Approval Ratings Drop for Obama on Health Care, Other Issues  —  Approval Rating on Health Care Falls Below 50 Percent  —  Obama's approval ratings on other front-burner issues, such as the economy and the federal budget deficit, have also slipped over the summer, as rising concern …

D-Day for DeMint  —  Amy Kremer of the National Tea Party Patriots sends on the full audio recording of a conference call I wrote about Friday, on which Sen. Jim DeMint said health care reform could be Obama's “Waterloo.”  The comments have attracted attention, and an attack from President Obama today.

2012 Match-ups: Obama, Romney Tied at 45%; Obama 48%, Palin 42%  —  If the 2012 presidential election were held today, President Obama and possible Republican nominee Mitt Romney would be all tied up at 45% each, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Bailouts could cost U.S. $23 trillion  —  A series of bailouts, bank rescues and other economic lifelines could end up costing the federal government as much as $23 trillion, the U.S. government's watchdog over the effort says - a staggering amount that is nearly double the nation's entire economic output for a year.

Harvard professor Gates arrested at Cambridge home  —  Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's pre-eminent African-American scholars, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in.  The incident raised concerns among …

Poll: Less faith in Obama's economic abilities  —  WASHINGTON — The public's confidence in President Obama's ability to handle the economy is eroding amid concern about higher federal spending and expanding government power, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds — a development that could complicate …

Rep. Mike Castle Fends Off the Birthers  —  I got a little friendly fire from my friend and colleague Matt Welch over last week's article on the Obama birth certificate conspiracy.  He took issue with my “contention that the movement ‘dogs Republicans’ (there being so very many other issues that have more bite than a few barkers).”

Fox News Guest Ralph Peters Suggests Taliban Should Kill U.S. Soldier If He Deserted  —  Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier who has been captured by the Taliban and appears in a video released this weekend by his captors, “went missing from his base in eastern Afghanistan on June 30.”

Race in 2028  —  During last week's Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Republican senators kept bringing the conversation back to 2001 — the year when Sonia Sotomayor delivered the most famous version of her line about how a “wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences” might outshine a white male judge.

Obama Loves Mayo, But Mayo Does Not Love Him (Update: Gibbs Responds, Badly)  —  Throughout his push for health-care reform, President Obama has held up the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota as an example of great medicine at lower prices—something that could and should be emulated all over the country …

Mitch McConnell Makes the Dems Look Good  —  Ah, there's nothing like a Mitch McConnell interview to put everything into perspective.  —  The Senate Minority Leader appeared on “Meet the Press” Sunday to discuss health reform.  And he professed great concern for what President Obama and the Democrats had in mind.

Gay Marriage and the Constitution  —  Why Ted Olson and I are working to overturn California's Proposition 8.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  When I got married in California in 1959 there were almost 20 states where marriage was limited to two people of different sexes and the same race.

JENNA AND BARBARA BUSH GAVE SECRET SERVICE FITS  —  WHEN it came to protecting Jenna and Barbara Bush, the Secret Service truly had its hands full, with President George W. Bush's wild and crazy daughters doing everything in their power to escape them, a new book reveals.

New iPhone app helps you score pot  —  States that are low on funds are steadily inhaling the idea of taxing the sale of a substance that gets you high.  —  Meanwhile, as if anticipating an uptick in demand, the folks at Apple have approved a new iPhone and iPod Touch app that will allow …

Ross Is Blue Dogs' Bulldog  —  He warned them.  —  Months ago, Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), chairman of the Blue Dogs' health care task force, told House leaders and chairmen they'd better include Blue Dogs in the writing of their health care bill.  But that didn't happen.

Germany's Spies Refuted the 2007 NIE Report  —  ‘Work on nuclear weapons can be observed in Iran even after 2003’  —  President Obama has committed to trying diplomacy to stop the Iranian bomb.  Time, though, is on the mullahs' side, not least because so much of it was wasted …

Gates Says U.S. Army Will Grow by 22,000  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Monday that the size of the Army will be increased temporarily by 22,000 soldiers to help meet the needs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other missions around the world.