THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MCCAIN AND BUSH IS, UH, UM, AH, ERR...  I don't know when Barack Obama's economic team put John McCain, John McCain's economic advisers, and John McCain's surrogates on their payroll, but it sure was a good investment.  Between McCain admitting that he knows little …

MAKING IT  —  How Chicago shaped Obama.  —  Barack Obama on the South Side during his first campaign, for the State Senate.  An outsider in Chicago's system, he was meticulous about constructing his own political identity and coalition.  Photograph by Marc PoKempner.

‘Scare tactic’ — Obama slams Muslim portrayal  —  The Obama campaign is condemning as “tasteless and offensive” a New Yorker magazine cover that depicts Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in a turban, fist-bumping his gun-slinging wife.  —  An American flag burns in their fireplace.  —  The New Yorker says it's satire.

Paulson Statement on Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae: Full Text  —  July 13 (Bloomberg) — Following is the text of a statement issued today by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson:  —  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play a central role in our housing finance system and must continue to do so in their current form as shareholder-owned companies.

Nine US soldiers killed in Afghanistan as Taliban attacks base  —  Taliban insurgents killed nine US troops when they attempted to overrun an American base as bloody fighting broke out in several parts of Afghanistan today.  —  Nato reported that the small American Combat Outpost in Dara …

Shocker: More than 1 in 10 Army Recruits Now Given “Moral Waivers”  —  It has been rumored by some time that the U.S. Army has had to lower its standards to get enough recruits for its expanded war-fighting needs in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Now firm evidence has emerged, and it is not pretty.

The Shame of Postville, Iowa  —  Anyone who has doubts that this country is abusing and terrorizing undocumented immigrant workers should read an essay by Erik Camayd-Freixas, a professor and Spanish-language court interpreter who witnessed the aftermath of a huge immigration workplace raid at a meatpacking plant in Iowa.

U.S., Iraq Scale Down Negotiations Over Forces  —  Long-Term Agreement Will Fall to Next President  —  U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have abandoned efforts to conclude a comprehensive agreement governing the long-term status of U.S troops in Iraq before the end of the Bush presidency …

A Man Who Loved People, the Gritty Nature of Life and All of the Human Comedy  —  NPR Senior Correspondent/FOX News Political Contributor  —  Tony Snow and I traveled parallel paths through Washington.  We are a year apart in age -Tony is a year younger at 53 -and both loved politics and debate.