The Constitution Trumps Arizona  —  The Obama administration has not always been completely clear about its immigration agenda, but it was forthright Tuesday when it challenged the pernicious Arizona law that allows the police to question the immigration status of people they detain for local violations.

Boxer's approval ratings sink, Field Poll says  —  California voters are giving U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer some of the lowest approval ratings of her career, as the three-term Democrat is in a statistical dead heat against first-time GOP office-seeker Carly Fiorina, according to a new Field Poll released today.

Who Will Investigate the Investigators?  —  Another voter fraud scandal involving the Justice Department.  —  J. Christian Adams,, a former career Justice Department lawyer who resigned recently to protest political interference in cases he worked on, made some news yesterday in testimony before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Bill Kristol Must Resign  —  Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele was absolutely right.  Afghanistan is Obama's war and, judging by other recent Democratic ventures in military affairs, isn't likely to turn out well.  —  It has been idiotically claimed that Steele's statement …

Palin video talks up ‘mama grizzlies’ running for office  —  Sarah Palin's political action committee released a video Thursday promoting the “mama grizzlies” she hopes will take over Washington.  —  Palin's SarahPAC released a video promoting the female conservative GOP candidates …

Obama to stump in KC today for Carnahan  —  Barack Obama makes his first visit to Kansas City today since becoming president — and he'll have U.S. Senate hopeful Robin Carnahan at his side.  —  Obama will talk green energy and jobs at the day's first stop, at Smith Electric Vehicles near Kansas City International Airport.

Federal Reserve weighs steps to offset slowdown in economic recovery  —  Federal Reserve officials, increasingly concerned over signs the economic recovery is faltering, are considering new steps to bolster growth.  —  With Congress tied in political knots over whether to take further action …

Sharron Angle's Advice For Rape Victims Considering Abortion: Turn Lemons Into Lemonade  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle has moderated a host of policy positions in her transition from a primary candidate to general election contender battling Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Sharron Angle: The $20 billion in BP escrow cash was “slush fund”  —  Looks like Sharron Angle has now had her ultimate Rand Paul moment: During a radio appearance she labeled the $20 billion BP escrow fund secured by the White House as a “slush fund.”  —  Angle also seemed to agree …

The Policing Of The Discourse  —  Froomkin was fired for opposing torture a little too passionately; Weigel was forced out because his private emails revealed he was not acceptable to the partisan right; Frum is cut off from conservative blogads funding; Moulitsas is barred from MSNBC …

S.F. considers banning sale of pets except fish  —  Sell a guinea pig, go to jail.  —  That's the law under consideration by San Francisco's Commission of Animal Control and Welfare.  If the commission approves the ordinance at its meeting tonight, San Francisco could soon have what is believed …

President Obama Attacks Congress for Delaying His Nominees — Is He Right?  —  In announcing the recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — and two other nominees — today President Obama said in a statement that “It's unfortunate …

National Public Radio is changing its name to NPR  —  No need for formalities here: National Public Radio now says it wants to be known simply as NPR.  —  So the Washington-based organization has quietly changed its name to its familiar initials.  Much like the corporate names KFC or AT&T, the initials now stand for the initials.

Blago trial could singe W.H.  —  It's the trial the White House hopes you won't watch.  —  The federal corruption saga of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been rattling along during the sweltering Chicago summer, offering a daily dose of low-grade theatrics, low-impact bombshells and low-brow humor.

Palin makes exception for military spending  —  Sarah Palin is waging a battle inside the “tea party” movement to exempt defense spending from the group's small-government, anti-deficit fervor.  —  There's growing concern among Republicans — and especially among the pro-defense neoconservative wing …

Gender Quotas In the Financial Sector?  —  WASHINGTON - What one finds when reading congressional legislation is invariably surprising.  Take the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill, for instance, which was created by merging Senate and House bills.  When the Senate returns from recess …

Obama's interview with Israel TV  —  President Barack Obama gave his first interview to an Israeli outlet since taking office, to Yonit Levi, of Israel's Channel 2 TV.  Conducted Wednesday at the White House, it airs today at 1pm EST on Israel's Channel 2.  While there's no breaking news …

Another round of Prohibition, anyone?  —  The evening of Jan. 16, 1920, hours before Prohibition descended on America, while the young assistant secretary of the Navy, Franklin Roosevelt, drank champagne in Washington with other members of Harvard's Class of 1904, evangelist Billy Sunday preached …

Let Treasury Rescue the States  —  HERE in California, where people tiresomely boast that the state's gross domestic product exceeds that of all but seven nations, I keep expecting a ballot initiative demanding admission to the Group of 8 industrialized nations.

These Are Not the Ones We Have Been Waiting for...  Ed Luce writes: … Mark Zandi is polite: … But Obama thinks he has to do something—and according to Ed won't lift a finger to do something that might actually create jobs: … It is remarkable.  I had expected that we economists …

LaHood blasts lobbyists for leaked plan to fight cell phone restrictions  —  Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood blasted a lobbying firm Wednesday for circulating plans to oppose limits on the use of mobile devices in vehicles, calling it a “dangerous” effort to undermine public safety.

A Congressman's Abs Garner Yeas  —  REPRESENTATIVE AARON SCHOCK is explaining, again, why his torso seems to keep going viral.  —  First, there was the photo of him in a red bathing suit, posted on the gossip site TMZ.com.  “Abtastic,” bloggers enthused.  —  Then, there was the picture …

BP Sets New Spill Target  —  Aims to Cap Well by July 27 Earnings; Backup Plans as Obama, Cameron Meet  —  BP PLC is pushing to fix its runaway Gulf oil well by July 27, possibly weeks before the deadline the company is discussing publicly, in a bid to show investors it has capped …