Bush rates are kept safe in debt-limit talks  —  The White House, seeking an agreement to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by Aug. 2, on Monday said it would not insist that any deal include an end to former President George W. Bush's controversial tax rates on the wealthy.

The wrong John Wayne  —  Rep. Michele Bachmann kicked off her presidential campaign on Monday in Waterloo, Iowa, and in one interview surrounding the official event she promised to mimic the spirit of Waterloo's own John Wayne.  —  The only problem, as one eagle-eyed reader notes …

Michele Bachmann's thin legislative résumé  —  Rep. Michele Bachmann is surging in the GOP presidential polls and barnstorming Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, but as she sprints toward the front of the Republican pack, there's a major hole in her political résumé: legislation.

Supreme Court strikes down ban on sale of violent video games to minors  —  The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a California law that banned the sale of violent video games to minors, ruling video games are protected under the First Amendment as free speech.

Two top Herman Cain staffers resign  —  Washington (CNN) - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's New Hampshire state director, his only staffer in the state, as well as a Cain campaign regional director have both resigned.  —  Matt Murphy is the former state director and Jim Zeiler is the former regional director.

President, GOP hopefuls descend on Iowa as pivotal straw poll draws near  —  With a key test of the GOP presidential field just over a month and a half away, candidates are descending on Iowa this week to sharpen their appeal to voters in the first caucus state.

Weiner horning in on successor race  —  His ego has no bounds.  —  In a dazzling display of arrogance, disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner is trying to insert himself back into politics — calling power brokers and would-be candidates for his old seat, hoping they'll let him play …

Blagojevich guilty on 17 counts  —  A federal jury today convicted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich on 17 of 20 counts, finding he brazenly abused the powers of his office in a series of attempted shakedowns captured on undercover government recordings.  —  Blagojevich showed no reaction as the jury announced their decisions.

On Obama, Wall St. Shows a Reluctance to Commit  —  President Obama's $35,800-a-plate fund-raising dinner was the talk of Wall Street last week.  —  Held at Daniel, the Michelin three-star restaurant of Daniel Boulud on the Upper East Side, the event was seen as a test of the president's popularity among …

Two probes opened into Bradley claim  —  By Patrick Marley, Jason Stein and Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel  —  Madison - Two agencies are investigating a claim by Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley that Justice David Prosser put her in a chokehold earlier this month.

Lobbyists took $100K cut in pay to work for members of Congress  —  Some lobbyists who went to work on Capitol Hill this year took a pay cut of about $100,000, an analysis by The Hill shows.  —  A review of financial disclosure reports for lobbyists who were hired as congressional aides …

Bristol Palin says her mom has decided whether to run for president  —  The daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) said Tuesday that her mother had made up her mind already about whether to run for president in 2012.  —  Bristol Palin, the eldest daughter of the 2008 Republican vice …

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Appears, Stands Before Houston Crowd  —  This, most recent photo of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords since she was shot, was posted to her public Facebook page by her aides Sunday morning June 12, 2011.  The photo was taken May 17, 2011 at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital …

Anti-Mormon bias persists, notably among Democrats  —  Ever since Mitt Romney's unsuccessful run for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, there's been much discussion of whether GOP voters would accept a Mormon candidate.  Would evangelical conservatives, in particular …

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