McDonald's May Drop Health Plan  —  McDonald's Corp. has warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul.  —  The move is one of the clearest indications …

Senate blocks recess appointments with deal between Dems, GOP  —  Senate Democrats agreed Wednesday night to a Republican demand to block President Obama from making recess appointments while Congress is out of town campaigning for the midterm elections.  —  Democratic leaders have agreed …

Carl Paladino alleges Andrew Cuomo affair  —  New York Republican gubernatorial nominee Carl Paladino alleged Tuesday that Democrat Andrew Cuomo was unfaithful to his ex-wife years ago, a stunning accusation that validated his earlier prediction that the race would be getting nastier.

CNN/Time Poll: Murkowski deadlocked with Miller in Alaska  —  (CNN) - The wild three-way Senate race in Alaska now appears to be a two-person fight for the top spot, according to a new poll.  —  A CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday indicates that 38 percent …

Meg Whitman: My Maid's Full of It  —  Meg Whitman's campaign just gave us documents suggesting that her former maid, Nicky Diaz Santillan, actually lied to Meg about her immigration status when she was hired back in 2000.  —  The documents, which Whitman claims Nicky filled out and signed …

Victim of Secret Dorm Sex Tape Posts Facebook Goodbye, Jumps to His Death  —  Rutgers University Freshman Jumped From the George Washington Bridge  —  A Rutgers University freshman posted a goodbye message on his Facebook page before jumping to his death after his roommate secretly filmed him during a …

Rep. Mike Castle says no to write-in bid  —  Longtime Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) announced late Wednesday that he will not launch a write-in bid for Senate this fall, ceding the stage to Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell (R) and New Castle County Executive Chris Coons (D).

Democrats Find Many Big Donors Cutting Support  —  Many wealthy Democratic patrons, who in the past have played major roles financing outside groups to help elect the party's candidates, are largely sitting out these crucial midterm elections.  —  Democratic donors like George Soros …

In Tax Cut Plan, Debate Over the Definition of Rich  —  Much of the debate about whether to extend the Bush tax cuts has focused on big economic issues: how the decision might affect the fragile economy, the widening federal deficit and hiring by small businesses.

Tony Curtis, Hollywood Icon, Dies at 85  —  Tony Curtis, a classically handsome movie star who earned an Oscar nomination as an escaped convict in Stanley Kramer's 1958 movie “The Defiant Ones,” but whose public preferred him in comic roles in films like “Some Like It Hot” (1959) and …

Waxman says net neutrality bill dead, FCC should assert regulatory authority  —  Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) confirmed Wednesday afternoon that his net neutrality bill was effectively scrapped after Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) declined to support the legislation.

Compare and Contrast: Karl Marx' 10 Point Program of Communism and the Obama-Pelosi-Reid Agenda  —  According to Karl Marx, the following ten elements were requisite conditions for “a transition from capitalism to communism.”  —  1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.

Romney, Palin at Front of GOP Presidential Field  —  Preferences for leaders similar among conservative, moderate/liberal Republicans  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin lead other potential candidates in Republicans' preferences for the party's 2012 presidential nomination.

Grading the Governors  —  A new Cato Institute report on the fiscal best and worst.  —  It's been a rough couple of years to be a Governor, but some have adjusted to austere times better than others.  The Cato Institute today releases its 10th biennial survey of the best and worst Governors …

Obama letter offered Netanyahu security pledges  —  President Barack Obama has written a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offering “a string of assurances to Israel in return for a two-month moratorium extension,” a prominent Washington Middle East expert has revealed.

Today in Assassination News . . .  There has been much discussion lately of the legal questions surrounding the Obama administration's plan to assassinate U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, an al-Qaeda goon, Islamist propagandist, and general bum.  The Christian Science Monitor has a pretty good discussion here …

Loyalty to Obama Costs Democrats  —  DOYLESTOWN, Pa.—Rep. Patrick Murphy, a fresh-faced rising Democratic star and loyal backer of President Barack Obama's agenda, is facing the fight of his life in a suburban Philadelphia district Mr. Obama won easily two years ago.

In a Computer Worm, a Possible Biblical Clue  —  Deep inside the computer worm that some specialists suspect is aimed at slowing Iran's race for a nuclear weapon lies what could be a fleeting reference to the Book of Esther, the Old Testament tale in which the Jews pre-empt a Persian plot to destroy them.

Congress cools on Colbert  —  Members of Congress have been fooled time after time after time by Stephen Colbert, and after last week's mockery, they have a message for the satirist who makes a living lampooning them: Colbert, you're dead to us.  —  Colbert's act had steadily been losing cachet …

Accused stalker's dad: ‘He is not in Alaska’  —  The father of an 18-year-old Pennsylvania man accused of stalking Sarah Palin said Wednesday that his son is home with him and hasn't left the state.  —  “He is not in Alaska and he's never been to Alaska,” Craig Christy said Wednesday of his son, Shawn R. Christy.

Obama gets an earful in Iowa on health care, tax cuts  —  DES MOINES - Back in Iowa, President Obama got an earful Wednesday from voters about two of his key policies: health care, and his desire to roll back Bush-era tax cuts.  —  In a state with a highly educated electorate …