Spate of Good News Gives White House a Chance to Regroup  —  In a White House that had virtually forgotten what good news looks like, the past few weeks have been refreshing.  A Republican won a much-watched special congressional election.  President Bush recruited a Wall Street heavy hitter as Treasury secretary.

'New Direction' is new theme for Democratic plan  —  WASHINGTON — Democratic House and Senate leaders are planning to reduce the cost of student loans and prescription drugs, raise the minimum wage and launch an effort to develop alternative fuels if they win back control of Congress.

Robert Luskin Sends Bush's Brain Message on Plane: 'Case Over'; Attacks Blogosphere  —  The message reached Karl Rove on his BlackBerry: "FITZGERALD CALLED.  CASE OVER."  —  Strapped into his seat, his cell phone darkened in preparation for takeoff on a flight to New Hampshire …

RUDY GOES NUCLEAR  —  FORMULA FOR '08 SUCCESS  —  June 14, 2006 — A small gathering in Mid town yesterday got a sneak peek at Rudy Giuliani's formula as he gears up for a likely 2008 presidential run.  That formula: one-third leadership, one-third technocratic centrist and one-third radical conservative reformer.

Liberal Activists Boo Clinton  —  Rejection of Iraq Timetable Gets Cool Reception at Conference  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) drew boos and hisses from an audience of liberal activists yesterday as she defended her opposition to a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq …

FEMA Funds Spent on Divorce, Sex Change  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - Houston divorce lawyer Mark Lipkin says he can't recall anyone paying for his services with a FEMA debit card, but congressional investigators say one of his clients did just that.  —  The $1,000 payment was just one example cited …

EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon Orders U.S. Reporters to Exit Guantanamo  —  NEW YORK In the aftermath of the three suicides at the notorious Guantanamo prison facility in Cuba last Saturday, reporters with the Los Angeles Times and the Miami Herald were ordered by the office of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to leave the island today.

Your congressman just got a raise  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite record low approval ratings, House lawmakers Tuesday embraced a $3,300 pay raise that will increase their salaries to $168,500.  —  The 2 percent cost-of-living raise would be the seventh straight for members of the House and Senate.

Humor attempt falls flat  —  Cpl. Joshua Belile thought up the words to "Hadji Girl" in September while drinking coffee with buddies in Iraq.  —  It was just a joke, Belile says, a play on lines from a movie.  His fellow Marines seemed to enjoy the song, so they got Belile up on a stage with his guitar.

RWN's Ann Coulter Interview #3  —  John Hawkins: Do you think teachers are underpaid?  —  Ann Coulter: The good ones are, that's why they deserve merit pay.  The bad ones are  —  overpaid.  Too bad their unions don't let us distinguish between the two.  —  John Hawkins: Is global warming occurring and caused by mankind?

Shadegg's memo stokes fight on pork  —  A leading fiscal conservative in the House has stoked debate over pork by circulating a newspaper story linking Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) to "the inherent risk of corruption at the heart of the congressional earmark process."

Could a 15-Year-Old With a Laptop Be the New Campaign Media Guru?  —  Daily Kos's convention — the in-person gathering of the nation's most-read online political blog — was practically carpeted with presidential candidates.  But perhaps the most notable presentation came from Ava Lowery …

Scientists respond to Gore's warnings of climate catastrophe  —  "The Inconvenient Truth" is indeed inconvenient to alarmists  —  "Scientists have an independent obligation to respect and present the truth as they see it," Al Gore sensibly asserts in his film "An Inconvenient Truth" …

US officials seeing new home-grown terror cells  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence and law enforcement authorities are discovering new home-grown cells of Islamist radicals in the United States that draw inspiration and moral support from al Qaeda, officials said on Tuesday.

House Faces the Dumbest Bill of the Year (So Far): A $2.10 Increase in the Minimum Wage  —  House Republicans have one last chance to demonstrate that they have any remaining intelligence or principles.  On June 13, the House Appropriations Committee approved a bill that would increase …