Stephanopoulos: McCain Holds Key to Administration's Bailout Passage on Capitol Hill  —  ABC News' George Stephanopoulos reports: If Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain doesn't vote for the Bush administration's $700 billion economic bailout plan, some Republican …

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.

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:

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 …

Bernanke and Paulson: Here's Why We're Screwing You  —  At today's Wall Street Bailout Hearings, we finally learned what Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke are thinking.  Specifically, we learned what prices they plan to pay for the crap assets they're buying (more than they're worth).

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

And the Media Worries about Palin's Experience and McCain's Age?  —  I think in the space of about the last 24 hours, Joe Biden claimed that the AIG bailout was bad, but then said it wasn't bad;  —  that his apology about the dirty McCain ad was, as they say, inoperative;

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 …

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.

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 …

For Palin in New York, a Predebate Introduction to Motorcade Diplomacy  —  Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska met her first head of state on Tuesday as she crisscrossed New York City receiving foreign policy tutorials in advance of her debate next week with Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

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 …