Bono met with President Barack Obama and his national security team Friday to discuss development strategies heading into G8 and G20 summits in Canada in June and a UN summit in New York in September.

The singer and Obama also talked about Africa, particularly Bono’s recent trip to Senegal, Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya and South Africa.

"With the first blackberry president, we discussed the power of new technology to empower activists and entrepreneurs across Africa, part of a new rising generation that’s boosting growth and governance and defying stereotypes,” Bono said in a statement.

“A recurring theme was innovation.  We agreed that there are simple technologies that need to be made more available to transform not only public health, but also agriculture, helping farmers check prices and weather patterns.  While acknowledging these are difficult times for donor economies, we discussed the President’s food security initiative and agreed to encourage other countries who signed up to keep their commitment to invest $22 billion over 3 years.”

President Obama, appearing an hour later than scheduled in the Rose Garden, spoke briefly about the BP oil spill before remarks on the latest economic numbers suggesting he's not inclined to scrap plans to expand oil and gas exploration but may need to add an extra layer of scrutiny.

He said he's asked Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to conduct a thorough review of the BP oil spill and report within a month on what additional technologies and precautions need to be in place to prevent such an accident in the future.

"We're going to make sure that any leases going forward have those safeguards," Obama said. "I continue to believe that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for energy security, but I've always said it must be done responsibly for the safety of our workers and our environment."

Obama adviser David Axelrod told ABC earlier today no new authorizations for exploring or drilling would be approved right now, as the government investigates the accident that is spilling an estimated 5,000 barrels of crude per day into the gulf.

"We are fully prepared to meet our responsiblities to any and all affected communities." He wouldn't say when he'll visit the area personally. He's scheduled tomorrow to give a university commencement address in Michigan and be back in Washington in time for the White House Correspondents Association's annual dinner. The celebrity-draw is Washington's version of the Oscars, known informally as the "nerd prom." 

The Republican Party’s point man on Senate elections says he’ll ask for his money back if Florida Gov. Charlie Crist abandons the party today to run for the Senate as an independent.

“I certainly will request the money that I have donated to his campaign from my leadership PAC back and I know from my conversations with a number of Republican fundraisers and donors that that process is already well underway. And I expect that will continue,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Cornyn predicted that a flood of similar requests for refunds from loyal Republicans, as well as a sharp dropoff in future contributions, would help doom Crist’s expected independent campaign and help elect the likely Republican nominee, former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio.

Trailing in his bid for the Republican Senate nomination, Crist is expected to drop out of the primary today and launch an independent bid, according to the Miami Herald. He’d face Rubio and Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla.

“In addition to seeing his coffers depleted from having to return money, I think his ability to raise money for the Senate will be dramatically down and I can tell you that we will unify behind Speaker Rubio and we will do everything we can to hold onto that seat in November,” Cornyn told reporters at a breakfast in Washington.

“I believe that we will get that seat. I’m not saying that it will not be tough. Florida is an expensive state to run in. But I am confident we will hold that seat and Speaker Rubio will be the next senator from Florida if Gov. Crist does as all of you have reported at five o’clock today.”

Cornyn said he’d been trying unsuccessfully to reach Crist by phone to urge him to drop out of the primary, spend two years repairing his image among Republicans and then challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

"We've traded phone calls a number of times but quite honestly I've given up,” Cornyn said of the man he recruited to run back when Crist was more popular.

“It's been a breathtaking change of circumstances to see [Crist] contemplating taking this course after seeing his numbers plummet so dramatically,” Cornyn said.

A group of young immigration activists who trekked 1,500 miles from Miami got the attention of the White House, but turned down a meeting with a top advisor to President Barack Obama, opting instead to hold out for the big guy.

Asked at a press conference Wednesday whether it was a mistake to pass on a sit-down with Valerie Jarrett -- dubbed ``First Friend'' to Obama -- the college students defended the decision.

"She is not President Obama,'' said Gaby Pacheco, an Ecuador native who arrived in the U.S. at age 7. "We believed in him. We believe in his promises."

More here.

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., again voted with Republicans Wednesday to block formal consideration of financial regulatory overhaul legislation. Nelson is the only Democrat to consistently vote with the Republicans--this was the third straight vote in three days where he joined the GOP.

He explained why in a statement Wednesday:

"I strongly support broad financial reforms to end bailouts, stop Wall Street’s irresponsible actions and protect consumers and taxpayers with transparency and appropriate oversight. I think many in Congress do, too. I am hopeful a bipartisan bill will come together soon.

"Unfortunately, amid discussions on that bill, we’ve seen the usual Washington parlor game of wild speculation, unfounded rumor and uninformed comments by unnamed sources, some directed at me.

“Today, Washington is a cesspool of gotcha politics. It’s so out of control you can’t even shake hands in the hallway with a Future Farmer of America without people questioning your motives.

“I'd like to explain directly to Nebraskans what (Republican Sen. Mike) Johanns and I have been concerned about in one part of financial reform. It may affect several hundred major American businesses, including Nebraska’s own Berkshire Hathaway, and other Nebraska businesses as well.

“Here’s the policy issue. For months we’ve heard concerns that proposed regulations on derivatives contracts extend too far by seeking to make new rules retroactive, not for just future contracts.

“All senators received a letter from hundreds of businesses raising this issue. They said it could harm business efforts to invest in new technology, build new plants and keep and expand workforces.

“We’ve also heard from Berkshire Hathaway. When Berkshire Hathaway -- one of America’s most successful businesses that had nothing to do with the economic crisis we’re in -- tells us they will be similarly adversely affected, of course I will listen.

