White House Acts to Limit Health Plan for Children  —  The Bush administration, continuing its fight to stop states from expanding the popular Children's Health Insurance Program, has adopted new standards that would make it much more difficult for New York, California and others to extend coverage to children in middle-income families.

Congress Approval Rating Matches Historical Low  —  Just 18% approve of job Congress is doing  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A new Gallup Poll finds Congress' approval rating the lowest it has been since Gallup first tracked public opinion of Congress with this measure in 1974.

Michigan set to send slate of primaries into revision  —  N.H. mulls way to remain first  —  Michigan appears poised to crash the party of early states seeking to influence the 2008 presidential nominating process, leapfrogging the other interlopers, Florida and South Carolina, and further scrambling the electoral calendar.

Hurricane Dean: 1 Of 10 Most Intense Atlantic Hurricanes Ever Measured  —  Early this morning Hurricane Dean, after mercilessly intensifying over deep warm waters in the western Caribbean, slammed the Yucatan Peninsula around Chetumal as a Category 5 hurricane with winds upwards of 165 miles per hour …

Cheney's Office Says It Has Wiretap Documents  —  Vice President Cheney's office acknowledged for the first time yesterday that it has dozens of documents related to the administration's warrantless surveillance program, but it signaled that it will resist efforts by congressional Democrats to obtain them.

Time right for Garofalo on "24"  —  LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The political left and the political right will join forces on Fox's "24" this coming season.  Janeane Garofalo, an outspoken liberal, is set to co-star on the conservative-leaning real-time drama, whose co-creator/executive …

Michelle gets stronger all the time  —  'I don't want my girls to live in a country based on fear'  —  Barack Obama often says that his wife, Michelle, is smarter than he is, stronger than he is, and gives better speeches than he does.  —  On a trip to Iowa last week, Michelle was a firebrand …

Average Incomes Fell for Most in 2000-5  —  Americans earned a smaller average income in 2005 than in 2000, the fifth consecutive year that they had to make ends meet with less money than at the peak of the last economic expansion, new government data shows.

Our main goal: Freedom in Cuba  —  When my father was a young man living in Kenya, the freedom and opportunity of the United States exerted such a powerful draw that he moved halfway around the world to pursue his dreams here.  My father's story is not unique.

Party of Rage  —  Can't we all just get along? … OK.  Sounds like it could be pre-traumatic stress syndrome.  —  In other congressional violence: … And … Those are special cases.  The representative from Rhode Island may have encountered a security guard not up on his DYKWIA* …

Make Up Your Own Mine  —  An impoverished town strikes gold.  George Soros and foreign environmentalists say, leave it in the ground.  —  The recent tragedy in Utah has brightened the spotlight on mining, already under assault by environmental and anti-globalization activists world-wide.

Clinton and McCain Differ on Iraq at Veterans' Meeting  —  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton told an audience of war veterans on Monday that some elements of the strategy in Iraq appeared to be achieving success, but said a military solution was unattainable and the best way to honor the service of American troops was to "bring them home."

ANNALS OF LIBERTARIANISM.  Talking about the Giuliani health care plan, Megan McArdle argues that "As a class, the old and sick are already luckier than the young and healthy":  —  Moreover, as a class, the old and sick have some culpability in their ill health.

U.S. Foreclosures Rise Sharply in July  —  U.S. Foreclosures Rise Sharply in July With Nev., Ga. and Mich. Accounting for Highest Rates  —  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Foreclosure filings rose 9 percent from June to July and surged 93 percent over the same period last year, with Nevada …