Visitor Records  —  As part of President Obama's commitment to government transparency, we are providing records of White House visitors on an ongoing basis online.  In December 2009, we will begin posting all White House visitor records for the period from September 15th onwards under the terms of our new voluntary disclosure policy.

Gavin Newsom quits race for California governor  —  San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who has been seen as a leading contender to be the next governor of California, announced today that he is quitting the race.  —  Newsom is withdrawing from the Democratic primary amid lackluster poll numbers and meager fund-raising receipts.

Steele: Hoffman win is a GOP win  —  Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Friday that a victory by Doug Hoffman, the third-party candidate in the Nov. 3 New York special election, is a win for the GOP.  —  The actual Republican nominee, Dede Scozzafava, trails Hoffman …

CREW LAWSUIT RESULTS IN RELEASE OF NOTES OF CHENEY'S FBI INTERVIEW IN WILSON LEAK CASE  —  30 Oct 2009 // Washington, D.C. - Today, after successfully winning a lawsuit against the Department of Justice, under court order, CREW received documents related to former Vice President Dick Cheney's interview …

$160,000 Per Stimulus Job?  White House Calls That ‘Calculator Abuse’  —  Posting its results late this afternoon at Recovery.gov, the White House claimed 640,329 jobs have been created or saved because of the $159 billion in stimulus funds allocated as of Sept. 30.

Attention Bush Apologists: Reagan Greeted Fallen Americans at an Air Force Base, Idiots  —  It appears my post yesterday got the teabaggers all riled up.  —  Apparently, their position is that George W. Bush's refusal to honor fallen Americans as they return to this country for the last time …

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.

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 …

MSNBC Airs Uncensored Breast Self-Exam  —  This reminds me when Fox News plays a constant b-roll of girls in bikinis during, say, Spring Break while proclaiming, “Ohhhh, isn't that terrible!  That's so inappropriate!”  —  MSNBC's Dr. Nancy — who's show gets terrible ratings …

Ayn Rand's Revenge  —  A specter is haunting the Republican Party — the specter of John Galt.  In Ayn Rand's libertarian epic “Atlas Shrugged,” Galt, an inventor disgusted by creeping American collectivism, leads the country's capitalists on a retributive strike.

Gore Vidal: Thirteen-year-old Roman Polanski rape victim was a ‘hooker’  —  Author Gore Vidal says he refuses to feel any sympathy for Roman Polanski's rape victim, whom he dubs a “hooker.”  —  In an interview with The Atlantic, the controversial 83-year-old author of such books as …

Source: Afghan election talks break down  —  Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — Talks between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his election opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, have broken down, a Western source close to the Afghan leadership told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Friday.

Pat Robertson on hate crimes bill: ‘The noose has tightened around the necks of Christians.’  —  Yesterday on the Christian Broadcasting Network, televangelist Pat Robertson aired a segment slamming President Obama for signing the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law.

The Death of Private Investment  —  The Bureau of Economic Analysis released third-quarter gross domestic product numbers yesterday, and overall real growth at 3.5 percent was pretty good.  —  But examining the components of GDP reveals a more disturbing picture.

Will the public plan have higher premiums than private insurance?  —  I've been saying that a public option with negotiated rates probably won't post much of a price advantage against private insurers.  But according to the Congressional Budget Office (pdf), that's an overoptimistic take.

Deal in Senate on Protecting News Sources  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, leading Senate Democrats and a coalition of news organizations have reached tentative agreement on legislation providing greater protections against fine or imprisonment to reporters who refuse to identify confidential sources.

Pelosi on Awkward Moment with Reid: It's Not Him — It's Afghanistan  —  ABC News' Rick Klein reports:  —  In an interview with ABC's Bill Weir yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked what was going through her mind earlier this month when she seemed to recoil when Senate Majority …

NRCC Pulling Out of NY-23?  —  I'm hearing that the NRCC is pulling out of NY-23.  It's coming from a credible source familiar with the operation inside of the beltway Committee.  —  That being said I just reached out to Matthew Burns, Spokesman for the Scozzafava campaign, who denied this claim.