Dems warn Baucus with gavel threat  —  In an apparent warning to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), some liberal Democrats have suggested a secret-ballot vote every two years on whether or not to strip committee chairmen of their gavels.

‘I Am Not A Racist,’ Says Cop Who Wrote Gates Slur  —  Justin Barrett Suspended From Police Department, National Guard  —  BOSTON — A Boston police officer who sent a racially charged e-mail protesting newspaper coverage of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. apologized Wednesday night and said “I am not a racist.”

Are Liberal Netroots Groups Helping Obama Fail?  —  I've started deleting them as spam.  —  I'm not talking about the enlarge-your-penis emails or “You've Won the Lottery” notices.  —  I'm talking about the increasingly-urgent emails coming for weeks from liberal Netroots groups calling for a …

Beer brewers beg for White House berth  —  Although we won't know for sure until afterward what types of beers were consumed by President Barack Obama, Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Police Sgt. James Crowley at this evening's White House gathering, there are some odds on favorites: a Bud Light for Obama …

Exclusive: Earmark critic steered cash to blimp research  —  Rep. Pete Sessions — the chief of the Republicans' campaign arm in the House — says on his website that earmarks have become “a symbol of a broken Washington to the American people.”  —  Yet in 2008, Sessions himself steered …

Debra Burlingame: Revenge of the ‘Shoe Bomber’  —  The terrorist sues to resume his jihad from prison.  The Obama administration caves in.  —  Multimedia  — previous  — next  —  Health Care Reform  —  President Obama's effort to overhaul the health-care system may have momentum.

Obama's Ratings Slide Across the Board  —  The Economy, Health Care Reform and Gates Grease the Skids  —  Barack Obama's approval ratings have suffered major declines.  The president's overall job approval number fell from 61% in mid-June to 54% currently.

Officers Run Background Check On Obama; Placed On Leave  —  DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Two DeKalb County police officers have been placed on paid administrative leave after an investigation revealed they ran a background check on President Barack Obama.  —  A representative for the DeKalb County …

Tough on Israel  —  Why President Obama's battle against Jewish settlements could prove self-defeating  —  ONE OF THE MORE striking results of the Obama administration's first six months is that only one country has worse relations with the United States than it did in January: Israel.

Roy Blunt on the Birthers: Unedited  —  Yesterday, Mike Stark released his “Birthers on the Hill, Part II” video.  Blunt's office responded by demanding the release of the entire unedited video.  We are happy to comply with the request.  —  Mike talked with Blunt on two days.

U.S. Adviser's Blunt Memo on Iraq: Time ‘to Go Home’  —  WASHINGTON — A senior American military adviser in Baghdad has concluded in an unusually blunt memo that the Iraqi forces suffer from deeply entrenched deficiencies but are now capable of protecting the Iraqi government, and that it is time …

Dan Rather wants Obama to help save the news  —  Login or register to post comments  —  Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather called on President Barack Obama to form a White House commission to help save the press Tuesday night in an impassioned speech at the Aspen Institute.

White Cops Are Always Right  —  That's been my experience as a citizen and as a reporter.  Back in the day, I used to write about the subject of racial profiling a bit, and and I'm reasonably sure, based on my reporting, that Sergeant Crowley of the Cambridge Police Department a) …

Cash for Clunkers: Federal rebate revs up buyers  —  Dale Skreen, left, of Loretto, took a last look at his 1993 Ford F-150 pickup truck before he drove away in his 2009 Ford F-150 XLT pickup.  Salesman Adam Notsch helped Skreen get a federal rebate in the Cash for Clunkers program.

Despite Obama's Objections, House Appropriators Seem Intent on Earmarks  —  The Democratic-controlled House is poised to give the Pentagon dozens of new ships, planes, helicopters and armored vehicles that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates says the military does not need to fund next year …

Ortiz and Ramirez Said to Be on 2003 Doping List  —  Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the sluggers who propelled the Boston Red Sox to end an 86-year World Series championship drought and to capture another title three years later, were among the roughly 100 Major League Baseball players …

50 Most Beautiful 2009 - Top 10 (HTML)  —  1. Rep. Martin Heinrich … Rep. Martin Heinrich has gone from climbing mountains to climbing stairs.  —  The avid outdoorsman, who once ran a wilderness adventure program for children and teens, now has to rely on his trips from his fifth-floor Longworth office …

Disorderly Conduct: Conversation About Gates Arrest Precedes Arrest  —  A lawyer who moments earlier had been complaining to friends about police overreaction in the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., got a taste of the Gates treatment himself after loudly chanting …

Self-Hating Jews and Other Sad Cases  —  I've received a lot of mail already in reaction to my post about the crisis in Israel — a crisis caused by the willful disregard of settler extremists to Israeli law, and by the Israeli government's impotence in the face of such law-breaking …

Debts paid, Hillary Clinton builds $3+ million campaign fund for ...?  —  With all of the immense numbers coming out of Washington these days, former senator, ex-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign debt is chump change.  Make that, “was.”  —  Here's the news: There is no more Hillary Clinton campaign debt.

Texas Hospital Flexing Muscle in Health Fight  —  McALLEN, Tex. — One of the largest sources of campaign contributions to Senate Democrats during this year's health care debate is a physician-owned hospital in one of the country's poorest regions that has sought to soften measures that could choke its rapid growth.

Lucrative Fees May Deter Efforts to Alter Loans  —  This week, the Obama administration summoned mortgage company executives to Washington to demand they move faster to lower payments for homeowners sliding toward foreclosure.  Treasury officials called on the companies to hire and train …

Dissent Of The Day  —  A reader writes: … Watching CNN and countless other “mainstream” news sources display blatant anti-healthcare reform bias has been like a punch in the gut.  Where are the journalists decrying the “rationing” of healthcare by income?

Weak Treasury Auctions Raise Worries About US Debt Burden  —  The U.S. Treasury sold $39 billion in five-year debt Wednesday in an auction that drew poor demand, raising worries over the cost of financing the government's burgeoning budget deficit.  —  It was the second lackluster showing …

‘Auto-Tune’ the latest, greatest spoof  —  With his mashup of news, music and video called “Auto-Tune the News,” Michael Gregory is taking political satire into the digital era.  “Auto-Tune the News” is the brainchild of Gregory, 24, and his two brothers and sister-in-law.

Iran security forces retreat as huge numbers of mourners gather at cemetery  —  As many as tens of thousands of protesters meet at the grave of Neda Agha-Soltan, whose shooting death was videotaped.  Meanwhile, the first group of protesters arrested in the unrest heads to trial.