CONSERVATIVE PROTESTERS PREPPING FOR OBAMA N.H. TOWN HALL  —  From NBC's Chuck Todd  —  Pres. Obama holds his OWN town hall in New Hampshire this Tuesday where the issues of the economy and health care are likely to be the dominant issues.  Of course, what many will be watching …

Gingrich defends Palin's ‘death panels’  —  Newt Gingrich and Howard Dean went at it on health care this morning on This Week.  Especially over Sarah Palin's claim that Obama's health care plan will create “death panels” that would encourage euthanasia.  —  “Communal standards historically …

Deficit grew by $181 billion in July  —  Bailouts for financial firms and billions in tax revenue lost because of the recession drove the deficit to a record $1.3 trillion in July, according to the independent Congressional Budget Office (CBO).  —  Tax receipts that have fallen due …

Obama still isn't president in the south  —  Denying the leader's American birth is just another form of racism  —  A naive person might believe that Barack Hussein Obama was born, as he has long said he was, in Hawaii to a young American mother and a distant father from Kenya.

How the White House's Deal With Big Pharma Undermines Democracy  —  I'm a strong supporter of universal health insurance, and a fan of the Obama administration.  But I'm appalled by the deal the White House has made with the pharmaceutical industry's lobbying arm to buy their support.

Let's mark this moment in the health debate as it happens  —  Nearly fifteen years ago, after the collapse of the Clinton health-reform effort, I spent a lot of time working on an Atlantic article (and subsequent book chapter) about how, exactly, the discussion of the bill had become so unmoored …

The Gangs of D.C.  —  In the Senate, Small States Wield Outsize Power.  Is This What the Founders Had in Mind?  —  Wonder why President Obama is having a hard time enacting his agenda after sweeping to victory and with large congressional majorities on his side?

Mexico and Canada Tussle Over Immigration  —  GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Ahead of President Obama's arrival in Mexico on Sunday night for a summit meeting of North American leaders, immigration was prompting significant behind-the-scenes debate.  But it was Mexicans entering Canada, not the United States, that was the contentious issue.

Another 45,000 US troops needed in Afghanistan, military adviser says  —  The United States should send up to 45,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, a senior adviser to the American commander in Kabul has told The Times.  —  Anthony Cordesman, an influential American academic who is a member …

Dissent is patriotic - not  —  Imagine it's four years ago and an aide to President George W. Bush posted a blog on the Whitehouse.gov Web site that bemoaned Internet criticism of the Iraq war, then continued: “These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain e-mails or through casual conversations.