This Year's Maverick  —  Lindsey Graham was sitting in a sedan early one morning and contentedly discussing the various fellow South Carolina conservatives who dislike him — Tea Partiers, Constitutionalists, immigration hardliners — when Van Cato, his upstate regional director …

Barack Obama is among best presidents ever - George W. Bush not so much, say scholars in Siena poll  —  George W. Bush was no FDR, but Barack Obama could be.  —  That's the verdict of 238 of the nation's leading presidential scholars, who - for a fifth time - rated Franklin Delano Roosevelt …

First look at Daily Kos's lawsuit: Charges Research 2000 with “fraudulently manufacturing phony results”  —  I've obtained a copy of the lawsuit that Daily Kos just filed against Research 2000, and this going to get nastier than you thought.  —  The suit contains striking new details …

Gaffetastic.  Obama Blows Line From Statue of Liberty in Immigration Address — It's Even Wrong on the White House Website!  —  Your huddled masses yearning to be free..." … Umm... It's “yearning to breathe free”, Barack.  —  Barack Obama blew a line from Emma Lazarus' poem …

Pelosi: Unemployment Checks Fastest Way to Create Jobs  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill June 24.  (AP Photo)  —  Unemployment benefits are creating jobs faster than practically any other program, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.

Cantwell a ‘yes’ on Wall St. reform  —  Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington announced Thursday that she'll support a sweeping Wall Street reform bill, bringing Democrats one vote closer to securing Senate passage.  —  Cantwell, who voted against similar legislation on the Senate floor …

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Mel Gibson's Racist Rant Caught On Tape - Tells Oksana She Would Get ‘Raped By N***ers’  —  In one of the most explosive, racist and vile outbursts by a celebrity ever caught on tape, Mel Gibson told the mother of his love child that the way she was dressed would get her …

House Democrats pass ‘budget enforcement resolution’ by 215-210  —  House Democrats passed a budget document Thursday that sets discretionary spending at levels below those proposed by President Barack Obama but doesn't address how Congress should cut deficits.

Objectivity of spill probe panel is questioned  —  WASHINGTON — On the same day the White House commission investigating the Gulf oil spill announced its first meetings — July 12-13 in New Orleans — a Senate committee cast what amounted to a no-confidence vote on the commission's objectivity.

Praying For Christopher Hitchens  —  I know he doesn't want me to and I know he thinks it is useless but, Christopher Hitchens, I am praying for you.  —  Christopher Hitchens can be smart, acerbic, funny, mean, insightful, and thick.  He defends Western Civilization while, via his outspoken atheism …

Voting Intentions Even, Turnout Indicators Favor GOP  —  Older Americans Eager to Vote... Republican, That Is  —  With four months to go before Election Day, voting intentions for the House remain closely divided, and neither party has gained or lost much ground over the course of 2010.

BREAKING: Pelosi Sneaked Approval of Vote on Debt Commission Recommendations into Rule Regarding War Funding, Vote Happening Tonight  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (photo by Orin)  —  FDL has learned that in a last minute move, Nancy Pelosi sneaked language into the rule that the House is voting on tonight regarding war funding.

Google to Add Pay to Cover a Tax for Same-Sex Benefits  —  Working for a company as rich as Google comes with an incredible number of fringe benefits: the free food, the free laundry, the doctor on duty at company headquarters and the impressive five months of maternity leave with full pay and benefits, to mention a few.

Health law risks turning away sick  —  The Obama administration has not ruled out turning sick people away from an insurance program created by the new healthcare law to provide coverage for the uninsured.  —  Critics of the $5 billion high-risk pool program insist it will run out of money before Jan. 1, 2014.

Short-term insurance buyers in Massachusetts  —  Kay Lazar reports on the increase in part-year insurance buyers described in a new Massachusetts Division of Insurance report in today's Boston Globe. … Part of the problem is that individuals can jump in and out of coverage anytime during the year.

Gov. Chris Christie calls for Republican Party rebranding  —  At the heart of Christie's appeal, both within the state and outside its border, is an unfiltered, straightforward approach that is startlingly different from many of his gubernatorial colleagues.

Tony Podesta, Superlobbyist  —  WASHINGTON — On the eve of a critical Congressional vote last week on a sweeping measure to regulate Wall Street, the prominent lobbyist Tony Podesta met with one of the lawmakers to go over some final language and discuss the effect it could have on his many corporate clients.

Study: Newspapers stopped describing waterboarding as ‘torture’ during Bush years  —  Is waterboarding torture?  If you picked up a major U.S. newspaper before 2004, the answer would likely be yes, according to a new Harvard University study.  —  But in the post-9/11 world …

Media, boaters could face criminal penalties by entering oil cleanup ‘safety zone’  —  The Coast Guard has put new restrictions in place across the Gulf Coast that prevent the public - including news photographers and reporters covering the BP oil spill - from coming within 65 feet …

Boehner doesn't refute the notion that he's drinking at bars every night.  —  During a press conference earlier today, House Republican leader John Boehner was asked about MSNBC host Joe Scarborough's accusation that “every Republican I talk to says John Boehner, by 5 or 6 o'clock at night, you can see him at bars.”

Partisan Trends  —  Partisan Trends: 35.4% Democrat 33.0% Republican  —  During the month of June, the number of Republicans across the nation inched up by a full percentage point while the number of Democrats increased fractionally.  It is normal for the number unaffiliated with each party …

In Which I Describe, But Do Not Knock, The Hustle.  —  Yesterday I went on The Ed Show, which is being guest hosted this week by The Nation's Chris Hayes (who is doing a really incredible job) opposite the terribly smart Reihan Salam of National Review, discussing financial reform and Social Security.

Soccer Is a Socialist Sport  —  In the Washington Post this morning, sports columnist Sally Jenkins complains about the lack of popular outrage over America's elimination in the World Cup: “Why is it that Americans expect to win in every sport we compete in except for soccer?

The America John Boehner grew up in  —  In his comments that have attracted wide attention because he said financial reform regulation was like taking a nuclear weapon to an ant, Republican House minority leader John Boehner also noted that today's Democrats “are snuffing out the America that I grew up in.”