ACORN Prostitution Scandal: California Here We Come!  —  **This is a Part I of the ACORN San Bernardino exposé.  Updates to follow...  [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed.  Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Snowe falls away, leaving Senate Dems without GOP health support  —  Senate Democrats are going to have to move forward on healthcare without a single Republican supporter after Sen. Olympia Snowe said Tuesday she could not back the Finance Committee's bill.

Obama Calls Kanye a ‘Jackass’ — The Audio  —  TMZ has obtained the audiotape of President Barack Obama calling Kanye West a “jackass” for hijacking Taylor Swift's acceptance speech during the VMAs.  —  The audio was recorded just before Obama went on camera to do an interview with CNBC.

Conservatives Draw Blood From Acorn, Favored Foe  —  WASHINGTON — For months during last year's presidential race, conservatives sought to tar the Obama campaign with accusations of voter fraud and other transgressions by the national community organizing group Acorn, which had done some work for the campaign.

House Rebukes Wilson for Shouting ‘You Lie’  —  WASHINGTON — Representative Joe Wilson was formally rebuked by the House on Tuesday for his outburst during President Obama's health care address.  The vote came after a Congressional clash over civility that showcased the deep partisan divisions in the House.

Conservatives score string of scoops  —  The right-wing media's single-minded focus on a handful of targets over the past months and its success in pushing those stories into the mainstream have underscored the sharp divide between traditional news organizations and the bloggers …

Simple Arithmetic  —  This week we put out our annual benchmark survey of employer health coverage and costs.  Two numbers jumped off the pages.  —  The first number was the average cost of a family health insurance policy in 2009: $13,375.  To put that number in context, if you are an employer …

Tape shows beating on bus of Belleville West student  —  This video frame grab shows one student attacking another while on a bus ride to school at Belleville West High School on Monday.  Editor's note: The underage victim's face has been blurred to protect his identity.

Carter Claims There Is “Racist” Tone Against Obama  —  In an interview with NBC's Brian Williams, former President Jimmy Carter said he has been extremely bothered by the heightened climate of racial and other hate speech since the election of President Barack Obama.

George Bush said Palin was ill prepared: ‘Is she the Governor of Guam?’  —  (Photo via an old Joe Scarborough post: Scarborough: “Is Bush An ‘Idiot’?” )  —  In a post I did last week I was asking the whereabouts of George Bush.  We now have a Bush sighting, and it's not about him defending Dick Cheney's lust for torture.

Dan Riehl: Licking his chops (or is it soiling his pants?) for a race war  —  It's only going to get funnier and more terrifying, my friends.  Let's roll the tape: … Oh, this is delightful!  Riehl demonstrates how tough and rugged he and his 9/12 compadres are by bragging …

Acorn Runs Off the Rails  —  'We're just community organizers, just like the president used to be.'  —  On Monday, the U.S. Senate voted 83-7 to strip Acorn, the premier community organizing group on the left, of more than $1.6 million in federal housing money meant to assist low-income people obtain loans and prepare tax forms.

45% Of Doctors Would Consider Quitting If Congress Passes Health Care Overhaul  —  Two of every three practicing physicians oppose the medical overhaul plan under consideration in Washington, and hundreds of thousands would think about shutting down their practices or retiring early if it were adopted, a new IBD/TIPP Poll has found.

The Paranoid Center  —  On June 10, 2009, an elderly man entered the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, raised a rifle, and opened fire, killing a security guard named Stephen Tyrone Johns.  Two other guards shot back, wounding the gunman before he could end any more lives.

Bygones not bye-bye for Bill Clinton in California Democratic gov race  —  In case you think ex-President Clinton forgets political slights, even after nearly two decades, think again.  Here's a fascinating California political item, slightly edited for non-Californians, from our blog buddies over at L.A. Now:

Susan O'Connor  —  I just don't understand why everyone does not recognize that this health care reform is a sham.  Both sides have their own agenda and it is not the best interest of the public.  Why can we not have public forums and discussions as to what the public wants.

Poll: Corzine takes lead over Christie in gubernatorial race … Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine has for the first time gained the lead in the gubernatorial race among all registered voters, according to a new Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll.  —  Among all registered voters polled …

Devices “Useful Primarily for the Stimulation of Human Genital Organs" Going to the Supreme Court?  Friday, the Alabama Supreme Court upheld (by a 7-2 vote, in 1568 Montgomery Highway, Inc. v. City of Hoover) a state statute that criminalizes, among other things, “knowingly distribut[ing] …

Post Magazine Killed ‘Depressing’ Story  —  On one point, there is no dispute: Katharine Weymouth did not like the subject of a Washington Post Magazine story that was headed toward publication and the piece wound up being killed.  —  Weymouth, publisher of The Post, told the story's author …