Rand Paul cancels Meet the Press appearance  —  After two days of bruising media coverage about his views on elements of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the campaign of Kentucky U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul tells me it has canceled the candidate's upcoming appearance on NBC's “Meet the Press” …

More Blumenthal Claims of Vietnam Service  —  WASHINGTON — Broader newspaper archival searches have continued to turn up claims by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut that he was a Vietnam War veteran, even though he did not serve in the war.

Economic Scene: Obama's Progressive Project Is Changing Washington  —  With the Senate's passage of financial regulation, Congress and the White House have completed 16 months of activity that rival any other since the New Deal in scope or ambition.  Like the Reagan Revolution …

Mayor Daley Threatens to Shoot the Messenger—Namely, Me  —  Mayor Daley loves to bag on the local media, and given my recent line of inquiry into his politics and policies, I've never expected to be greeted with a fruit basket at City Hall.  —  But even I was a bit taken aback this morning …

Top Official Says Feds May Not Process Illegals Referred From Arizona  —  A top Department of Homeland Security official reportedly said his agency will not necessarily process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona authorities.

'I'm a Marxist' says Dalai Lama, but agrees capitalism has helped China  —  TIBETAN spiritual leader the Dalai Lama says he's a Marxist, yet credits capitalism for bringing new freedoms to China, the communist country that exiled him.  —  “Still I am a Marxist,” the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader …

Issa threatens Sestak with complaint  —  A leading House Republican is threatening to file an ethics complaint against Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) if he doesn't reveal who in the White House offered him a job to drop out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary.  —  Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) …

Lost Decade Looming?  —  Despite a chorus of voices claiming otherwise, we aren't Greece.  We are, however, looking more and more like Japan.  —  For the past few months, much commentary on the economy — some of it posing as reporting — has had one central theme: policy makers are doing too much.

The Story of an Angry Voter  —  Let's imagine a character named Ben.  A couple of decades ago, Ben went to high school.  —  It wasn't easy.  His parents were splitting up.  His friends would cut class to smoke weed.  His sister got pregnant.  But Ben worked hard and graduated …

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie swiftly vetoes ‘millionaires tax,’ property tax rebate bills … TRENTON — It took about two minutes from the time Senate President Steve Sweeney certified the passage of the millionaires tax package for Gov. Chris Christie to veto the bills at his desk.

EXCLUSIVE: Bob Kerrey Tapped to Head MPAA  —  Former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey has been tapped to be the next chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, TheWrap has learned.  —  Kerrey has won approval from the heads of the movie companies that make up the powerful Hollywood lobby …

Officials ID West Memphis shooting suspects as father, teenage son … Welcome to earth.  Down here, juvenile offender's identities are usually protected.  Also, we normally wait until next of kin has been notified before we parade their bodies to be seen by millions...

Kevin Costner may hold key to oil spill cleanup  —  The actor has invested 15 years and $24 million in a cleanup system involving centrifugal oil separators.  BP and the Coast Guard plan to test six of the machines on the spill next week.  —  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service specialists capture a laughing gull on Breton Island.

Forget Greece: Europe's real problem is Germany  —  Ground zero of Europe's debt-currency-banking crisis isn't in Greece, or Portugal, or Ireland or even Spain.  It's in Germany.  —  So says Martin Wolf, the estimable economics columnist of the Financial Times, who this week offered …