What is the Tea Party?  A growing state of mind  —  WASHINGTON — The “Tea Party” is less a classic political movement than a frustrated state of mind.  —  A year and a half after the idea of a Tea Party burst into view, three of 10 Americans describe themselves in the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll …

U.S. Economy Shed 125,000 Jobs in June; Rate Is 9.5%  —  The United States added just 83,000 private-sector jobs in June, a dishearteningly low number that could add to the growing number of economists who warn that the economic recovery is stalling.  —  Multimedia

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 …

Myths of Austerity  —  When I was young and naïve, I believed that important people took positions based on careful consideration of the options.  Now I know better.  Much of what Serious People believe rests on prejudices, not analysis.  And these prejudices are subject to fads and fashions.

Factory Jobs Return, but Employers Find Skills Shortage  —  BEDFORD, Ohio — Factory owners have been adding jobs slowly but steadily since the beginning of the year, giving a lift to the fragile economic recovery.  And because they laid off so many workers — more than two million since the end of 2007 …

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 …

The Polarization of the Supreme Court  —  The Supreme Court has gradually come to act more like a political institution.  The share of one-vote majority rulings has risen more than four-fold in the past six decades, compared to the half-century prior, based on a RealClearPolitics analysis of rulings from 1801 to the present.

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.

Russian spy ring may be last straw for Obama nuclear arms treaty  —  A U.S.-Russia arms treaty is teetering in the Senate, lacking support from Republicans and set back by an alleged spy ring.  —  The White House was hoping that the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) …

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 …

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.

Another R2K Smoking Gun: Bargain Basement Pricing  —  In my previous post on Kos and Research 2000 I noted how weird it was that Kos could afford to commission dozens of campaign polls given that by (his own admission) he runs a low seven-figure operation and the polls are likely far …

21 killed in shootout between drug, migrant trafficking gangs near Arizona border  —  HERMOSILLO, Mexico (AP) — A massive gun battle between rival drug and migrant trafficking gangs near the U.S. border Thursday left 21 people dead and at least six others wounded, prosecutors said.

Economic rebound may be losing ground, data show  —  Home and car sales fall.  Manufacturing may be losing steam.  But most experts don't see a double dip looming.  —  The construction sector remains weak.  Spending on building fell 0.2% in May from April.

Va. begins courtroom assault on federal health-care overhaul  —  RICHMOND — The legal challenge to the nation's new health-care law was launched Thursday in a courtroom in Richmond, where the office of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II argued that the measure is an unprecedented overreach …

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.

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.

The Night Beat: Putting Lipstick on a Bad Jobs Number  —  Good evening.  —  JOBS: The White House is girding itself for the release of June employment figures, which will show a relative paucity of private sector jobs created.  In a way, the impact of this number has been blunted …

Director Damien Dematra on Barack Obama's Life in Indonesia  —  Damien Dematra stands beside a portrait of 12-year-old American actor Hasan Faruq Ali, who plays a young Barack Obama in the Indonesian film Obama the Menteng Kid, which Dematra co-directed, on June 30, 2010

U.S. housing market remains fragile despite low mortgage rates  —  After showing signs of a fledgling recovery from the worst downturn in decades, the U.S. housing market appears to be heading back toward the doldrums, as the expiration of a lucrative tax credit for buyers and increased uncertainty …

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.

Freeing up Perspectives  —  Late last week, a few magical words appeared on the website for the Journal of Economic Perspectives. … JEP, of course, has an analogous publication in political science, Perspectives on Politics.  While I do not know the organizational history of its founding …

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.