WASHINGTON-President Obama hosted his second press conference of his administration Tuesday, 64 days in, and faced a hard-hitting Washington press corps on the economy, the deficit, and stem cell research.

From the first question to the last, the president fielded few softball questions.

"Why do you think the public should sign on for another new sweeping authority for the government?" asked Jennifer Loven of the Associated Press, in the first question of the evening.

Last week, traditional media was abuzz about the economy, while bloggers and other news sources discussed religious trends, according to new research released Friday from the Pew Foundation's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

WASHINGTON-Faith-based organizations have been at the forefront of The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a federally funded initiative to treat more than 2 million people living with AIDS in Africa, reducing rates of infection and stemming the tide of the massive epidemic. But domestically the AIDS crisis is growing.

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Scene: A small, Las-Vegas-chapel-size room at the National Press Club. Witnesses: A dozen reporters and a bank of cameras. Date: Feb. 17. Occasion: An unlikely and awkward wedding between left and right activists and analysts such as Michael Gerson, former speechwriter and adviser to President George W. Bush, and Sojourners president Jim Wallis, loud critic of Bush and his faith-based initiatives.

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The nation's capital is a city accustomed to centralized power, not only because of federal authority but through a history of heavyweight mayors like Marion Barry, mayor for four terms beginning in 1979. "He may not be perfect, but he's perfect for D.C.," went a campaign slogan for Barry, convicted of cocaine use in 1990.

WASHINGTON-Several weeks ago, D.C. politicians celebrated when the Senate passed legislation granting the District of Columbia a voting representative in the House. The Senate stonewalled the legislation two years ago, so when it passed in that chamber this time, Washingtonians thought the bill would sail through the House, granting them a vote in that body beginning in the next session.

"They haven't had a basic civil right," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said about the city's 600,000 residents when the Senate passed the bill.

WASHINGTON-A proposed tax intended to fight climate change is facing some heat on Capitol Hill. The cap-and-trade system, which President Obama has proposed as one way to fund his budget for next year, would require businesses who exceed certain carbon emissions limits to pay for offsets. And now that the proposal is being aired, debate is rising before an energy bill takes shape in committees over the next few weeks.