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 Surprises Sessions  —  Jess Bravin reports on Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing.  —  Ouch!  —  Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), seeking to discredit Judge Sonia Sotomayor's judicial philosophy, cited her 2001 “wise Latina” speech, and contrasted the view that ethnicity …

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.

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 …

The Same-Sex Marriage Switch  —  Former President Bill Clinton has come out in support of same-sex marriage.  —  After speaking at the Campus Progress National Conference in Washington, DC, on July 8, the former president was asked if he supported same-sex marriage.

Sanford's office couldn't locate missing governor  —  E-mails, phone calls outline efforts to contact, cover for AWOL leader  —  Gov. Mark Sanford's chief of staff, Scott English, called the governor's cell phones 15 times during the governor's secret trip to Argentina to visit his lover last month.

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?

Obama Numbers Follow The Economy  —  Shift Among Independents May Have Been Overstated, But Bad Economic News Corresponds To Downward Trend  —  President Obama's job approval rating has fallen over the last two months, prompting two questions for pundits and pollsters.

Christie Up 12 In New Jersey, A Step Ahead On Boardwalk, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Obama Approval At 60 Percent Among Likely Voters  —  Republican challenger Christopher Christie is pulling away from Democratic incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine and now holds a 53 - 41 percent lead among likely voters …

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 …

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%.

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 …

A Bit More About Hillary...And a Tidbit About Her Friend Sidney  —  Apropos my last posting: what J.F.K. did was to substitute Mac Bundy for his secretary of state Dean Rusk.  —  What Barack Obama has done is make himself his own secretary of state.  No crime.

Steele: GOP woos blacks with “fried chicken and potato salad”  —  The Young Republicans convention was held in Indianapolis last weekend and their election of a racist, middle-aged woman as President isn't the only controversial item to come out of the GOP gathering.

Soldier balks at deploying; says Obama isn't president  —  Says he shouldn't have to go to Afghanistan because Obama is not a U.S. citizen  —  U.S. Army Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook, set to deploy to Afghanistan, says he shouldn't have to go.  —  His reason?

Hamas says Israel dumping aphrodisiac gum on Gaza  —  GAZA CITY (AFP) — Hamas suspects that Israeli intelligence services are supplying its Gaza Strip stronghold with chewing gum that boosts the sex drive in order to “corrupt the young,” an official said on Tuesday.

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.

Michelle Obama's father buried at Burr Oak  —  First Lady Michelle Obama's father, Fraser Robinson III, is buried at Burr Oak Cemetery, the Alsip facility involved in a grave desecration scandal, according to a White House spokeswoman.  —  There was no indication whether Robinson's grave was among those disturbed.

Obama preps for the pitchers mound  —  (CNN) — President Obama is not shy about showing off his jump shot on the basketball court, but on Tuesday night, it's his baseball skills that will be put to the test.  —  Obama will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in St. Louis, Missouri.