Fed's $85 Billion Loan Rescues Insurer  —  By EDMUND L. ANDREWS, MICHAEL J. de la MERCED and MARY WILLIAMS WALSH  —  WASHINGTON — Fearing a financial crisis worldwide, the Federal Reserve reversed course on Tuesday and agreed to an $85 billion bailout that would give the government control …

McCain campaign clamps down on questions in Alaska  —  JUNEAU, Alaska - GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is effectively turning over questions about her record as Alaska's governor to John McCain's political campaign, part of an ambitious Republican strategy to limit …

Prominent Clinton backer and DNC member to endorse McCain  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a prominent Hillary Clinton supporter and member of the Democratic National Committee's Platform Committee, will endorse John McCain for president on Wednesday, her spokesman tells CNN.

The Mortgage Debacle - Not Enough Blame To Share Some With The Democrats?  —  Nancy Pelosi somewhat implausibly insisted that Democrats are blameless in the current mortgage debacle: … Barack Obama blames Bush for slack oversight: … However, the record tells the opposite story …

Financial gloom doesn't halt glitzy Obama fundraiser  —  So what does Barack Obama do after a hard day of defending the common man during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression?  —  Throw a $28,500-a-head fundraising dinner, of course.  —  Followed by a $2,500 …

Sebelius: Say, did you know Republicans are racists?  Update: AP or Miami Herald tries cleaning up Sebelius' comments  —  Hmmm.  Didn't Barack Obama just get done scolding John McCain over “dishonorable” attacks?  Maybe he should save his criticisms for his surrogates, except that they're parroting The One in his own baseless smears.

Democrats Go There  —  I'm sure Keith Olbermann will be angered to tears over exploiting this tragedy.  —  So long as we know what the ground rules are, fine.  We'll start running commercials accusing Democrats of dishonoring the dead.  (F**k that— let's have some now-out-of-the-service vets explain …

True Whoppers  —  Economists are not generally known for their lyrical phrasing.  But the other day, one told me something about the election that has stuck with me: He cautioned against succumbing to the “symmetry of sin.”  —  This unexpected snippet of political poetry …

Even on trial, Stevens pulls in earmarks  —  Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is busy fending off federal charges and scrambling to retain his seat, but that hasn't affected his appetite for earmarks.  —  Stevens has secured the most earmarks in the Senate defense appropriations bill, according to an analysis by The Hill.

Historians say McCain camp not sleaziest  —  David Axelrod, Barack Obama's chief strategist, said Sunday that John McCain is running the “sleaziest and least honorable campaign in modern presidential campaign history.”  It was a line trotted out all weekend by various Obama staffers as part …