Obama blasts GOP leader's ‘ant’ comment as ‘out of touch’  —  President Barack Obama has attacked House GOP Leader John Boehner for comparing the financial crisis to an ant.  —  Obama struck out at Boehner (R-Ohio) during a town hall meeting in Racine, Wis., for saying the Wall Street reform bill …

A Smoking Gun in the Kagan Case?  —  Shannen Coffin was a deputy attorney general during the Bush administration, and was charged with defending the federal partial-birth abortion act in court.  At National Review, he writes that documents released by the Clinton White House show Elena Kagan's …

Stabilizing the Debt By Doing Nothing  —  Here's a shocking chart from the Congressional Budget Office's latest long term budget outlook showing that unless Congress acts decisively, our debt situation will be totally fine:  —  See that line where the debt:GDP ratio is stable?

NEW EVIDENCE REVEALED: GORE SEX SCANDAL VICTIM TELLS ALL!!!  —  AL GORE SEX SCANDAL ACCUSER reveals shocking NEW EVIDENCE — ONLY to the NATIONAL ENQUIRER in a bombshell world exclusive interview!  —  “AL GORE is a pervert and sexual predator,” declares MOLLY HAGERTY, 54 …

Obama: Our first female president  —  If Bill Clinton was our first black president, as Toni Morrison once proclaimed, then Barack Obama may be our first woman president.  —  Phew.  That was fun.  Now, if you'll just keep those hatchets holstered and hear me out.  —  No, I'm not calling Obama a girlie president.

Sharron Angle retreats a bit, but mostly stands ground  —  Republican candidate for Senate gives first interview to mainstream medium  —  U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle breaks her silence toward the mainstream media Tuesday by talking to Jon Ralston on “Face to Face.”  —  2 a.m.

The Ugly Party vs. the Grown-Up Party  —  My political friendships and sympathies are increasingly determined not by ideology but by methodology.  One of the most significant divisions in American public life is not between the Democrats and the Republicans; it is between the Ugly Party and the Grown-Up Party.

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — June 2010  —  The start of summer finds Americans remain divided on the health reform law, but favorable views of the new law increased seven percentage points over the past month to 48 percent, compared to 41 percent who have “generally unfavorable” …

In U.S. Bailout of A.I.G., Forgiveness for Big Banks  —  Federal regulators ignored recommendations to force banks that did business with A.I.G. to accept losses.

Why Obamanomics Has Failed  —  Uncertainty about future taxes and regulations is enemy No. 1 of economic growth.  —  The administration's stimulus program has failed.  Growth is slow and unemployment remains high.  The president, his friends and advisers talk endlessly about the circumstances …

After The Fall  —  John Edwards parties on.  —  five days before John Edwards's mistress Rielle Hunter sat down with Oprah to talk about the by-then-infamous sex tape and other embarrassments that had destroyed his political career, the former presidential candidate showed up at the West End Wine Bar …

Economic Scene: Betting That Cutting Spending Won't Derail Recovery  —  The world's rich countries are now conducting a dangerous experiment.  They are repeating an economic policy out of the 1930s — starting to cut spending and raise taxes before a recovery is assured …

Standing Up to the Unholy Alliance Between Washington and Wall Street  —  Wall Street and its allies have been calling the shots in Congress for decades, so they must be glad to see how things are shaping up on financial regulatory reform.  Congress is about to vote on a final bill that fails …

Doctor Treating Pregnant Women With Experimental Drug To Prevent Lesbianism  —  That's not fair, as Hanna Rosin at Slate will shortly point out.  Pediatric endocrinologist Maria New—of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Florida International University—isn't just trying to prevent lesbianism …

Kagan's half-answer on eat-your-veggies law  —  Republicans are pouncing on the less-than-crystal-clear answer Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan gave late in Tuesday's confirmation hearing to a question from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) about whether the government has the right to micromanage Americans' diets.

Vacation Interruptus  —  Sorry, but I can't let this pass.  Glenn Greenwald has been conducting one of his patented vile, intellectually dishonest jihads against the Atlantic's Jeff Goldberg and he has now truly gone berserk.  I should say that Jeff is a friend of mine, one with whom I sometimes disagree …

New Expectations Estimates From the Cleveland Fed  —  The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland has put together some interesting new data on market expectations, including the following model of 10-year inflation expectations:  —  As you can see, it makes sense for policymakers to be more worried …

Biden Claims Republican Party is Being Sensible  —  Some interesting remarks from Vice President Joe Biden: … I have no idea whether or not this is true (the RNC's communications director seems to have issues a not-quite-denial) but what I find striking about it is what a sensible notion …

Oil spill visits get partisan  —  Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) wanted to fly 10 lawmakers down to the Gulf of Mexico to see the damage caused by BP's gigantic oil spill first hand.  —  House Democrats said no.  —  Scalise's trip was rejected for a variety of bureaucratic and logistical reasons …

White House to let McChrystal retire with 4 stars  —  Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama has agreed to waive a Pentagon rule and let outgoing Gen. Stanley McChrystal retire at his full four-star rank, a White House spokesman said Tuesday  —  While the general is short of the time needed …