firing AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin and to dismiss complaints about White House treatment of at least two other IGs who questioned administration conduct.”

KRUGMAN AND THE HOUSING BUBBLE: A love story.

MICHAEL RUBIN: Will Richard Armitage Recant?

RASMUSSEN: 47% Oppose More Government Regulation of U.S. Financial System. “Forty-seven percent (47%) of Americans oppose more government regulation of the U.S. financial system, while 33% disagree and say more regulation is a good idea, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.”

A LOOK AT changes to the Rules Of Engagement for Afghanistan.