Obama blasts GOP leader's ‘ant’ comment as ‘out of touch’  —  President Barack Obama has attacked House GOP Leader John Boehner for comparing the financial crisis to an ant.  —  Obama struck out at Boehner (R-Ohio) during a town hall meeting in Racine, Wis., for saying the Wall Street reform bill …

A Smoking Gun in the Kagan Case?  —  Shannen Coffin was a deputy attorney general during the Bush administration, and was charged with defending the federal partial-birth abortion act in court.  At National Review, he writes that documents released by the Clinton White House show Elena Kagan's …

NEW EVIDENCE REVEALED: GORE SEX SCANDAL VICTIM TELLS ALL!!!  —  AL GORE SEX SCANDAL ACCUSER reveals shocking NEW EVIDENCE — ONLY to the NATIONAL ENQUIRER in a bombshell world exclusive interview!  —  “AL GORE is a pervert and sexual predator,” declares MOLLY HAGERTY, 54 …

Sharron Angle retreats a bit, but mostly stands ground  —  Republican candidate for Senate gives first interview to mainstream medium  —  U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle breaks her silence toward the mainstream media Tuesday by talking to Jon Ralston on “Face to Face.”  —  2 a.m.

Stabilizing the Debt By Doing Nothing  —  Here's a shocking chart from the Congressional Budget Office's latest long term budget outlook showing that unless Congress acts decisively, our debt situation will be totally fine:  —  See that line where the debt:GDP ratio is stable?

Obama: Our first female president  —  If Bill Clinton was our first black president, as Toni Morrison once proclaimed, then Barack Obama may be our first woman president.  —  Phew.  That was fun.  Now, if you'll just keep those hatchets holstered and hear me out.  —  No, I'm not calling Obama a girlie president.

The Ugly Party vs. the Grown-Up Party  —  My political friendships and sympathies are increasingly determined not by ideology but by methodology.  One of the most significant divisions in American public life is not between the Democrats and the Republicans; it is between the Ugly Party and the Grown-Up Party.

In U.S. Bailout of A.I.G., Forgiveness for Big Banks  —  Federal regulators ignored recommendations to force banks that did business with A.I.G. to accept losses.

Biden Claims Republican Party is Being Sensible  —  Some interesting remarks from Vice President Joe Biden: … I have no idea whether or not this is true (the RNC's communications director seems to have issues a not-quite-denial) but what I find striking about it is what a sensible notion …

Economic Scene: Betting That Cutting Spending Won't Derail Recovery  —  The world's rich countries are now conducting a dangerous experiment.  They are repeating an economic policy out of the 1930s — starting to cut spending and raise taxes before a recovery is assured …

Why Obamanomics Has Failed  —  Uncertainty about future taxes and regulations is enemy No. 1 of economic growth.  —  The administration's stimulus program has failed.  Growth is slow and unemployment remains high.  The president, his friends and advisers talk endlessly about the circumstances …

After The Fall  —  John Edwards parties on.  —  five days before John Edwards's mistress Rielle Hunter sat down with Oprah to talk about the by-then-infamous sex tape and other embarrassments that had destroyed his political career, the former presidential candidate showed up at the West End Wine Bar …

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — June 2010  —  The start of summer finds Americans remain divided on the health reform law, but favorable views of the new law increased seven percentage points over the past month to 48 percent, compared to 41 percent who have “generally unfavorable” …

Vacation Interruptus  —  Sorry, but I can't let this pass.  Glenn Greenwald has been conducting one of his patented vile, intellectually dishonest jihads against the Atlantic's Jeff Goldberg and he has now truly gone berserk.  I should say that Jeff is a friend of mine, one with whom I sometimes disagree …

No Easy Way to Fix Social Security  —  This is coming up over and over again—an “easy” fix for Social Security wherein “all” we have to do is get rid of the cap on Social Security payroll taxes, without increasing benefits.  Dylan Matthews has the charts that are currently making the rounds …

6/30: 57% Say Obama's Handling of Gulf Spill No Better Than Bush's Katrina  —  President George Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina was a black mark on his administration, and now, there's bad news for his successor.  Nearly six in ten voters nationwide — 57% — say President Barack Obama's handling …

Doctor Treating Pregnant Women With Experimental Drug To Prevent Lesbianism  —  That's not fair, as Hanna Rosin at Slate will shortly point out.  Pediatric endocrinologist Maria New—of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Florida International University—isn't just trying to prevent lesbianism …

Christie calls for GOP rebranding  —  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday in an interview with POLITICO outlined a path for the GOP to rebrand as the party keeping “our eye on the cash register,” while also praising some Democrats for taking the right approach to tackling major issues like education.

Gay soldiers subpoena Obama  —  The gay soldiers arrested outside the White House protesting “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” will annouce today that they're demanding that President Obama testify in their trial on minor civil disobedience charges.  —  Their novel argument: Obama himself called …

War-funding puzzle stumps Dems  —  House Democratic support for the war in Afghanistan has eroded to a point where President Barack Obama is now so reliant on Republican votes that he's backtracking from his own party's efforts to add new education funding to avert teacher layoffs.

Senate unanimously votes to confirm Petraeus for new post  —  The Senate voted unanimously on Wednesday to confirm Gen. David Petraeus as the next commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.  —  All senators in both parties voted overwhelmingly to install Petraeus in the new role, filling the role of resigned Gen. Stanley McChrystal.