President Obama's Conference Call with Liberal Bloggers: John Amato asks Congress to work through the August recess  —  You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!  —  DOWNLOADS: 463  —  PLAYS: 1315 … President Obama and David Axlerod hosted …

Harvard professor Gates arrested at Cambridge home  —  Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's pre-eminent African-American scholars, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in.  The incident raised concerns among …

Budget accord reached  —  Calling for deep cuts and avoiding broad tax hikes, Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders agree on ways to close California's $26.3-billion deficit.  —  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders announced today that they have reached a deal …

Obama's Gitmo Task Force Blows Its Deadline  —  Exclusive: why a key report on closing the facility has been delayed until the fall.  —  Brennan Linsley / Reuters-Landov  —  A U.S. journalist walks past sleeping quaters at Camp Justice, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, July 14, 2009.

Bailouts could cost U.S. $23 trillion  —  A series of bailouts, bank rescues and other economic lifelines could end up costing the federal government as much as $23 trillion, the U.S. government's watchdog over the effort says - a staggering amount that is nearly double the nation's entire economic output for a year.

Rumors of the Demise of ObamaCare Have Been Greatly Exaggerated  —  The beltway consesnsus seems to be that the Democrats' prospects of passing meaningful health insurance reform this year have become much slimmer, if they haven't already entirely evaporated.  Like Ezra Klein, however, I'm not really sure what everyone was expecting.

2012 Match-ups: Obama, Romney Tied at 45%; Obama 48%, Palin 42%  —  If the 2012 presidential election were held today, President Obama and possible Republican nominee Mitt Romney would be all tied up at 45% each, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Maloney apologizes for using N word  —  (CNN) - New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat, apologized Monday for using the N word in a recent interview while recounting a phone call she had received.  —  “I apologize for having repeated a word I find disgusting,” Maloney said in a statement.

Gay Marriage and the Constitution  —  Why Ted Olson and I are working to overturn California's Proposition 8.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  When I got married in California in 1959 there were almost 20 states where marriage was limited to two people of different sexes and the same race.

‘New York Times’ Defends Palin Story that Quotes Hairdresser  —  NEW YORK A story on The Huffington Post Monday reporting that Sarah Palin's hairdresser was upset about being inaccurately cited in a New York Times piece drew a response from a Times spokeswoman today claiming the hairdresser had praised the story.

Democrats Want to Teach You to Die With Dignity  —  H.R. 3200 is the Democrat healthcare bill.  —  Let's back up for a minute.  I noted some time ago Jay Rockefeller went on record to say that at some point the government has to decide whether or not you are allowed to receive …

Health Care Bill Directs HHS Secretary to Develop ‘Standards for Measuring Gender’—As Opposed to ‘Male’ and ‘Female’  —  (CNSNews.com) - The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee's health care legislation will give the Health and Human Services secretary the authority to develop …

The Unbearable Lightness of Greg Mankiw  —  A friend e-mails: … I would respond by saying that there's a weird tendency among people to think that very banal comments are very important insights when they come from Greg Mankiw.  And this is worse than a very banal comment: It's disengaged with the debate.

US car dealer offers free Kalashnikov with every purchase  —  A Missouri car dealer has taken a novel approach to combating the fall in US vehicle sales by offering a free Kalashnikov assault rifle with every truck, whether new or used.  —  Mark Muller, whose business slogan is “God, Guns …

Rep. Mike Castle Fends Off the Birthers  —  I got a little friendly fire from my friend and colleague Matt Welch over last week's article on the Obama birth certificate conspiracy.  He took issue with my “contention that the movement ‘dogs Republicans’ (there being so very many other issues that have more bite than a few barkers).”

Senate Dems outraise GOP counterparts  —  The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) raised $6.2 million in June, outraising the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) by nearly $3 million.  —  The DSCC banked $7.9 million and had $3.7 million in debt.

Poll: Less faith in Obama's economic abilities  —  WASHINGTON — The public's confidence in President Obama's ability to handle the economy is eroding amid concern about higher federal spending and expanding government power, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds — a development that could complicate …

Fox News Guest Ralph Peters Suggests Taliban Should Kill U.S. Soldier If He Deserted  —  Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier who has been captured by the Taliban and appears in a video released this weekend by his captors, “went missing from his base in eastern Afghanistan on June 30.”

Lawyer Leads an Immigration Fight  —  DALLAS — On a recent morning, Kris W. Kobach, a conservative law professor, rushed late into a federal courtroom here with his suit slightly rumpled and little more than a laptop under his arm.  His mission was to persuade the judge to uphold …

2008 voting rate down as older whites stayed home … WASHINGTON (AP) - For all the attention generated by last year's presidential race, census figures show the share of eligible voters who actually went to the polls in November declined from 2004.  —  Census figures released Monday show …

Jimmy Carter: ‘The words of God do not justify cruelty to women.’  —  Former President Jimmy Carter, who in 2000 officially severed ties with the Southern Baptist Convention after the SBC declared its opposition to female pastors and reiterated its calls “for wives to be submissive to their husbands …

Palin's Resignation: The Edited Version  —  If you watched Sarah Palin's resignation speech, you know one thing: her high-priced speechwriters moved back to the Beltway long ago.  Just how poorly constructed was the governor's holiday-weekend address?  We asked V.F.'s red-pencil-wielding …

Clinton likens North Korea to unruly children  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said North Korea should not receive the attention it is seeking through behavior like missile launches and likened Pyongyang's behavior to that of unruly children.

Khamenei warns Iran opposition of ‘collapse’  —  Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, warned the country's opposition leaders on Monday that they faced “collapse” if they continued to incite protests over the disputed presidential election.  —  The warning came amid an unprecedented war …

Obama Loves Mayo, But Mayo Does Not Love Him (Update: Gibbs Responds, Badly)  —  Throughout his push for health-care reform, President Obama has held up the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota as an example of great medicine at lower prices—something that could and should be emulated all over the country …

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Affair admission leads to cancellation of bash  —  Gibbons, Reid, Obama up, down in voter polls  —  Add this to the human toll taken by Sen. John Ensign's sex scandal: It's forced the cancellation of a rockin' party.  —  An “Ensign Reunion” of the senator's former staffers …