Walking Away From Million-Dollar Mortgages  —  LOS ALTOS, Calif. — No need for tears, but the well-off are losing their master suites and saying goodbye to their wine cellars.  —  The housing bust that began among the working class in remote subdivisions and quickly progressed …

Be Careful What You Wish For Department: Federal District Court Strikes Down DOMA  —  Today Judge Joseph Tauro in the federal district court in Massachusetts struck down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in two opinions, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, and Massachusetts v. HHS.

Election 2010: West Virginia Senate Special Election  —  West Virginia Senate: Manchin (D) 53%, Capito (R) 39%  —  A special Senate election this November to replace the late Robert Byrd is still awaiting the green light from West Virginia's attorney general, but popular Democratic Governor Joe Manchin …

The Obama-Pelosi Lame Duck Strategy  —  Union ‘card-check,’ cap and trade, and so much more.  —  Democratic House members are so worried about the fall elections they're leaving Washington on July 30, a full week earlier than normal—and they won't return until mid-September.

How LeBron's Move Helps the Tea Party  —  So LeBron James is abandoning Cleveland for sunny Miami.  That's a tough break for Ohio sports fans.  But what effect might LeBron's departure have on Ohio's politics?  I think it helps the Tea Party, for reasons I'll lay out.

Emanuel: Business should be thanking this president - Palin video was shot by a single videographer - Dem. donors pressured by tally of GOP plans — Ask Matt Rhoades — P.K., Drew Hammill b'days  —  EXCLUSIVE: Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget …

LeGone: LeBron James announces he's leaving Cleveland Cavaliers for Miami Heat  —  CLEVELAND, Ohio — The witnesses have been excused.  —  LeBron James crushed Cavaliers fans Thursday night when he announced live on national television that he was leaving Cleveland and will sign with the Miami Heat.

After dark, mobs form, smash windows, loot  —  Matthai Kuruvila, Kevin Fagan, Carolyn Jones,Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writers  —  (07-08) 23:33 PDT OAKLAND — There was outrage, there was looting and there were skirmishes between police and protesters, but that wasn't the whole story …

GOP leaders let demagogues set tone, lawmaker says  —  WASHINGTON - Too many Republican leaders are acquiescing to a poisonous “demagoguery” that threatens the party's long-term credibility, says a veteran GOP House member who was defeated in South Carolina's primary last month.

‘Tan tax’ discussions include allegations of reverse racism  —  Mention the new “tan tax” in a major news outlet and cries of discrimination and reverse racism often follow.  —  The complaint surfaced on reader comment boards to blogs and news Web sites back in December …

Obama is convinced of his own magnificence, and hardly any of his own country's.

The exchange on Friday of 10 convicted Russian sleeper agents for four men deemed to be spies for the West ended an episode that had threatened relations between the two nations.

What Kirk did not want you to know: McConnell headlined fund-raiser for Kirk.  UPDATED  —  Update: A Kirk campaign spokesman called to tell me that McConnell on Friday morning was the headliner at a Kirk fund-raising breakfast in Jacksonville and that Kirk and McConnell will be appearing together Friday …

Start moving freight by water again, and we'll use less oil, emit less carbon, cut highway traffic—and perhaps even save St. Louis.  —  very four days, a 4,200-horsepower tugboat, having crossed the Gulf of Mexico from Brownsville, Texas, slips into the ship channel off Egmont Key at the mouth of Tampa Bay.

Russian sub ‘could stop oil leak’  —  The subs have started their third season of exploration at Lake Baikal  —  Russian-built submersibles would be able to cap the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the captain of one of the vessels has said.  —  The skipper was speaking as two of the subs …

The Beholden State  —  How public-sector unions broke California  —  The camera focuses on an official of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), California's largest public-employee union, sitting in a legislative chamber and speaking into a microphone.

Pity the Poor C.E.O.'s  —  Job creation has been disappointing, but first-quarter corporate profits were up 44 percent from a year earlier.  Consumers are nervous, but the Dow, which was below 8,000 on the day President Obama was inaugurated, is now over 10,000.

Grassley Airs Concerns on Financial Bill  —  The Iowa Bankers Association wants Republican Sen. Charles Grassley to vote against the sweeping financial regulatory bill and tried to meet with him this week to press its case.  Mr. Grassley's office said the lawmaker didn't have time.

Obama: Israelis suspicious of me because my middle name is Hussein  —  U.S. president tells Channel 2 Israel is unlikely to attack Iran without coordinating with the U.S.  —  U.S. President Barack Obama told Channel 2 News on Wednesday that he believed Israel would not try to surprise the U.S. with a unilateral attack on Iran.

Americans Oppose Federal Suit Against Ariz. Immigration Law  —  Republicans are highly opposed; a majority of Democrats are in favor  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' initial reactions to the U.S. Justice Department lawsuit against Arizona's new illegal immigration law are more negative than positive, by a 50% to 33% margin.

CUBA HAS PLEDGED to let 52 of its prisoners of conscience go .  We hope their release happens, and soon.  But there should be no illusions that this gesture augurs fundamental political change on the island that the Castro brothers, Fidel and Raúl, have ruled with an iron fist since 1959.

No Good News for Democrats  —  There is no good news for the Democrats in this survey and analysis by James Carville and Stan Greenberg (h/t Taegan Goddard).  For starters, they find a six-point lead for the GOP in their generic congressional poll.  Republicans have the advantage on the economy …

U.S. Appeals Court Turns Down Moratorium on Drilling in Gulf  —  WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Thursday turned down the Obama administration's effort to enforce a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.  —  A three-judge panel of the United States Court …

More on raising the retirement age  —  Larry Mishel writes in with another argument for why raising the Social Security age makes much more sense for affluent individuals who work in knowledge-oriented industries than for lower-income people whose jobs require more physical labor.