No deal  —  I hate to say this, but looking at the plan as leaked, I have to say no deal.  Not unless Treasury explains, very clearly, why this is supposed to work, other than through having taxpayers pay premium prices for lousy assets.  —  As I posted earlier today, it seems all too likely that a …

A Professor and a Banker Bury Old Dogma on Markets  —  WASHINGTON — For the last year, as the nation's economy lurched from crisis to crisis, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke, had been warning Henry M. Paulson Jr., the Treasury secretary, that the worsening situation might ultimately force …

Pact on Debates Will Let McCain and Obama Spar  —  The Obama and McCain campaigns have agreed to an unusual free-flowing format for the three televised presidential debates, which begin Friday, but the McCain camp fought for and won a much more structured approach for the questioning …

Cheney must preserve records, judge orders  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Vice President Dick Cheney must preserve a broad range of records from his time in office, a federal judge ordered Saturday, ruling in favor of a private watchdog group.  —  U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly found …

Obama's Social Security Whopper  —  He tells Social Security recipients their money would now be in the stock market under McCain's plan.  False.  —  In Daytona Beach, Obama said that “if my opponent had his way, the millions of Floridians who rely on it would've had their Social Security tied up in the stock market this week.”

The AP's Ron Fournier: Racial Arsonist and Unethical Journalist  —  Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks - many calling them …

A Bad Bank Rescue  —  With truly extraordinary speed, opinion has swung behind the radical idea that the government should commit hundreds of billions in taxpayer money to purchasing dud loans from banks that aren't actually insolvent.  As recently as a week ago, no public official had even mentioned this option.

Gallup Daily: Obama 50%, McCain 44%  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Wednesday through Friday finds Barack Obama maintaining his lead over John McCain among registered voters, by a 50% to 44% margin.  —  Obama has held at least a small margin over McCain in each …

Sarah's Surprise: Palin to meet world leaders at U.N. next week  —  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will meet in New York next week with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, among other world leaders scheduled to visit the United Nations annual autumn General Assembly Session.

Rachel Maddow's ratings are incredible  —  If only MSNBC would have listened to us months ago, but at least she's there now.  Move over Larry King, there's a new girl in town....Her ratings even beat Countdown a few times.  —  It's nice to see and we hope you will continue to tune in.