As the budget protests continue at Wisconsin's statehouse, at least one district spent time scrambling to staff its schools with volunteer babysitters in case teachers decide to cut class again on Tuesday.

Milwaukee's public school superintendent feels confident classes will go on as planned on Tuesday but system officials lined up volunteers so working parents have a place to drop their children in case the teachers don't show up again. One-fifth of the teachers at Milwaukee's public schools called in sick on Friday, forcing the system to shut down for the day. Monday was a previously scheduled break.

"Emergency childcare is very hard to drum up," Roseann St. Aubin, Communications Director for Milwaukee Public Schools, tells Fox News. "We think things have changed in the last 24 hours, and we're keeping our ear to the ground," St. Aubin added. (read more)

Representative Mike Pence, R-In. is the big winner in the 2010 Values Voter Summit Presidential Straw Poll at this year's meeting with former Governor Mike Huckabee, R-Ar, coming in second, followed by former GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin.

"Congressman Pence gave an outstanding speech... but he is also been providing, some very crucial leadership which has been more visible among social conservatives and conservatives. In general, I think I just attribute it to Congressman Pence's ability to communicate a very strong conservative message," said Tony Perkins, the President of the Family Research Council on Pence's win.

In the race for Vice Presidential nominee, Palin won, but only because Pence had already won the nominee for president. Former Senator Rick Santorum R-Pa., Rep. Paul Ryan R-Wi., Sen. Jim DeMint R-Sc and Huckabee were the runner-ups. (read more)

    The ink is barely dry on a U.S. Circuit Court ruling calling the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional and already court-watchers are predicting more legal action. "I think this is destined for the Supreme Court. If the Seventh Circuit says that this judge was right, then it goes to Supreme Court of the United States," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative group pushing for an appeal. If a federal judge's ruling is allowed to stand, this year's National Day of Prayer will likely be the nation's last. U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled on Thursday that the federal proclamation violates the constitutional ban on government-backed prayer. "[I]ts sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function," she wrote. The case was brought by members of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, a group of atheists and agnostics in Wisconsin. They say their message to the government is clear. "We want you to keep out of the religion business. It's not an appropriate proclamation," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, one of the plaintiffs. "You should not be asking constituents to pray. You do not have the power to ask constituents to pray and to tell them what to pray for and to set aside a day for prayer." The Justice Department is now reviewing the ruling but it appears this year's observation on May 6 is safe. According to a Tweet by the White House on Thursday, "As he did last year, President Obama intends to recognize a National Day of Prayer." If the administration does choose to fight Judge Crabb's ruling, then no injunction would take effect until the government has exhausted its appeals - a process that could take months. (read more)

Here's the battle: the White House says it'll fight any Republican attempts to water down Democrats' proposed Wall Street reforms.  Republicans, meanwhile, are gunning for the proposal calling it "fatally flawed." Now throw both sides in a room and see what come out.  That's what happened at the White House Wednesday morning as the President sat down with Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders.  At the start of the meeting, the President stressed unity.  "All of us recognize that we cannot have a circumstance in which a meltdown in the financial sector once again puts the entire economy in peril. And that if there’s one lesson that we’ve learned, it's that an unfettered market where people are taking huge risks and expecting taxpayers to bail them out when things to sour is simply not acceptable.’’ But on Capitol Hill, the view wasn't so rosy.  Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), head of the Banking Committee and author of the Democrats' legislation, spoke about the division between the two parties on the Senate floor: "I wonder if we've been on the same planet on a bipartisan effort to reach financial reform?" Rep. (read more)

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius thrashed the insurance industry this morning, telling executives they need to choose between short-term profits and a "sustainable health insurance market." In her prepared remarks, Sebelius told members of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) to put themselves in their customers' shoes.  "Can you blame them for thinking the system's broken when their health insurance - which is supposed to protect them from exorbitant health costs - still forces them to pay thousands of dollars out of their pocket each year?" Sebelius and her boss at the White House have toughened their stance on insurance companies in recent weeks, blaming them for standing in the way of health reform legislation.  "You can choose to continue your opposition to reform," she said.  "If you do and reform goes down in defeat, we know what will happen.  By next March, premiums will be taking an even bigger bite out of Americans' wages." The secretary also pointed to statistics from the American Medical Association that says 99 percent of all metropolitan health insurance markets are "highly concentrated" up from 94 percent a year ago.  But a statement posted on AHIP's website today reports, "There are eight or more health insurers in each of the top 40 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the nation." The conference and Sebelius' remarks come as the White House and Democratic leaders are trying a final push of health care bill through Congress in the next few weeks.

As Republican Scott Brown takes his first walk through the halls of Congress after his surprise election to the Senate Tuesday, many are remembering the man who held that seat for decades: Senator Teddy Kennedy. As Brown met with Democrat John Kerry, the senior Senator from Massachusetts, Kerry picked up a photograph Kennedy had given him when he was the new guy on the block. "This picture was taken the day i was sworn into the United States Senate and Ted Kennedy wrote me and said, 'As Humphrey Bogart would've said, 'This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.' You have to work across the aisle here to make things happen. Americans don't just elect Democrats and Republicans, they elect people to be responsible with the people's business." With his election, Brown has become the 41st vote pledged against the Democratic health reform bill that bears the name of Kennedy and breaks the 60-vote block that Democrats held that could effectively shut down the GOP in the body. But Brown spoke of his affection for his former Senator outside his new office.  "Obviously I'm stepping into shoes that are big -- very, very big. I had great respect for Senator Kennedy." Brown admitted to feeling a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of taking on Kennedy's old seat but said the best advice he'd gotten so far was " just be myself."

An army of news crews are tracking Republican Senator-Elect Scott Brown's every move today on Capitol Hill today as he meets with key lawmakers. Photographers block his path, walking backwards with videocameras and bright lights on their shoulders, as jostling reporters shove microphones in his face and occasionally throw elbows to get close to the man from Massachusetts. They stopped him on a chilly sidewalk, crammed into small senate offices with him and chased him to the elevators and down the halls. How does he take it all? Simple, Brown says, "obviously theres a lot of pressure, i played basketball, im a triathlete, i rememebr what it's like stepping on the foul line with no time left...and im just going to continute to be the same person i've always been.”

Barack Obama’s speech was blasted over loudspeakers along the parade route.  The crowd stood in contemplative silence punctuated by the occasional cheer.

Moments after Mr. Obama finished, they started up the music over those loudspeakers and about a hundred people busted out the electric slide... Waiting to watch as their new president will pass them in the parade on his way to the white house.

They just cranked up the speakers on the parade route and they're blasting U2 down Pennsylvania ave.  Most people are just shivering together along the street but some of the volunteers have decided the best way to keep warm is to dance!

People are still filing through the security checkpoints but once they hit about 350,000, they're closing the gates.

DC never slept last night.  People were lining up to get on the parade route before the bars closed.

We spent two and a half hours mashed up against a security wall before they opened the parade route doors at 7:30am.  Some people climbed trees and others crawled up on a huge generator to get a better look.  Police looked nervous but no one got too rowdy.

So far so good.