The ‘Cap And Tax’ Dead End  —  There is no shortage of threats to our economy.  America's unemployment rate recently hit its highest mark in more than 25 years and is expected to continue climbing.  Worries are widespread that even when the economy finally rebounds, the recovery won't bring jobs.

Sotomayor: Comments meant to inspire  —  After hearing two months of pointed attacks over her so-called “wise Latina” comments, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor publicly backed off the remarks Tuesday, describing them as “a rhetorical flourish that fell flat.”

C.I.A. Had Plan to Assassinate Qaeda Leaders  —  WASHINGTON — Since 2001, the Central Intelligence Agency has developed plans to dispatch small teams overseas to kill senior Qaeda terrorists, according to current and former government officials.  —  The plans remained vague and were never carried out …

The Economy Is Even Worse Than You Think  —  The average length of unemployment is higher than it's been since government began tracking the data in 1948.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The recent unemployment numbers have undermined confidence that we might be nearing the bottom of the recession.

Goldman executives sold $700m of stock  —  Executives at Goldman Sachs sold almost $700m worth of stock following the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  —  Most of the sales occurred during the period …

Ensign to stay in Senate, seek reelection  —  Fallout from affair, including ethics complaints, leaves him undeterred  —  WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. John Ensign said Monday that not only does he have no intention of resigning in light of his affair and his parents' payout to the woman's family …

Marcy Wheeler Says “Blowjob” On MSNBC  —  And oh yeah Dick Cheney was ordering a whole bunch of illegal s**t.  —  Howard Kurtz takes to the fainting couch.

Nearly all my professors are Democrats.  Isn't that a problem?  —  After I posed that question, two faculty railed against me.  That's a sure sign that universities should address the lack of ideological diversity.  —  EUGENE, ORE. -  —  When I began examining the political affiliation …

On Health-Care Reform, Obama Looks to Johnson's Model  —  President Obama returned to domestic affairs yesterday after a weeklong overseas tour with a warning for skeptics of his stalled health-care overhaul: “Don't bet against us.”  —  The tough talk in the Rose Garden gave way hours later …

Bare-Faced Go-Away Bird  —  First, I'm going to Rwanda this weekend, on vacation.  I'm looking forward to it immensely, especially since I discovered that the Bare-Faced Go-Away Bird, which topped my list of Best Bird Names Ever nearly five years ago, lives there.  (And did you know that the name ‘Watusi’ comes from the Tutsi?

The Small Business Surtax  —  The Obama Democrats pick income redistribution over job creation and economic growth.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Jason Furman owes an apology to Michael Boskin, the Stanford economist who wrote a year ago on these pages that Barack Obama would raise American income tax rates nearly to 60%.

Wow!  Russians Snubbed Obama— Refused to Shake His Hand!  (Video)  —  Funny... Our state-run media didn't report on this?  —  The Russians snubbed Obama- BIG TIME!  —  Hat Tip Desert Conservative  —  So much for pushing that reset button.

Time to tackle the real evil: too much debt  —  The core of the problem, the unavoidable truth, is that our economic system is laden with debt, about triple the amount relative to gross domestic product that we had in the 1980s.  This does not sit well with globalisation.

The Little Scandal That Could  —  “We're not there yet,” one Democratic source on Capitol Hill said last week, when asked about the prospect for hearings on the Obama administration's firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin.  Congressional investigators are still conducting interviews …

If a Teleprompter Falls in the White House Does It Make a Sound?  —  ABC News' Sunlen Miller and Jake Tapper report: If a teleprompter falls in the White House, does it make a sound?  —  Yes, especially when it's the President's teleprompter - or TOTUS as it is often referred to.

Obama Approval Rating Slips to 57 Percent  —  CBS News Poll: President Loses Support Amid Concerns About Economy; Loss In Backing Comes From Democrats And Independents  —  (CBS) President Obama's approval rating has fallen six points in the past month, a new CBS News poll finds …

Gerlach to run for governor, leave Congress  —  U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach has alerted top officials at the National Republican Congressional Committee that he'll run for governor next year in lieu of a reelection effort in Congress.  —  The decision is expected in an announcement Tuesday.

Clinton: Vetting process for administration jobs ‘a nightmare’  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed a rare flash of frustration Monday — calling the vetting process for Obama administration nominees “ridiculous” and “a nightmare.”

Obama Threatens to Veto Military Spending Bill if F-22 Funding Continues  —  President Pushing to Close Production Line  —  President Obama vowed yesterday to veto a pending $680 billion military spending bill for next year if lawmakers set aside funding for more F-22 warplanes than the Defense Department says it needs.

The Catholic Double Standard  —  Why was Samuel Alito's Catholicism so much more discussed than Sonia Sotomayor's?  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  In opening yesterday's Judiciary Committee hearings on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, Chairman Pat Leahy (D., Vt.) …

Business Week sale may fetch only $1  —  McGraw-Hill could reap just $1 from a sale of Business Week, according to people familiar with the 80-year-old financial magazine's losses.  —  The publisher has appointed Evercore, the boutique investment bank, to sell the business after concluding it was non-core …