People on twitter might be joking, but in all seriousness, we would see a bigger boost in spending and hence economic growth if the earthquake had done more damage.

Why Another Democrat Wouldn't Do Better Than Obama in 2012  —  You know that a president is having a rough time when you start to see speculation that his party would be better off if it replaced him on the ticket.  —  There has been more of this recently: the political scientist Matthew Dickinson argued …

Fears for Nancy Reagan, 90, as she slips and falls on way in to watch speech by Tea Party favourite Marco Rubio  —  Nancy Reagan last night lost her balance and fell as she arrived to watch a speech by Republican freshman senator and Tea Party darling Marco Rubio

Rick Perry: The God-Fearing, Know-Nothing, Pistol-Packing Embodiment of Liberals' Worst Nightmares  —  What Rick Perry has achieved in his inaugural strut on the political stage is unprecedented in the annals of modern conservative history from Barry Goldwater to Sarah Palin.

Washington Monument cracked in quake  —  The earthquake didn't cause widespread damages or injuries, but it did put a crack in the Washington Monument.  —  After unconfirmed reports suggested the monument was tilting, park officials said Tuesday night that the 550-foot obelisk suffered …

PPP Poll: Perry Takes Double-Digit Lead Over Romney  —  More ways to share...  Mixx  —  Stumbled  —  LinkedIn  —  Vine  —  Buzzflash  —  Newstrust  —  Technocrati  —  Forward Article  —  A new poll shows Texas Gov. Rick Perry with a double-digit lead nationally …

Sarah Palin's Sept. 3 Speech Will Be ‘Major,’ but Will It Be the Big One?  —  ABC News' Shushannah Walshe (@shushwalshe) and Sheila Marikar (@sheilaym) report:  —  With Sarah Palin's next Iowa visit mere days away, the will-she-or-won't-she frenzy is at an all time high.

With more than 10,000 millionaires, why is Israel still a charity case?  —  At what point should the Diaspora communities say to Israelis that enough is enough- we will give, but we will not allow those in your own society to shirk their responsibilities?  —  The past few years have seen …

Obama, Tiger, Golf and Politics  —  Despite the carping by critics, I'm glad the president went on vacation because one of the most useful things he could do right now is play golf — a lot of golf — but not that friendly foursome thing with his aides that he usually does.

The GOP will raise taxes — on the middle class and working poor  —  America's presumably anti-tax party wants to raise your taxes.  Come January, the Republicans plan to raise the taxes of anyone who earns $50,000 a year by $1,000, and anyone who makes $100,000 by $2,000.

Earthquake?  It's Obama's fault.  —  When disaster strikes, the online commentariate...shows the worst of itself.  Gateway Pundit's Jim Hoft has already made the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that rattled the East Coast a dumb partisan issue, writing: … Judging by the comments below Hoft's post …

Michelle Obama shows up her husband in tiny purple bike shorts as the President lags behind in jeans  —  Michelle Obama showed off her enviably toned thighs as she powered past the President in tiny purple cycling shorts on the first family's bike ride on Martha's Vineyard today.

Inside A Huntsman Fundraiser  —  Put your checkbook away.  If you want a peak inside a Jon Huntsman fundraiser (and who doesn't, really) look no further.  —  During his quick visit to Utah recently, the former governor addressed a crowd of about five dozen for a little over 12 minutes - and here's the recording of the event.

Jeb Bush warns 2012ers on hitting Obama  —  Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush warned the Republican presidential hopefuls against ideological intransigence and knee-jerk opposition to President Barack Obama on Tuesday, saying they risk turning off middle-of-the-road voters.

Publisher's ‘social’ ties pushed RedState toward Allen  —  A leading conservative blogger and commentator, Erick Erickson, said he shifted his stance in a key Senate race because the company that publishes his RedState.com is “socially connected” to former Virginia Senator George Allen.

With Pawlenty out, Weber joins Romney camp  —  WASHINGTON - Ten days after Tim Pawlenty's presidential campaign ended in Ames, Iowa, one of the former governor's top strategists, Minnesota GOP heavyweight Vin Weber, is joining forces again with Pawlenty rival Mitt Romney.

Naked man goes on stabbing rampage, killing one and wounding four in Washington Heights  —  A naked madman went on a stabbing spree in a Manhattan apartment building Tuesday, wounding four people and killing one, cops and neighbors said.  —  Christian Falero, 23, rampaged in the buff through …

Energy Obamanomics: No green jobs and plenty of red ink  —  It's time to end all forms of corporate welfare  —  It wasn't enough to preside over the first-ever downgrade of America's credit rating.  Now the Obama administration is downgrading America's energy supply as well.

Sprint to Get iPhone 5  —  Sprint Nextel Corp. will begin selling the new version of the Apple iPhone in mid-October, people familiar with the matter said, filling a huge hole in the No. 3 U.S. carrier's lineup and giving Apple Inc. another sales channel for its popular gadget.

Washington National Cathedral Damaged by Quake  —  The central tower on the Washington National Cathedral—the highest point in Washington, D.C.—suffered serious damage from the 5.8-magnitude earthquake that shook the East Coast Tuesday.  No one was injured.

Big Banks: Under-Capitalized, Overexposed, Opaque  —  The US banking sector is not healthy.  —  There is a fundamental misunderstanding about the Wall Street bailouts amongst the public, and quite a few policy makers at Treasury and the Federal Reserve: Somehow, they “fixed” the banking system.

Gay candidate can't get seat at GOP convention  —  LAGUNA BEACH — Fred Karger, the only Californian - and the only gay candidate - in the 2012 Republican presidential field, says he knows plenty about closed doors.  But shut out by his own party - and in his own state?

Former Rep. Dan Maffei says he's ready for rematch with Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle  —  Washington — Former U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei plans to end months of speculation today and declare his candidacy for the 25th Congressional District seat, nine months after he lost it in one of the closest House races in the nation.

Penn State climate-change researcher cleared of misconduct  —  A National Science Foundation investigation has cleared climate-change research Michael Mann, of Penn State University, of any research wrongdoing.  COURTESY OF PENN STATE UNIVERSITY — Provided photo Buy Photo  —  View the Inspector General's report