Palin Camp Goes To New Lengths To Shut Out Media  —  From CBS News' Scott Conroy:  —  (NEW YORK) Update: After media outlets complained to the McCain/Palin campaign about its attempt to prevent an editorial presence at Gov. Palin's first meeting of the day, a pool producer was allowed …

Bush Mouthpiece Admits: They've Been Sitting on this Plan  —  Hidden in an article reporting that Cheney's going to go hunt up some support for the $700,000,000,000 bailout is this admission that the Bush Administration has been sitting on it for some time: … Which raises three questions for me:

57% of Public Favors Wall Street Bailout  —  Obama Seen As Better Able to Address Crisis  —  By a margin of almost two-to-one the American public thinks the government is doing the right thing in investing billions of dollars to try to keep financial institutions and markets secure.

McCain Aide's Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac  —  WASHINGTON— One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain's campaign manager from the end of 2005 through last month, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.

Getting real — and letting the cat out of the bag  —  Whoa — it seems that Ben Bernanke ditched his prepared testimony and, instead, let the cat at least partly out of the bag. … As I wrote earlier this morning, the whole “take these assets off the balance sheets” line is fundamentally disingenuous …

House GOP rises up against Cheney  —  There was a time when Dick Cheney could turn back a Republican revolt on Capitol Hill.  —  That time is gone.  —  House Republicans rose up en masse against their vice president on Tuesday morning to blast an administration proposal …

Democrats to let offshore drilling ban expire  —  WASHINGTON - Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.

Biden garbles Depression history  —  Joe Biden's denunciation of his own campaign's ad to Katie Couric got so much attention last night that another odd note in the interview slipped by.  —  He was speaking about the role of the White House in a financial crisis.

Chris Rock To Bill Clinton: ‘Hillary Lost!’  —  As in his appearance on the View, Bill Clinton offered the most tepid support possible for Barack Obama's presidential ticket on David Letterman's Late Show last night.  After repeatedly invoking his vanquished wife Hillary …

Aurora fifth-grader suspended over anti-Obama T-shirt  —  UPDATE: Please read School District says suspended student's anti-Obama t-shirt caused ‘disruption’ for new information on the story.  —  The father of an Aurora fifth-grader said Monday he plans to sue after school officials suspended …

Chattanooga: UT student not indicted in Palin e-mail hacking case … A federal grand jury in Chattanooga ended its session around lunch time today without indicting a University of Tennessee student who authorities believe may have hacked into vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account.

‘Grim’ Afghanistan Report To Be Kept Secret by US  —  “No Plans to Declassify” New National Intelligence Estimate for White House  —  US intelligence analysts are putting the final touches on a secret National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Afghanistan that reportedly describes the situation as …

Credit Is Not a Civil Right  —  I have no way of judging whether the Wall Street bailout is a necessary evil or an impending disaster.  But we're in this mess, ultimately, because our political elites thought it was good social policy to encourage banks to give mortgages to uncreditworthy people …

If Ohio polling looks like Chicago, ‘thank’ Brunner  —  Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has a reputation as the most partisan state official in Ohio.  And she works hard to earn it.  The Democrat's latest stunt rejected absentee ballots for thousands of Republicans.  —  But it's not her first rodeo.

Michelle Obama thanks me  —  Just seeing if you're awake.  —  Hee.  —  Actually, Michelle Obama really did thank me — in her mass e-mail, which has now been sent to me twice, urging the Obama cultists to watch her video promoting The One's first presidential debate.

CEO murdered by mob of sacked Indian workers  —  Corporate India is in shock after a mob of sacked workers bludgeoned to death the chief executive who had dismissed them from a factory in a suburb of Delhi.  —  Lalit Kishore Choudhary, 47, the head of the Indian operations of Graziano Transmissioni …

Obama Dramatically Ramping Up Overall Ad Spending; Now Outgunning McCain  —  In a sign that the Obama campaign is getting serious about tapping his financial advantage over McCain with six weeks to go, Obama's overall spending on TV ads has jumped 50% in the last two weeks …