How states are rigging the 2012 election  —  An attack on the right to vote is underway across the country through laws designed to make it more difficult to cast a ballot.  If this were happening in an emerging democracy, we'd condemn it as election-rigging.  But it's happening here, so there's barely a whimper.

Texan Perry Sizes Up Roadblocks to GOP Bid  —  Aides to Texas Gov. Rick Perry said they are scrambling to determine the logistical challenges he would face in making a late entry to the fight for the Republican presidential nomination, the latest sign he is serious about joining the contest.

OK for gay marriage is ‘rite’ around the corner  —  ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo and Senate Republican boss Dean Skelos could say, “I do” as soon as today on a historic gay-marriage bill that includes strengthened exemptions for religious groups.  —  Negotiators for the Republican-run Senate privately admitted …

Poll: Time for Senator Orrin Hatch to go  —  SALT LAKE CITY — A majority of Utah voters believe Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has been in office too long and should be replaced, a new Deseret News/KSL-TV poll shows.  —  The poll by Dan Jones & Associates found only 38 percent of registered voters agree …

The greatest gift to the Greeks might be to let them go it alone  —  Bail-outs and austerity measures are only making the country's burden harder to bear, writes Boris Johnson.  —  The Parthenon.  The EU's continued actions over Greece's financial woes have all the makings of a tragedy, says Boris Johnson.

What to Do With Lemons  —  While President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have gotten a lot of things right on foreign policy, they've made quite a mess in Israeli-Palestinian relations, where they've alienated all sides and generated zero progress.

Companies Push for Tax Break on Foreign Cash  —  Some of the nation's largest corporations have amassed vast profits outside the country and are pressing Congress and the Obama administration for a tax break to bring the money home.  —  Apple has $12 billion waiting offshore, Google has $17 billion and Microsoft, $29 billion.

The ‘most consistently misinformed media viewers’  —  I'd be remiss if I didn't also flag this gem from Jon Stewart's appearance on “Fox News Sunday” this morning.  He was explaining that he, as a comedian, doesn't deserve credibility in political media, and it's ultimately the result of …

Graham urges Congress to ‘shut up’ on Libya  —  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday that Congress should not interfere with U.S. operations in Libya.  —  “Congress should sort of shut up and not empower [Libyan leader Muammar] Qadhafi,” Graham said on NBC's “Meet the Press.”

BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL  —  Gangster government attack on oil companies  —  Senior Political Analyst Follow Him @MichaelBarone  —  Let me give a hearty endorsement of my Examiner colleague Timothy Carney's Monday column on the Democrats' proposal to take away “tax subsidies” from big oil companies.

The Big Man, Much More Than Springsteen's Sideman  —  It was never just about the saxophone.  In more than three decades wielding his tenor sax with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, from its beginning in 1972 to his death at 69 on Saturday, Clarence Clemons was as much a symbol as a sideman.

Justices Have Been Forced To Resign For Doing What Clarence Thomas Has Done  —  Justice Clarence Thomas is an ethics problem in a black robe.  Just eight months after ThinkProgress broke the story of Thomas' attendance at a Koch-sponsored political fundraiser, we learn that Thomas …

Nigerian ‘Islamists’ fire at card players, kill two: source  —  KANO, Nigeria — Suspected members of a radical Islamist sect which bombed Nigerian police headquarters on Sunday opened fire on a crowd of card players killing two in a northern city, a senior military officer said.

The Slow Economic Recovery-Becker  —  The financial crisis produced the most severe recession since the end of World War II in all the important measures of economic performance, aside from unemployment rates.  Unemployment peaked at 10.2% in 2009, whereas it peaked at 10.8% in December 1982 …