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.

Tea Party Test: Conservative Movement's Strength Unclear in Midterm Elections  —  National Candidates Backed by the Tea Party Movement Have Had Mixed Results  —  As the race to November's midterm elections heats up, the Tea Party movement is stepping up its campaigns, pouring in money …

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.

Memo to media: Pamela Geller does not belong on national television  —  Numerous mainstream media outlets have recently hosted right-wing “Atlas Shrugs” blogger Pamela Geller to discuss the controversy surrounding a proposed Islamic community center set to be built blocks away from Ground Zero.

Senate Democrats to Pursue a Smaller Energy Bill  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama and Senate Democrats have decided to press ahead in the next two weeks with a scaled-back energy bill that limits carbon pollution by power plants but not by other industries in an effort to salvage the legislation before midterm elections.

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 …

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.

Romney holds wide lead in PAC money over Republican contenders  —  Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's political action committees (PACs) have raised more than $1.8 million combined in the second quarter and doled out nearly $350,000 to Republican candidates.

Inquiry Looks at Fund-Raisers Before Votes in Congress  —  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 …

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.

Does Sarah Palin Really Have a Chance?  —  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 …

U.S. home foreclosures reach record high in second quarter  —  Bank repossessions increased 38% in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier for a record total of 269,952, according to data to be released Thursday by RealtyTrac.  —  Short sales are one way lenders have been striving to avert foreclosures.

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 …

Megyn Kelly's minstrel show  —  I don't really get a chance to watch TV in Unalaska, and the one thing I miss is Megyn Kelly of Fox News.  The last week or so of her work — her one woman crusade against the New Black Panther Party — has been truly riveting television.

Gay rights enter immigration debate  —  Trying to broaden support for immigration reform, key Democratic lawmakers on Thursday will endorse legislation that would grant gay and lesbian Americans the ability to legally bring their foreign partners to the United States.

Reid: Unemployment Benefits Extension Vote On Tuesday  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday that the Senate would vote move forward with reauthorizing unemployment benefits on Tuesday morning, after the replacement for the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) has been sworn in.

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 …

Nearly All Abortions in New “High-Risk Pool” Program  —  The Obama Administration will give Pennsylvania $160 million to set up a new “high-risk” insurance program under a provision of the federal health care legislation enacted in March — and has quietly approved a plan submitted by an appointee …

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.

Mitch McConnell previews Republican message for the fall  —  1. In a speech to a group of young Republicans today, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) will cast the GOP as the party of change and checks and balances — a preview of the Republican message heading into the fall campaign.

MILLIONS FOR ROAD SIGNS?:  That's Stimulating?  —  Some Call it Transparency, Others Another Example of Government Waste  —  As the midterm election season approaches, new road signs are popping up everywhere - millions of dollars worth of signs touting “The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act” …

Pollution fight cools climate talks  —  Closed-door meetings between a select group of environmentalists and a handful of electric utility executives may determine the fate of climate change legislation in the Senate.  —  Majority Leader Harry Reid's top energy aide, Chris Miller …