• NEW INSANE NIXON TAPES: Uh oh, the National Archives has released another 150 hours of tape from the Nixon Administration! THESE ARE ALWAYS INSPIRING. What did he think about abortion hmm? “‘There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white,’ he told an aide, before adding: ‘Or a rape.’” Eh, rape is questionable; best to just save it for the mulattoes. [NYT]

• CHECK SANDY BERGER’S ANUS: The National Archives is offering a $50,000 reward for anybody with information leading to the recovery of a lost Clinton-era hard drive … and we all know the preferred repository for Clinton secrets is. [Sara K. Smith Thinks She's A Journalist But All She Ever Writes Is Biased 'Dribble']

Closing Friday, April 17: We all know how your Wonkette feels about a certain New Yorker luminary, but one bad apple shouldn’t spoil the whole bunch. The Austrian Embassy is, for just a few more days, showing paintings and self-portraits by famous New Yorker cartoonist Peter Steiner. Free. [Embassy of Austria MORE »

A 40-year-old intern with the National Archives pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing 164 Civil War documents, including an official announcement of President Lincoln’s death, and putting most of them up for sale on eBay.

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Sandy Berger deserves a medal just for allowing this lede to exist: MORE »

On this National Day of Celebration (Elvis Presley’s Birthday), let’s remember the most important moment of our greatest president’s administration: when a bloated pop star visited the Oval Office for a half hour.

All the wonderful facts about this most wonderful occasion, after the jump.

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Will it ever stop? What have we done to deserve… wait, hold on — it’s totally sunny out right now. Kinda pleasant, actually! Still, the Post reports today that the IRS, Justice, and the National Archives are waterlogged and closed. But wait — don’t go trafficking drugs, evading taxes, and not counting your slaves as 3/5ths of your state’s representation just yet! While the IRS remains closed and without a projected date for reopening, their spokesperson promises that “the tax system continues to operate.” Justice is apparently fine too, according to this email we were forwarded earlier today: MORE »

• Rep. Rahm Emanuel, head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, hurls expletives at Dean over election strategy; Emanuel fears Dean is spending too much money too soon: “This is a historic opportunity, and we can’t squander it.” [WP, NYT]
• The NSA is “amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren’t suspected of any crime”; calls made by tens of millions of Americans are logged. [USAT]
• Bush is losing support among his base at a “rapid” clip; Gallup registers “a 13-percentage-point drop in Republican support for Bush in the past couple of weeks.” [WP]
• Republicans seek to gain upper-hand on energy issues with a “whole series” of measures. [WSJ]
• National issues are shaping local races this year; “Republicans are swimming against a national tide of voter unrest.” [WSJ]
• House passes $70B tax package mostly along party lines, 244 to 185. [WP, NYT, USAT]
• National Archives violated rules when White House lawyers looked at John Roberts‘ files; papers on affirmative action are missing. [WP]

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* Josh Bolten seeks “fresh start” for the White House. McClellan: “This is a time to reenergize and renew our commitment to help the president advance his agenda.” [WP, NYT, W$J]
* Mississippi senators are criticized for allocating $700M from war funding to relocate brand-new freight rail line. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.): “American taxpayers are generous and are happy to restore damaged property, but it is wrong for senators to turn this tragedy into a giveaway for economic developers.” [WP]
* Sen. Hillary Clinton raised $6M in the first quarter and holds $20M in the bank; Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) has $7.2M on hand. [WP]
* Rumsfeld says calls for his retirement will fade. [NYT]
* Gay families attend White House Easter egg roll; few complaints about missing the Bushes. [USAT]
* States are showing some fiscal restraint; surpluses seen in 42 states. [USAT]
* National Archives pledges new era of “transparency”; Archives had “secret agreement” with the CIA to withhold documents. [WP, NYT]
* Mike Gravel, former Democratic senator from Alaska, officially announces bid for ‘08 presidential nomination. [WP]

* Only 1.4m of the 8m low-income Americans eligible for special Medicare benefits have made shift to new plan; “the government is on track to spend about $250 for each person it enrolls.” [WP]
* Bush presses for energy innovation: “We have a chance to transform the way we power our economy, and the way we lead our lives.” [WP, NYT, USAT]
* Some State Department officials complain that a recent reorganization was politically motivated and “reduced the influence of employees who were viewed by some political appointees as disloyal to the administration’s policies.” [WP]
* Sen. Specter (R-Pa.) hopes to propose limits on NSA eavesdropping within the next few weeks. [WT]

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