A Partisan Paper of Record  —  Today the New York Times launched its latest attack on this campaign in its capacity as an Obama advocacy organization.  Let us be clear about what this story alleges: The New York Times charges that McCain-Palin 2008 campaign manager Rick Davis was paid …

Economic Fears Give Obama Clear Lead Over McCain in Poll  —  Turmoil in the financial industry and growing pessimism about the economy have altered the shape of the presidential race, giving Democratic nominee Barack Obama the first clear lead of the general-election campaign over Republican John McCain …

To the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate:  —  As economists, we want to express to Congress our great concern for the plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson to deal with the financial crisis.  We are well aware of the difficulty …

Campbell Brown Rips McCain Camp's “Sexist” Treatment Of Palin  —  A prominent female news anchor chastised the McCain campaign Tuesday evening for engaging in sexism and insulting behavior in its attempt to shield Gov. Sarah Palin from members of the press.  —  In a fiery commentary …

Pew Research: Missing Cell-Phone Onlys Matter  —  Few in the field of survey research have examined the problem of cell phones and surveys as closely over the last four years as Scott Keeter and his colleagues at the Pew Research Center.  They conducted one of the first large-scale political surveys …

Intrade Betting is Suspicious  —  There's something funny going on over at Intrade with respect to the pricing of the Obama and McCain contracts.  —  Right now, Obama is trading at 52.3 points.  That is, Intrade implies that he has a 52.3 percent chance to become the next President.

Pinpoint Attacks Focus on Obama  —  STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — Hundreds of times in the past three weeks, cable television viewers here have been the exclusive audience for two of the roughest advertisements of the political season.  —  One links Senator Barack Obama to the former mayor of Detroit …

How Main Street Will Profit  —  Capitalism is a delicate balance between production and finance.  Today, our seemingly guaranteed living standard is threatened, much like it has been in previous recessions or, some would say, the Depression.  Finance has run amok because of oversecuritization …

Oh, That Joe!  (No. 17 in a Series) — First Thing We Do, Let's Retain All the Lawyers  —  “I think we're going to be up very late counting votes,” Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., told a kettle of lawyers Tuesday night at a fundraiser for the Democratic Victory Fund hosted by the American Association …

It's Judgment Day for McCain  —  Last week, Republican presidential candidate John McCain called for a commission to “find out what went wrong” on Wall Street.  It was an excellent suggestion: Public inquiries into Wall Street practices served the country well in the 1930s.

Bill Clinton cites Jewish holidays to explain delay in campaigning  —  File this one under Ya Can't Make It Up.  —  Call me crazy, but there may some Christian areas of the country that he could stump in for Obama before, after or doing the high holidays.  —  From WJC's interview with Larry King tonight:

Senator Biden: National Security Speech  —  Senator Biden just finished a major foreign policy speech at the Rotunda of the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal.  He addressed the issues of Iraq and Afganistan and how Barack will focus on rebuilding our alliances, partnerships and international institutions.

Trooper probe now ‘confidential,’ Palin aides say  —  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) — Republican campaign officials indicated they are done answering questions about an investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner Tuesday, citing a request by a state investigator.

Where is the Credit Crunch?  —  Back in February I pointed out that despite all the talk of a credit crunch commercial and industrial loans were at an all-time high and increasing.  At the time, Paul Krugman and others responded that this was just temporary as firms drew on previously existing lines of credit.

Even FOX Rebels Against Palin Media Shutout  —  Dude, first you lost ABC, and now you've lost FOX News, as evidenced by this testy segment with Shepard Smith yesterday.  That's just gotta smart for a Republican when the official water carrier for the Republican Party openly chastises …

Pelosi won't jump alone  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is telling Democrats that she will not support President Bush's $700 billion bailout of the financial sector unless there is significant Republican support for the controversial plan.  —  The politics of the bailout are tricky and dangerous …

Biden, Obama helped keep ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ alive  —  CNN Special Investigations Unit  —  DEWEY BEACH, Delaware (CNN) — Although Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden routinely mocks his Republican counterpart, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, for her onetime support of the infamous …

N. Korea Bars Inspectors From Nuclear Plant  —  PARIS — North Korea has barred international inspectors from a nuclear reprocessing plant that produces weapons-grade material and intends to restart activity there in a week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Wednesday.

Ivan Moore: Palin remains popular but not like before  —  From David Hulen in Anchorage -  —  Anchorage pollster/consultant Ivan Moore has a new poll out from 500 likely Alaska voters.  While Gov. Palin's popularity remains very high - 68 percent overall give her a positive rating …

The trust problem  —  Andrew Leonard has an interesting theory about what Paulson and Bernanke may be thinking — namely, that mortgage-related securities are wildly underpriced, and that the Treasury can create a market that will lead to major upward revaluations, and we'll all live happily thereafter.

Kill the bailout: Illegal immigration and the mortgage mess  —  My syndicated column today tackles the bailout angle no one wants to talk about: Open borders and the home loan debacle.  You've heard a lot about Fannie/Freddie and the minority lending shakedowns, but you haven't heard …

Bailout Questions  —  So where did the $700 billion number come from?  —  Sec. Paulson told congress yesterday that the plan was to spend roughly 50 billion a month,  —  Sen. Schumer asked: why not $150 billion then, and let the next administration do a re-evaluation in January?  No real answer.