Approval Ratings Drop for Obama on Health Care, Other Issues  —  Approval Rating on Health Care Falls Below 50 Percent  —  Obama's approval ratings on other front-burner issues, such as the economy and the federal budget deficit, have also slipped over the summer, as rising concern …

Financial Rescue I.G. Says Banks Funneled TARP Aid to Various Expenses  —  Many of the banks that got federal aid to support increased lending have instead used some of the money to make investments, repay debts or buy other banks, according to a new report from the special inspector general overseeing …

Frank McCourt, Whose Irish Childhood Illuminated His Prose, Is Dead at 78  —  Frank McCourt, a former New York City schoolteacher who turned his miserable childhood in Limerick, Ireland, into a phenomenally popular, Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, “Angela's Ashes,” died in Manhattan on Sunday.

Corzine campaign showing signs of obvious desperation  —  Gov. Jon S. Corzine's campaign continues to make even Democrats think the governor is desperate, the latest installment being his adding a “reality show” winner to his list of lieutenant governor candidates.

Video: Pvt. Bowe Bergdahl Full Hostage Video  —  Here is the entire video showing Private Bowe Berdahl in Taliban captivity.  The Taliban have threatened to murder him if the U.S. does not leave Afghanistan.  —  Until Bowe Bergdahl's captors are dead I will not rest.

God, Guns, Guts, and CNN's Idiot Reporters  —  Greetings, Instapundit readers!  —  “You don't have a problem with God, do ya?”  —  This is a question posed to CNN reporter Carol Costello during a recent interview with Mark Muller, a Missouri car dealer whose company is offering an unusual incentive …

Morning Fix: Jindal Rises Again  —  Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) will wade into the national debate over health care this week by penning op-eds in Politico and the Wall Street Journal and appearing on a series of cable chat shows today and tomorrow.  —  “Governor Jindal has seen enough …

Race in 2028  —  During last week's Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Republican senators kept bringing the conversation back to 2001 — the year when Sonia Sotomayor delivered the most famous version of her line about how a “wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences” might outshine a white male judge.

Subprime Brokers Resurface as Dubious Loan Fixers  —  LOS ANGELES — From the ninth floor of a downtown office building on Wilshire Boulevard, Jack Soussana delivered staggering numbers of mortgages to homeowners during the real estate boom, amassing a fortune.  —  By Mr. Soussana's own account, his customers fared less happily.

Palin Hairdresser: NYT Was Lying About “Hair Thinning” Claim  —  Chalk this up as Stupid Palin Meme of the Week:  —  In a July 12th hit piece published on the front page of the New York Times, reporters Jim Rutenberg and Serge Kovaleski (assisted by Kim Severson and William Yardley in Alaska) made the following claim:

“Rationing”  —  Thinking about the “rationing” question in health care it's worth trying to get clear.  Sometimes there are shortages of something relative to demand—think of a huge oil shock—and the government decides it wants to impose price controls.  That, in turn, leads to shortages.