McConnell: Medicare recess appointment is ‘truly outrageous’  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday blasted the White House for its plan to sidestep Congress in appointing Donald Berwick to lead Medicare.  —  “As if shoving a trillion-dollar government takeover …

Obama Job Approval Rating Down to 38% Among Independents  —  Overall job ratings for the president continue to be below majority level  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Thirty-eight percent of independents approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as president, the first time independent approval of Obama …

Something Is Happening In Palinland  —  From Mercede Johnston's blog: … That's a very good question.  So is the question of how Palin finally put the screws on Levi.  In Palinland, no one knows what's really going on.  But I wonder if this is a somewhat panicked response …

America's most unlikely politician  —  Last month, an unknown, unemployed former soldier astonished America by becoming the Democratic nominee for South Carolina's upcoming senate election.  How on earth did he do it?  —  The journey to the home of one of the most enigmatic figures to emerge …

Democrats digging harder than ever for dirt on Republicans  —  The Democratic Party is moving faster and more aggressively than in previous election years to dig up unflattering details about Republican challengers.  In House races from New Jersey to Ohio to California …

Darrell Issa Emerges as Obama's Annoyer-in-Chief  —  WASHINGTON — As a sign of the pride Representative Darrell Issa takes in annoying the Obama administration, consider his account of a recent exchange with Rahm Emanuel, a former congressman and now the White House chief of staff.

A New Generation, an Elusive American Dream  —  GRAFTON, Mass. — After breakfast, his parents left for their jobs, and Scott Nicholson, alone in the house in this comfortable suburb west of Boston, went to his laptop in the living room.  He had placed it on a small table that his mother …

There is no ‘free’ lemonade  —  In giving drink away, girls ignore rules of economics — and sum up what's wrong with U.S.  —  This column is a true story — every word of it.  And I think it very appropriate to consider around the Fourth of July, Independence Day spirit.

Mob shoots fireworks at police, firefighters  —  ALTON - First responders from the Alton Fire Department and five officers from the Alton Police Department were attacked by a crowd of several hundred people in the Oakwood Housing Complex who shot large bottle rockets at them.

Mitt Romney's dumb critique of Obama's New START nuke treaty.  —  In 35 years of following debates over nuclear arms control, I have never seen anything quite as shabby, misleading and—let's not mince words—thoroughly ignorant as Mitt Romney's attack on the New START treaty in the July 6 Washington Post.

Tipper Gore Isn't Buying Masseuse's Story  —  According to the tabloids, the last straw in Al and Tipper Gore's 40-year marriage was massage therapist Molly Hagerty's claim the former Vice President demanded sexual favors during a 2006 massage in his Portland, Ore. hotel room.

Steps Point to Possible Swap of Spy Suspects With Russia  —  MOSCOW — The mother of a Russian scientist convicted of spying for the United States said Wednesday that her son had been moved to Moscow from a penal colony in preparation for a possible trade involving the Russian spy suspects detained last month in the United States.

Good news: Michigan school district effectively bans white teachers from being hired  —  UPDATE: On second thought, it is interesting that liberals want to beat conservatives over the head with a legal shovel when it suits their purposes.  But when the law is against their ideological goals, they flip it the finger.

Rep. Capito wants November special election for Byrd seat  —  Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) weighed in Wednesday on the succession process for the late-Sen. Robert Byrd's seat for the first time.  —  Capito called for a special election this November to fill the seat.

Why Isn't Investment Higher?  —  Truly, we live in a time of mass delusion — or maybe make that elite delusion — where there are lots of things that everyone believes, without a shred of evidence to back that belief.  Here's one more: everywhere you go, you encounter the claim that businesses …

Head Of 'World's Largest Interactive Christian Website' Calls Out Beck's ‘Deception’ About His Mormonism  —  Glenn Beck often speaks about faith on his radio show and Fox News program, but he almost never mentions his own faith — Mormonism.  Beck's audience largely consists of conservative Christians …

EXCLUSIVE: Number of Afghans Gone AWOL in U.S. Reaches 46  —  LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas — A be-on-the-lookout alert issued last month for 17 Afghan military men who walked away from an Air Force base in Texas has turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg.

A Case Study in Teacher Bailouts  —  Milwaukee shows that unions will keep resisting concessions if Washington rides to the rescue.  —  Milwaukee  —  The Obama administration is pressuring Congress to spend $23 billion to rehire the more than 100,000 teachers who have been laid off across the country.

Sen. David Vitter: Case of Violent Aide Old News  —  Louisiana Senator Brushes Off Questions About His Decision to Retain Staffer After Arrest  —  Louisiana Sen. David Vitter today offered his first public response to questions about the behavior of his longtime aide, who resigned last month …

San Francisco's Rules for Making Pot Brownies  —  Department of Public Health has guidelines for edible marijuana treats  —  You know you're a Californian when you have to ask if the brownies someone brought to a potluck are “special” or not.  —  But while the casual peddler of edible marijuana …

Russia's Muslim south triples sharia bride price  —  The price tag on a bride in Russia's Ingushetia province has been tripled by the regional government, in a sign the Muslim North Caucasus region is slipping out of Kremlin control as sharia law eclipses Russian.

Obama Asks Court to Reinstate Ban on Deepwater Drilling  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has asked a federal court in Louisiana to reinstate the ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, saying the moratorium was a rational response to the unprecedented emergency of the BP oil spill.

Republicans And Democrats Lining Up Behind Major Changes To Social Security  —  Is there a new, bipartisan consensus forming on Capitol Hill about whether (and how) to scale back Social Security benefits?  A surprising number of signs point to “yes” — and that has many progressives looking ahead …