Fate of Bailout Plan Remains Uncertain  —  WASHINGTON — The day began with an agreement that Washington hoped would end the financial crisis that has gripped the nation.  It dissolved into a verbal brawl in the Cabinet Room of the White House, urgent warnings from the president and pleas …

Thinking About McCain  —  I've been covering John McCain steadily for a decade.  A few years ago, I worked on a book, which I foolishly never completed, on the U.S. Senate with McCain as the central character.  So when I step back and think of McCain, even in the heat of this campaign …

Away from Wall Street, Economists Question Basis of Paulson's Plan  —  The Bush administration's pitch for a sweeping bailout of the financial system has centered on two simple premises: that the economy could suffer a crippling downturn if action is not taken very quickly and that this action …

Missouri Sheriffs & Top Prosecutors Form Obama “Truth Squads” & Threaten Libel Charges Against Obama Critics  —  More Hope and Change for Missouri...  St. Louis and Missouri Democrat sheriffs and top prosecutors are planning to go after anyone who makes false statements against Obama during his campaign.

Huckabee Calls McCain Debate Ploy a ‘Huge Mistake’  —  MOBILE, Ala. — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Thursday that Sen. John McCain made a “huge mistake” by even discussing canceling the presidential debate with Sen. Barack Obama.  —  McCain's campaign has said the Republican …

SLATE PREDICTS MCCAIN'S NEXT 10 HAIL MARY STUNTS.  —  1. Returns to Vietnam and jails himself.  —  2. Offers the post of “vice vice president” to Warren Buffett.  —  3. Challenges Obama to suspend campaign so they both can go and personally drill for oil offshore.  —  4. Learns to use computer.

President Bush Discusses Negotiations to Finalize Legislation on the Financial Rescue Package  —  THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.  My administration continues to work with the Congress on a rescue plan.  And we need a rescue plan.  This is — it's hard work.  Our proposal is a big proposal.

Palin Problem  —  If at one time women were considered heretical for swimming upstream against feminist orthodoxy, they now face condemnation for swimming downstream — away from Sarah Palin.  —  To express reservations about her qualifications to be vice president — and possibly president — is to risk being labeled anti-woman.

Four Pinocchios for Biden's Tax Fabrication … Democratic vice presidential hopeful Joe Biden claims that middle class Americans will be slapped with the “largest tax increase in American history” as a result of the McCain health care plan.  It is true that McCain has proposed taxing …

Where Are the Grown-Ups?  —  Many people on both the right and the left are outraged at the idea of using taxpayer money to bail out America's financial system.  They're right to be outraged, but doing nothing isn't a serious option.  Right now, players throughout the system are refusing …

The Public Deserves a Better Deal  —  The Treasury plan to buy illiquid financial assets has been widely criticized as being unfair to taxpayers, who will have to bear losses ahead of shareholders of the institutions that will be bailed out.  —  There is a better alternative to stabilize the markets …

Palin on the Bailout  —  Sarah Palin gives her view of the economic crisis:  —  I decline to comment on what this reveals about her fitness for office.

McCain's temperament again an issue  —  When John McCain announced Wednesday that he was suspending his campaign to tend to the nation's economic crisis, a top aide said McCain wanted the presidential candidates and members of Congress to “lock themselves in a room for the next 100 hours” to achieve “consensus on something.”

Obama Spokesman: McCain Campaign Telling TV Stations To Start Re-Airing Ads On Saturday  —  So how long is the McCain campaign really yanking its ads for amid McCain's “suspension” of his campaign to deal with the financial crisis?  —  Well, until Saturday, it appears — whether or not the financial crisis is resolved.

A Second Justice Opts Out of a Longtime Custom: The ‘Cert.  Pool’  —  WASHINGTON — Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. is getting out of the pool.  —  For almost 20 years, eight of the nine justices on the Supreme Court have assigned their law clerks to a shared legal labor pool that streamlines the work of reviewing incoming cases.