Prominent Pastor Calls Romney's Church a Cult  —  WASHINGTON — A Texas pastor introduced Rick Perry at a major conference of Christian conservatives here on Friday as “a genuine follower of Jesus Christ” and then walked outside and attacked Mitt Romney's religion, calling the Mormon Church …

CBO: Obama jobs bill reduces budget deficit  —  The Congressional Budget Office on Friday confirmed that President Obama's jobs bill would be fully paid for over ten years and also gave its seal of approval to Senate Democrats' version that includes a surtax on millionaires.

Wall Street Weeks  —  The Occupy Wall Street encampment in Lower Manhattan is covered with damp sleeping bags, interspersed among piles of wet, abandoned clothes.  Molding stuff is everywhere.  It looks like a scene from “Outdoor Hoarders.”  —  “How about one big cleaning day?” someone asks during a morning meeting.

Steve Jobs: The Secular Prophet  —  Steve Jobs turned Eve's apple, the symbol of fallen humankind, into a religious icon for true believers in technology.  But can salvation be downloaded?  —  For every magical thing Steve Jobs revealed in his Apple keynote addresses, there were many other things he concealed.

INSIDE MAN: IS PRESIDENT OBAMA SUPPORTING THE PROTESTERS?  —  Despite claiming to represent ‘the 99 per cent’, not all Americans are behind the Wall Street protests.  —  But according to the Financial Times, the President himself is unofficially backing their cause.

ABOUT CHRIS BRENNAN AND CATHERINE LUCEY  —  Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999.  He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns.

The Big Easy's School Revolution  —  John White, superintendent of New Orleans' public schools: ‘In other cities, charter schools exist in spite of the system.  Here they are the system.’  —  New Orleans  —  At John McDonough High School in this city's Esplanade Ridge district …

After a Rating Downgrade, U.S. Treasuries Turn a Profit  —  TWO months ago, Standard & Poor's downgraded the bond rating of the United States government.  So far, at least, the move has done wonders for investors in the very bonds that the rating agency disparaged.

Karl Rove, Erik Paulsen Glitter Bombed at Anti-Gay Conference [VIDEOS]  —  BLOOMINGTON, MN — At the Minnesota Faith and Freedom Coalition strategy session about the upcoming ballot measure seeking to re-write the state constitution to ban marriages for same-sex couples, Republican Party hit-man Karl Rove …

State Department readies Iraq operation, its biggest since Marshall Plan  —  The State Department is racing against an end-of-year deadline to take over Iraq operations from the U.S. military, throwing up buildings and marshalling contractors in its biggest overseas operation since the effort to rebuild Europe after World War II.

Undrained Swamp Update: Things You Can't Believe are Legal Inside the Beltway, Part XXVII  —  It isn't difficult to see why so many in Washington can't or won't recognize the inherent problem with things like the Solyndra debacle — or crony capitalism in general.

Solyndra loan deal: Warnings about legality came from within Obama administration  —  Energy Department officials were warned that their plan to help a failing solar company by restructuring its $535 million federal loan could violate the law and should be cleared with the Justice Department …