Liberal Suicide March  —  It was interesting to watch the Republican Party lose touch with America.  You had a party led by conservative Southerners who neither understood nor sympathized with moderates or representatives from swing districts.  —  They brought in pollsters to their party conferences …

President Obama's Conference Call with Liberal Bloggers: John Amato asks Congress to work through the August recess  —  You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!  —  DOWNLOADS: 761  —  PLAYS: 2601 … President Obama and David Axlerod hosted …

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 …

Health-Care Firms Have Supported Lawmakers Debating Reform  —  Key Senator Baucus Is a Leading Recipient  —  As liberal protesters marched outside, Sen. Max Baucus sat down inside a San Francisco mansion for a dinner of chicken cordon bleu and a discussion of landmark health-care legislation …

Budget accord reached  —  Calling for deep cuts and avoiding broad tax hikes, Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders agree on ways to close California's $26.3-billion deficit.  —  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders announced today that they have reached a deal …

The Fed's Exit Strategy  —  The depth and breadth of the global recession has required a highly accommodative monetary policy.  Since the onset of the financial crisis nearly two years ago, the Federal Reserve has reduced the interest-rate target for overnight lending between banks (the federal-funds rate) nearly to zero.

W.H. gains momentum in F-22 fight  —  With a vote set for high noon on Tuesday, the political tide in the Senate has shifted to now favor the White House and Pentagon in their pivotal fight to strike new procurement funds for the F-22 fighter.  —  Just last week, conventional wisdom held …

Amman begins stripping state's Palestinians of citizenship  —  Article's topics: Jordan, Palestinians, West Bank, PLO  —  Jordanian authorities have started revoking the citizenship of thousands of Palestinians living in Jordan to avoid a situation in which they would be “resettled” …

Obama's Gitmo Task Force Blows Its Deadline  —  Exclusive: why a key report on closing the facility has been delayed until the fall.  —  Brennan Linsley / Reuters-Landov  —  A U.S. journalist walks past sleeping quaters at Camp Justice, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, July 14, 2009.

Washington Sketch: GOP's Steele Couldn't Have Said It Better Himself  —  “We need to bring new language to this debate,” Republican message man Alex Castellanos wrote in a memo to fellow GOP strategists this month.  “If we paint the house the same color, no one will notice anything has changed …

President Barack Obama authorizes extended Secret Service guard for former VP Dick Cheney  —  WASHINGTON - Former Vice President Dick Cheney's Secret Service protection has been extended for at least another six months, beginning Tuesday.  —  Normally, ex-veeps only get six months of protection at taxpayer expense.

For the record, today I was able to figure out the allegation about my staff flipping off protestors at my St Louis office on Friday.  There was only one male staffer at the office on Friday, and I knew he wouldn't do that.  He is an Iraq veteran, who handles almost all of our case work for our veterans.

Most will carry Obama press conference; time shifted after NBC balked  —  UPDATED: After some hesitation and a time shift, three major broadcast networks have agreed to carry Barack Obama's latest primetime news conference.  —  The event was announced Friday afternoon as Obama battles …

New NASA Images Indicate Object Hits Jupiter  —  Scientists have found evidence that another object has bombarded Jupiter, exactly 15 years after the first impacts by the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.  —  Following up on a tip by an amateur astronomer, Anthony Wesley of Australia, that a new dark …

Democrats Want to Teach You to Die With Dignity  —  H.R. 3200 is the Democrat healthcare bill.  —  Let's back up for a minute.  I noted some time ago Jay Rockefeller went on record to say that at some point the government has to decide whether or not you are allowed to receive …

Gun Crazy in the Senate  —  On Wednesday, the Senate is expected to vote on the latest assault on public safety in the name of gun ownership.  Introduced as an amendment to the military's budget bill by Senator John Thune, a Republican of South Dakota, this radical measure would nullify …

Top Earners' Pay Erodes Social Security  —  Fund Expected to Be Exhausted in 2037  —  The nation's wealth gap is widening amid an uproar about lofty pay packages in the financial world.  —  Executives and other highly compensated employees now receive more than one-third of all pay in the U.S. …

Pennsylvania Gov's Approval Drops To Lowest Ever, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Rendell Gets More Blame For Budget Stalemate  —  Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's job approval rating has shrunk to its lowest level ever, 39 - 53 percent negative, and voters see him as most responsible for the state's budget mess.

Obama threatens veto over McCain healthcare plan  —  President Obama said in an interview Monday afternoon that he would veto a healthcare reform bill that mirrored Sen. John McCain's proposal from the 2008 presidential campaign.  —  On PBS's “Newshour with Jim Lehrer,” the president noted that McCain …

Presidential approval tracker  —  The Gallup organization first started asking Americans how they approved of the job the president was doing in the 1940s.  See how each president since then has fared in the approval poll, look at some news events that influenced public opinion and compare …

Dodd Looks to Distance Himself From Financial Firms  —  Sen. Christopher J. Dodd has been a friend to the nation's largest financial firms for nearly three decades, and they have been his most generous donors.  But now he finds himself in political trouble, and is trying to prove the relationship is over.

Health Care Bill Directs HHS Secretary to Develop ‘Standards for Measuring Gender’—As Opposed to ‘Male’ and ‘Female’  —  (CNSNews.com) - The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee's health care legislation will give the Health and Human Services secretary the authority to develop …

Iran's Tragic Joke  —  NEW YORK — Allow me to quote the British novelist Martin Amis, writing about Persia in The Guardian: “Iran is one of the most venerable civilizations on earth: it makes China look like an adolescent, and America look like a stripling.”  —  Iranians, aware of that history, are a proud people.