“I raised these concerns with the Senate Agriculture Committee. It’s my job to bring concerns of my constituents to the table when Washington debates new laws.

“The Agriculture Committee and the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission staff wrote a provision into the bill applying the new rules for future derivatives contracts.“To make clear, I did not offer any amendment. The CFTC and the Agriculture committee wrote the provision.  It applies to many American companies, including Caterpillar, 3M, ConAgra, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Walt Disney Company.

“There’s an important principle at stake. Big government should not reach back and rewrite existing contracts between American companies executed in good faith that help our economy grow. It’s unconstitutional. Not only that, it’s just wrong.

“There’s broad support on that policy point. Last December in an Agriculture Committee hearing, I asked Treasury Secretary (Timothy) Geithner about the administration's view on how changes to derivatives regulations should affect existing contracts.

“He said: ‘The law needs to be crystal clear that it leaves in place existing contracts, does not change their legal nature, does not add to uncertainty about the legal nature of those claims.’ “He did say that existing contracts should be subject to new record keeping obligations. And he added, ‘But with that exception, our view is that these reforms should be prospective.’

“Treasury’s approach on grandfathering existing contracts varies only slightly from the provision added to the Agriculture Committee bill. The Agriculture committee provision specifically exempted existing contracts from margin requirements. Treasury believes that other language already in the bill exempts existing contracts from margin requirements.

“On Monday, the derivatives bill was altered to remove part of the new language related to margin requirements.  Furthermore, I’d heard from Senator Dodd and others that there were ongoing discussions to try to address the continuing concern by Berkshire Hathaway and hundreds of American companies regarding margin requirements.

“I have opposed several cloture motions to proceed to a debate and vote on financial reform. And the Washington gotcha game has kicked into high gear impugning my motives. To be absolutely clear, I did not vote no because of Berkshire Hathaway. Nor did the fact that I and my wife have owned Berkshire stock for 30+ years have anything to do with my vote. It has never been an issue. It isn’t now.

“I voted no because of concerns about what is in the underlying bill drafted by Senator Dodd and because the Banking Committee reportedly is working on a bipartisan alternative which I haven’t yet seen. I have heard from Nebraska business owners and leaders that the underlying bill will extend too far and adversely impact Main Street businesses that use third party financing to help customers pay for their products or services.

“Until those concerns are addressed and we see a bipartisan effort, I will vote against moving forward with debate.”

Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, joined three other senators today in asking the social networking site Facebook to reconsider some recent changes to privacy settings.

The senators touch on one of the major complaints of Facebook's 400 million users over new privacy settings: That they have to go through a complicated process to opt out of sharing private information, rather than more restrictive privacy being the default setting.

In their letter, Begich and fellow Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York, Michael Bennet of Colorado, and Al Franken of Minnesota ask Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to scale back some new privacy settings. The recent changes allow more private information from a users' profile to be made available online, as well as to other websites users frequent.

"Providing opt-in mechanisms for information sharing instead of expecting users to go through long and complicated opt-out processes is a critical step towards maintaining clarity and transparency," the senators wrote in their letter.

Begich called it a simple matter of privacy.

"Alaskans' privacy is guaranteed in our state Constitution and we object to companies who disrespect that right," Begich said in a statement. "I hope Facebook heeds our call and will work harder to engage their users before making such broad privacy changes."

Here's a link to Begich's Facebook page. The text of the letter is after the jump:

The Senate plans to vote again on whether to cut off debate on the financial regulation overhaul bill. A vote is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.

Monday's effort failed by three votes. Sixty are needed. Republicans remained solid in their opposition to ending their filibuster.

The Democrats' plan is to keep the pressure on the GOP, hoping that public opinion will turn sharply against their effort to delay considering the legislation.

"They're gambling now with our mone. The rules are the same today as they were when the debacle occurred,' Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a Senate debate Tuesday. "The majority  of American people support us asking banks to pay for their own funerals."

The bill, largely written by Democrats, would set up a process where large institutions in trouble could be dissolved.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., however, insisted consideration of the bill be delayed, hoping a bipartisan deal could be reached.

"The Democratic party seems less interested in fixing this bill than in some political win they think they're scoring by not fixing the bill," he said. "It's a total waste of the people's time." 

The FCC has some pretty strict rules about the use of foul language on the open airwaves, but those went out the door Tuesday during the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing into Goldman Sachs.

At issue was an email in which a Goldman trader makes reference to a "expletive" deal. Chairman Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, then went down a line of back and forth questions with former Goldman partner Daniel Sparks. Both witness and chairman repeated over and over a word that starts with the letter "s" and rhymes with city.

"Your top priority is to sell that "expletive" deal," said Levin, later angrily interrupting to say, "Okay, you're trying to sell a "expletive" deal.

The unusual sailor-like exchange all was carried live on CNBC television and other outlets.

Hopefully stay-at-home parents in New York and Washington watching the gripping hearing quickly sent the kids to their rooms to play. Ordinary daytime TV it was not.

President Barack Obama said Tuesday that everything is on the table -- including tax increases -- as he launched a bipartisan commission to recommend ways to cut the government's soaring budget deficits..

"Everything must be on the table," Obama said in the White House Rose Garden after making openign remarks to the 18-member commission.

"Our friends in the media will ask me ...what we are willing to rule in and what we are willing to rule out. It’s an old Washington game – and one that has made it all but impossible in the past for people to sit down and have an honest discussion about putting our country on a more secure fiscal footing.

"So my message is simple: we’re not playing the game. Because I want this commission to be free to do its work."