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President Barack Obama unveiled a $3.6 trillion spending plan that pushes this year's deficit to levels not seen seen World War II. Longer term, though, the budget seeks to cut the deficit back to size by 2013. The budget can also be seen as a blueprint for the president's ambitious policy goals.

Barack Obama is wrapping up perhaps the most active week of his presidency thus far. Just days ago he signed into law the contentious $787 billion economic stimulus package, aimed at fixing the nation's deep financial woes. The act was followed by the unveiling of a $75 billion plan to curb growing home foreclosures.

President Obama described an America ready for the daunting challenges it faces, from an economy in crisis to wars and terrorist threats from abroad. In his first speech to a joint session of Congress, the president called on politicians and the public to embrace shared sacrifice and new efforts to improve health care, schools and the environment.

A rocket carrying a NASA satellite meant to track global warming has landed in the ocean near Antarctica after a failed launch. The rocket with the Orbiting Carbon Observatory lifted off Tuesday morning from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base.

A group of Republican governors say they may not accept federal funds from the federal stimulus packaged recently signed by President Obama, despite the current economic crisis. NPR's Ken Rudin explains the fallout.

The expanded bailout of AIG wasn't greeted too enthusiastically on Wall Street. The stock market plunged sharply Monday — closing down below 7,000 for the first time in 12 years.

A brutal wave of drug violence is ravaging cities near the U.S.-Mexico border, and governments of both countries pointed fingers at each other this week over who's to blame.

The U.S. government has again propped up insurance giant AIG. It's the fourth time the government has intervened to save the company. The question is whether an additional $30 billion, on top of the $150 billion already committed, will be enough to save the company. Some analysts believe government aid to AIG will peak at $250 billion.

The Supreme Court has ruled that people injured by drugs may file lawsuits against the manufacturers in state courts, even when the drugs involved had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The ruling came in the case of a guitarist who lost an arm because of a botched anti-nausea injection. She was awarded nearly $7 million in damages by a Vermont jury.

Yesterday, President Obama proposed a spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year that exceeds $3.5 trillion. NPR Political Editor Ken Rudin explains why the budget is so expensive and how Congress is expected to react.