Why President Obama loses by winning  —  The imminent passage of financial reform, just a couple months after the passage of comprehensive health care, should decisively end the narrative that President Obama represents a Jimmy Carter-style case of naïve hope crushed by the inability to master Washington.

VIDEO: Yes, there is racism in the Tea Party movement.  —  After months of racist incidents and rallies filled with hateful signs disparaging President Obama's ethnicity and other minorities, the NAACP has passed a resolution officially condemning racism in the Tea Party movement.

Companies pile up cash but remain hesitant to add jobs  —  Corporate America is hoarding a massive pile of cash.  It just doesn't want to spend it hiring anyone.  —  Nonfinancial companies are sitting on $1.8 trillion in cash, roughly one-quarter more than at the beginning of the recession.

18th-Century Ship Found at Trade Center Site  —  In the middle of tomorrow, a great ribbed ghost has emerged from a distant yesterday.  —  On Tuesday morning, workers excavating the site of the underground vehicle security center for the future World Trade Center hit a row of sturdy …

My Biggest Mistake in the White House  —  Failing to refute charges that Bush lied us into war has hurt our country.  —  Seven years ago today, in a speech on the Iraq war, Sen. Ted Kennedy fired the first shot in an all-out assault on President George W. Bush's integrity.

McConnell: GOP ‘got our groove back’  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will put forth his party's case for regaining its congressional majorities this fall during a speech Thursday in Washington.  —  McConnell will tell members of the Young Republican Leadership Conference that the GOP has …

Senate VIP Loans Mount  —  Countrywide Dealt With More Lawmakers and Staffers Than Previously Known  —  Angelo Mozilo, former Countrywide Financial chairman  —  U.S. senators or Senate employees received 30 loans—far more than had previously been known—under a controversial lending program …

Researcher Says Scott McInnis Lied  —  Rolly Fischer: I Didn't Know He Was Making Money On Articles  —  Tom Burke and Arthur Kane and John Ferrugia , CALL7 Investigators  —  GLENWOOD SPRINGS — The man Scott McInnis blamed for the plagiarized material in an article on water rights told …

Sarah Palin in '12?  Why She's for Real  —  The music swells and then picks up tempo.  Sarah Palin is talking about how 2010 will be the year that “commonsense conservative women get things done for our country.”  She's worried about “these policies coming out of D.C. right now …

Do conservatives care about the deficit?  Do Democrats?  —  Matt Yglesias asks the question and assembles some evidence.  The two modern conservative presidents, George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, “both presided over massive increases in both present and projected deficits.”

Argentina legalises gay marriage  —  Debate continued until the early hours of Thursday  —  Argentina has become the first country in Latin America to legalise gay marriage after the Senate voted in favour.  —  The country's Chamber of Deputies had already approved the legislation.

Pretty Bad 2012 numbers for Obama  —  With his approval numbers hitting new lows it's no surprise that Barack Obama's numbers in our monthly look ahead to the 2012 Presidential race are their worst ever this month.  He trails Mitt Romney 46-43, Mike Huckabee 47-45, Newt Gingrich 46-45, and is even tied with Sarah Palin at 46.

Democrats Top Republicans In Connecticut Gov Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Foley Has Almost 4-1 Lead In Republican Primary  —  Democratic contenders Ned Lamont and Dan Malloy top any of the three possible Republican candidates for Governor of Connecticut by margins of 11 percentage points …

In Dodging a Budget Vote, Dems Take Reconciliation Off the Table  —  Decision Could Preclude a Jobs Bill Next Year … On Tuesday, the Treasury Department announced that the country's deficit had hit the $1 trillion mark just nine months into the fiscal year.

Economics Behaving Badly  —  IT seems that every week a new book or major newspaper article appears showing that irrational decision-making helped cause the housing bubble or the rise in health care costs.  —  Such insights draw on behavioral economics, an increasingly popular field …

MSNBC Host Calls Reid ‘Ball-less’  —  ANOTHER MELTDOWN  —  Libtalker: ‘Shove Those (GOP) Bastards Into The Dirthole’  —  All week, the big question has been whether Democrats are truly imploding, or simply projecting that image to reduce electoral expectations and create complacent Republicans.

Economic Recovery Showing New Signs of Losing Steam  —  Investors got a strong dose of sobering economic news Thursday as several key manufacturing indexes show that the recovery is losing steam.  —  The few bright spots: New claims for jobless benefits fell to their lowest level in nearly two years …

Fund-Raising Before House Vote Draws Scrutiny  —  WASHINGTON — Lawmakers take contributions every day from corporate executives and lobbyists hoping for their votes.  The question of whether that represents business as usual in Washington or an ethics breach is at the heart …

‘Kagan did just enough to win my vote’  —  USA TODAY  —  Washington, D.C.  —  Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan did little to undo the impression that nominating hearings are little more than a charade in which cautious non-answers take the place of substantive exchanges.