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NPR's Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg reports on a case before the U.S. Supreme Court today that could determine how political parties may spend their money. The case involves contributions to parties for specific candidates -- and how those contributions are spent. (7:22) Check out more NPR News coverage of the Supreme Court.

NPR's Don Gonyea outlines the content of President Bush's speech, which emphasized his proposal for $1.6 trillion in tax cuts over ten years. The president promised to protect Social Security and proposed more spending on defense, education, and conservation.

NPR's Peter Kenyon reports on reaction among members of Congress to the president's address. Predictably, Democrats questioned the wisdom of making such large tax cuts, while Republicans defended the president's plan. Members from both parties agreed that Congress has a lot to do this year.

Commentator Amity Shlaes says the wealthy are still waiting for the tax cut they were promised back in 1986. Fifteen years later, Shlaes hopes the new president will make-good on a promise that previous administrations have ignored.

NPR Legal Affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg reports that the Supreme Court ruled unanimously to uphold the Clean Air Act. The Court said that Congress did not act unreasonably by establishing the 1970 law, and their decision was hailed by conservationists and public health professionals. (3:49)Check out more NPR News coverage of the Supreme Court.

NPR's Michele Kelemen reports that opposition leaders in Ukraine are claiming the country's president ordered the decapitation of a dissident journalist. They hope the controversy building around their president will lead to his resignation or removal. But to date, the opposition hasn't been able to muster enough support to pose a threat.

More things happen in one day in New Orleans at Mardi Gras than happen all year in a typical Ohio town. Commentator Andrei Codrescu hires an actual person from Ohio to chronicle all the things that happen in the French Quarter.

Ted Clark reports on Colombian President Andres Pastrana's visit to the White House today. He and President Bush talked about drugs, Colombia's civil war and expanded trade which could improve the country's economy and ease the conditions which lead to the drug problem and the war.

Linda Wertheimer talks with John Huntington, professor of art history at Ohio State University, about the decrees by Taliban clerics in Afganistan to destroy all Buddha statues in the country. The professor describes the statues, and talks about why they are important. Pictures of Buddhist art in Afghanistan may be found at kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu

Kelley Griffin of Colorado Public Radio reports on a controversy over a grade school science fair project in Boulder. School authorities banned a project using black- and white-skinned Barbie dolls to test views on race.

Today, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported that 12.7 percent of high-schoolers in grades 9-12 have tried the drug Ritalin at least once in their lives without a prescription. Every three years the department surveys thousands of Massachusetts students about substance abuse; for this survey, for the first time, they asked about the drug Ritalin - which is widely prescribed for Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, ADD and ADHD. Robert Siegel travels to Boston and to one its suburbs, Newton, Mass., to talk with high-school students about their experiences with Ritalin. Robert also talks with substance abuse counselors, child psychologists and psychiatrists about this phenomenon. Ritalin abuse is not as alarming to the health care professionals Robert met as the rising use of ecstacy or the persistent use of marijuana and alcohol. But many said that they have concern about the overdiagnosis of ADD and ADHD, and the overprescription of the drug to treat it.

Consumer confidence is at its lowest level in more than four years, according to a report released today. Consumer sentiment is seen as the critical factor when it comes to whether the economy will regain its footing or plunge into recession. The report shows that consumers are increasingly fretful about layoffs and the faltering stock market. Other data released today, on sales of homes and orders for other expensive durable goods, confirms that businesses and consumers are cutting back on spending. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

NPR's Nina Totenberg reports on today's Supreme Court decision upholding the Clean Air Act. The justices unanimously rejected industry arguments that standards must be tempered by the cost of compliance. The law only requires the government to consider public health in setting air-quality standards.

NPR's Larry Abramson reports the judges hearing Microsoft's appeal of its antitrust case raised serious questions about the government's plan to split the company in two. The seven-judge panel suggested they may send the breakup order back to a lower court to be reconsidered. The appeals court panel also expressed concerns about the way the district court judge handled the case and comments he made to reporters while the trial was still in session.

NPR's Barbara Bradley cruises Washington, D.C., sites linked with espionage on a bus tour run by former spies and spy catchers.

People sampled from Houston and Kansas City offer comments about President Bush's budget address last night.

NPR's David Welna reports on the battle lines being drawn in Congress in the aftermath of President Bush's budget proposal that was sent to Capitol Hill this morning. Reaction to the president's speech last night predictably fell along partisan lines, and today's skirmishing over the details was not much different.

Linda Wertheimer talks with NPR's Don Gonyea, who is traveling with the president today, one day after Mr. Bush gave his budget address to a joint session of Congress. The president got good reviews on his oratory, but Democrats claim that the plan favors the rich. Mr. Bush, in visits around the country to sell his plan, insisted that the Democrats were playing "class warfare," and that the current state of the economy warrants his $1.6 trillion tax cut.

NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr doesn't see much hope for bipartisanship in negotiations over the Bush budget.

When 91-year-old Ezell Holley checked in a budget motel due to Texas' storms, he made the most of it — calling it the "Waldorf Astoria." The real hotel in Rome invited Holley to stay at their venue.

NPR's Guy Raz reports that one of the casualties of German reunification was the Dynamo soccer team in the city of Dresden.

A welcome early season deluge of rain in California has not ended the drought which persists in other parts of the West as well. The warming climate makes it harder to replenish rivers and reservoirs.

After her 40th birthday, Stacy Horn started playing drums. Recently she got to play with rock legend Eric Clapton at Carnegie Hall.

NPR's Barbara Bradley reports an FBI agent has been charged with spying for Moscow for more than 15 years. Robert Philip Hanssen is accused of trading highly classified information for cash and diamonds.

Noah Adams talks to Pete Earley, author of Confession of a Spy: The Real Story of Aldrich Ames, about what motivates spies. He says the biggest motivator is money. (4:15) Earley's book was published by Bantam Books, 1988.