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 …

Levi Johnston Apologizes to Palin Family for ‘Youthful Indiscretion’  —  Levi Johnston isn't just getting past his differences with Bristol Palin - he's also hoping to make amends with her famous mom.  —  “Last year, after Bristol and I broke up, I was unhappy and a little angry.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

Manchin seeks Senate vote this fall  —  West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) said this morning he would strongly consider running in a special election to replace the late Sen. Robert Byrd, one he would like to see occur this November.  —  Speaking with reporters in Charleston today …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

AP IMPACT: Gulf awash in 27,000 abandoned wells  —  More than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells lurk in the hard rock beneath the Gulf of Mexico, an environmental minefield that has been ignored for decades.  No one — not industry, not government — is checking to see if they are leaking, an Associated Press investigation shows.

Give Petraeus Five Stars  —  It's up to David Petraeus now.  One can argue the merits and the import of a civilian-led military (and find no disagreement here).  But if General Petraeus had collapsed during that Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last month and not gotten back up, the war would be over.

McConnell's Declining Popularity  —  Mitch McConnell's seen a significant decline in his standing with Republican voters following his ill fated endorsement of Trey Grayson for the party's Senate nomination, and as a result his home state approval numbers are now by far the worst they've ever been in PPP's Kentucky polling.

Are Democrats Really Lining Up Behind Charlie Crist?  —  Rumors are flyinghat Florida Democrats might line up behind an independent Senate candidate this fall, but appearances may be deceiving.  —  In the race — in which Republican Speaker of the State House Marco Rubio is firmly established …

Federal Government Helped Pay Home Air-Conditioning Bills for Federal Employees, Prisoners and More Than 11,000 Dead People  —  (CNSNews.com) - According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the federal government helped pay the home air conditioning bills for more than 11,000 dead people …

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.

Gulf Oil Spill: Scientists Beg For A Chance To Take Basic Measurements  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  A group of independent scientists, frustrated and dumbfounded by the continued lack of the most basic data about the 77-day-old BP oil disaster, has put together a crash project intended …