Obama Rules Out Large Reduction in Afghan Force  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama told Congressional leaders on Tuesday that he would not substantially reduce American forces in Afghanistan or shift the mission to just hunting terrorists there, but he indicated that he remained undecided …

Bill Ayers No Dream  —  There I was, sitting in Reagan National Monday morning, sipping a Starbucks by the United counter before going through security.  I had a little time, so I was browsing through the news.  Some military guys had borrowed a chair from my table.

Dem: House GOP is “80 percent male, 100 percent white”  —  The National Republican Congressional Committee is urging Gen. Stanley McChrystal to put House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “in her place” for weighing in on Afghanistan — prompting one female Pelosi ally to blast the House GOP as …

Senate moderates echo GOP call for 72-hour disclosure  —  As the health care reform bill moves to the Senate floor, a key bloc of moderate Senate Democrats and an independent called on Senate Majority Leader Reid to increase the process' transparency.  —  Specifically, the senators called …

Fed Frets Over Commercial Real Estate  —  With Banks Slow to Take Losses, Fears of a Residential-Bust Repeat; ‘More Pain Likely Lies Ahead’  —  Banks in the U.S. “are slow” to take losses on their commercial real-estate loans being battered by slumping property values and rental payments …

Approval of U.S. Congress Falls to 21%, Driven by Democrats  —  Lowest rating for Congress since January  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' approval of the job Congress is doing is at 21% this month, down significantly from last month's 31% and from the recent high of 39% in March.

First on the Ticker: Obama enlists Hollywood in new ad  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Obama is turning to a handful of Hollywood stars to judge a contest that asks grassroots supporters to create a television commercial promoting health care reform.  —  Musician Will.I.Am, actor John Cho …

Working hard or hardly working?  —  Like most Americans, members of the House are expected to report promptly — no excuses — when summoned by their bosses for the start of another workweek.  One difference: For lawmakers, starting time doesn't come until about 6:30 Tuesday evening.

Durbin's office blacklists STARadio stations  —  A spokesman for U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) says the senator's office will no longer send media information to Quincy's oldest radio station because the station decided to let the public know he was coming to town.

The criticism that Ralph Lauren doesn't want you to see!  —  Last month, Xeni blogged about the photoshop disaster that is this Ralph Lauren advertisement, in which a model's proportions appear to have been altered to give her an impossibly skinny body ("Dude, her head's bigger than her pelvis").

Should Gen. McChrystal stop speaking publicly about Afghan war strategy?  —  Gen. Stanley McChrystal, U.S. commander in Afghanistan, set off the rumbles of a political storm last week by saying publicly, during a speech in London, that a more limited strategy than the one he's proposing …

Charlie sneaks $3M in pork for CCNY  —  WASHINGTON — Two years after creating a center in his own name at City College, Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel has come through with a $3 million defense grant for the school — for a project the Pentagon doesn't even want, The Post has learned.

Tom DeLay to Quit Dancing with the Stars  —  It's the end of the road for Tom DeLay.  —  Sources tell PEOPLE that the former Republican House Majority Leader will withdraw from Dancing with the Stars on Tuesday's live results show due to stress fractures in both of his feet.

Deeds points finger at Washington  —  Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds said in an interview that he was lagging in the polls entering the final weeks of the campaign in part because of voter concerns over his national party's agenda.  —  “Frankly, a lot of what's …

Michael Moore's Problems Are Our Fault  —  Michael Moore arrives at an LA premiere of his latest film, ‘Capitalism: A Love Story’ in September 2009 (Kevin Winters/Getty Images for Overture) … The reaction to Michael Moore's new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, reinforces a suspicion …

‘Code Pink’ rethinks its call for Afghanistan pullout  —  In Afghanistan, the US women's activist group finds that their Afghan counterparts want US troop presence - as well as more reconstruction.  —  KABUL, AFGHANISTAN -  —  When Medea Benjamin stood up in a Kabul meeting hall this weekend …

Partisan Economics in Action  —  Successful economic ideas usually end up being taken too far.  —  Democrats dominated the middle part of the 20th century, thanks in part to their vigorous response to the Great Depression.  They used the government to soften the effects of the Depression and to build the modern safety net.

SEC Probing Biggest Hospital Company  —  Nursing Shifts Examined in HCA's London Unit  —  The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a probe into whether the largest hospital company in the world, Hospital Corporation of America, violated securities law by manipulating its books and records …