Dozens in Congress under ethics inquiry  —  House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July.

Pataki endorses Hoffman  —  Former New York Gov. George Pataki endorsed Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman tonight, the clearest sign yet that even the most establishment New York Republicans now view Hoffman as having the best shot at preventing a Democrat from winning next Tuesday's special election.

Lieberman Marching Further Right in 2010  —  Subway Series: Former Dem Veep Candidate Plans to Campaign for GOP  —  Sounding more like an independent than a Democrat, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., tells ABC News he will campaign for some Republican candidates during the 2010 midterm elections …

Deal Reached in Honduras to Restore Ousted President  —  MEXICO CITY — A lingering political crisis in Honduras seemed to be nearing an end on Friday after the de facto government agreed to a deal that would allow Manuel Zelaya, the deposed president, to return to office.

The Defining Moment  —  O.K., folks, this is it.  It's the defining moment for health care reform.  —  Past efforts to give Americans what citizens of every other advanced nation already have — guaranteed access to essential care — have ended not with a bang, but with a whimper …

Opt-out divides Schumer and Emanuel  —  Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emanuel, the architects of the Democrats' historic take-back of Congress in 2006, talk to each other nearly every day in abrupt, Morse code bursts stripped of hellos, goodbyes and thank-yous.  —  On the surface, everything seems normal.

The White House Stupidly Goes To War With Car Web Site Edmunds.com  —  It is an odd, and we'd say regrettable, pattern of this White House that it lets itself get dragged down into fights with specific media outlets.  —  George W. Bush experienced acrimony with the New York Times …

Chris Christie: Man, am I fat  —  I couldn't agree more with Cavuto: This is a brilliant piece of retail politics, turning Corzine's lame digs at his weight into a high-profile opportunity to charm voters.  The tone is exactly right and the jokes are actually funny, and he makes sure …

The Stimulus Jobs Inflation Index  —  Old metric: Jobs created or saved.  —  New metric: Jobs inflated or craved.  —  The White House put out its new fuzzy porkulus math report — and then patted itself on the back for “transparency:” … The Associated Press provided real transparency yesterday …

The Pay Czar Is Unconstitutional  —  Kenneth Feinberg hasn't been confirmed by the U.S. Senate.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Last week's announcement that “Pay Czar” Kenneth Feinberg slashed compensation for executives at seven large financial firms by an average of 50% stunned Wall Street …

Brutal ruling quashes birthers' suit  —  A federal judge in California has issued a brutal ruling dismissing a closely-watched “birthers'” lawsuit challenging President's Barack Obama's qualifications to be president.  —  In a 30-page ruling issued Thursday morning, Judge David Carter used …

We're Governed by Callous Children  —  Americans feel increasingly disheartened, and our leaders don't even notice.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The new economic statistics put growth at a healthy 3.5% for the third quarter.  We should be dancing in the streets.

A Senate Naysayer, Spoiling for Health Care Fight  —  WASHINGTON — Senator Tom Coburn's office is the rare Capitol Hill work space without a “me wall” — the display of photographs of a lawmaker standing beside presidents, foreign leaders and other dignitaries, all illustrating How Big a Deal he is.

Charles Krauthammer on Obama's Afghanistan ‘drift’  —  Old Soviet joke:  —  Moscow, 1953.  Stalin calls in Khrushchev.  —  “Niki, I'm dying.  Don't have much to leave you.  Just three envelopes.  Open them, one at a time, when you get into big trouble.”  —  A few years later, first crisis.

'I'm not big on showing weakness'  —  Even before her bill reaches the House floor, health care reform has been a lesson in the limits of power for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — and in the immense challenge of managing disappointment on the left.  —  The bill rolled out Thursday is weaker …

Clinton Faces Pakistani Anger at Drone Attacks  —  ISLAMABAD (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton came face-to-face Friday with simmering Pakistani anger over U.S. aerial drone attacks in their country and drew back slightly from her blunt remarks suggesting Pakistani officials know where terrorists are hiding.

New Brighton wife tried to kill husband over Muslim principles, cops allege … STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A 37-year-old wife from New Brighton tried to slit her husband's throat as he slept because he was not the devout Muslim she believed she married, and pressured her to eat pork and drink alcohol, authorities allege.

Jeb Bush: Obama trying to ‘attack capitalism’  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Since his brother left office in January, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has been mostly diplomatic when discussing the Obama administration.  —  On Wednesday, he took a sharper tone.  —  During remarks to a U.S. Chamber …

The Tenacity Question  —  Today, President Obama will lead another meeting to debate strategy in Afghanistan.  He will presumably discuss the questions that have divided his advisers: How many troops to commit?  How to define plausible goals?  Should troops be deployed broadly or just in the cities and towns?

They make their mark in mug shot history  —  (CNN) — Police say guilt was written all over their faces.  —  Police received a call Friday night that two men with hooded sweatshirts and painted faces had tried to break into a man's home in Carroll, Iowa.  —  When police stopped …

Mr. Cuccinelli's bigotry  —  KENNETH CUCCINELLI, the Republican candidate for Virginia state attorney general, believes it's “appropriate” to formulate public policy on the premise that homosexuals engage in behavior that is “intrinsically wrong” and offensive to “natural law.”