Key Reason Palin Gave For Quitting May Be False  —  One of the chief reasons Sarah Palin has given for resigning as Governor of Alaska is that her state's taxpayers are being forced to spend money defending her government against ethics complaints that would otherwise fund teachers, cops, and road repair.

Democrats Say C.I.A. Deceived Congress for Years  —  WASHINGTON — The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon E. Panetta, has told the House Intelligence Committee in closed-door testimony that the C.I.A. concealed “significant actions” from Congress from 2001 until late last month, seven Democratic committee members said.

Pool Boots Kids Who Might “Change the Complexion”  —  Campers sent packing after first visit to swim club  —  More than 60 campers from Northeast Philadelphia were turned away from a private swim club and left to wonder if their race was the reason.  —  “I heard this lady, she was like …

Brian Kilmeade Would Like Species and ‘Ethnics’ to Remain Pure  —  To stave off dementia!  Yes, today the befuddled screech owls on Fox & Friends were discussing a study that states that those that stay married fend off Alzheimer's and dementia better than lonely divorcees.  Brian Kilmeade took issue with this.

White House spells Obama's name wrong  —  Someone might want to look into whether an impostor took President Obama's place during his trip to Russia  —  In a release touting an agreement between Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev over how to craft a follow-up to the START arms reduction treaty …

Senate Democrats Still Seeking GOP Support  —  Balance of Power Not Changed Much By Supermajority  —  Senate Democrats spent their first full day holding 60 votes just as they have spent the previous 2 1/2 years without such a supermajority: scrambling to find Republican support …

Sarah Palin is not attractive to Chris Christie's N.J. Gov campaign  —  New Jersey GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie's campaign has no interest in help from Sarah Palin after the former vice presidential candidate stepped down as governor of Alaska, in part to help Republican candidates across the country.

Glad He Cleared That Up  —  We've gotten an explanation from Rep. Steve King (R-IA) for why he was the lone vote against acknowledging the role of slaves in building the U.S. Capitol.  He did it to protest “a several year effort by liberals in Congress to scrub references to America's Christian heritage from our nation's Capitol”:

The Republicans' dwindling options  —  With Sarah Palin and Mark Sanford out of the running, the GOP has to hope that Mitt Romney shows his good side in 2012.  —  Americans adore irresponsible, flashy celebrities.  But they do not vote for them.  Michael Jackson's funeral crashed the Internet.

White House Ponders Bernanke's Future  —  As the White House begins to ponder whether to reappoint or replace Ben Bernanke when his term expires in January, the Federal Reserve chairman's standing on Wall Street is on the rise while attacks on him from Congress mount.

New York Times Magazine Withdraws Altered Photo Essay  —  UPDATE, 5:57 p.m. ET: The New York Times has published a new editors' note about the altered photo essay that was published in Sunday's Times Magazine.  The newspaper says “most of the images did not wholly reflect the reality they purported to show.”

Hampton speaks publicly, says Ensign paid severance  —  Doug Hampton spoke publicly for the first time today about the affair his wife had with Sen. John Ensign, saying the Nevada Republican continued his pursuit even after intermediaries tried to get him to stop.

Subprime Returns as Housing Woe  —  In Atlanta, a Foreclosure Dichotomy Threatens Homes Values  —  The U.S. housing market is facing new downward pressure as holders of subprime-mortgage bonds flood the market with foreclosed homes at prices that are much lower than where many banks are willing to sell.

Robert McNamara and Donald Rumsfeld — compare and contrast  —  The death of Robert McNamara serves as George Will's spring board to reflect on contemporary neo-conservativism.  Will reminds us that neo-conservatism began, in significant part, as a reaction to the immodest stance of McNamara …

The Place of Women on the Court  —  In late February, three weeks after she had an operation for a recurrence of cancer, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg went to Barack Obama's first address to Congress.  Given the circumstances, it wasn't an event anyone expected her to attend.

Morgan Stanley Plans to Turn Downgraded Loan CDO Into AAA Bonds  —  Morgan Stanley plans to repackage a downgraded collateralized debt obligation backed by leveraged loans into new securities with AAA ratings in the first transaction of its kind, said two people familiar with the sale.

Genome project leader is selected to head NIH  —  Dr. Francis Collins is named to run vast research agency.  He guided the government's drive to map the human genetic code.  —  Dr. Francis S. Collins, the geneticist who discovered the causes of half a dozen diseases, oversaw the government's efforts …

Under Pressure, Blanche Lincoln Shifts On Public Plan  —  Looks like pressure from the left might be getting results, albeit limited ones, in the case of “centrist” Dem Senator Blanche Lincoln, who has been resisting any commitment to backing a public health care option.

Cloture and Party Unity  —  One of the more profound changes in American governance in recent years has been the normalization of the Senate filibuster—or, to be more precise, the threat of a Senate filibuster, since actual filibusters rarely occur.  To make a very long story short …

G8 leaders claim historic breakthrough on new deal to tackle global warming  —  President Obama and other leaders backed historic new targets for tackling global warming last night in an agreement designed to pave the way for a world deal in the autumn.  —  For the first time …

Group of 8 Agrees On a Ceiling for Temperature Rise  —  L'AQUILA, Italy, July 8 — The world's leading industrial nations tentatively agreed Wednesday to try to prevent global temperatures from rising above a fixed level, after a more far-reaching proposal to slash production of greenhouse gases fizzled …