Why President Obama loses by winning  —  The imminent passage of financial reform, just a couple months after the passage of comprehensive health care, should decisively end the narrative that President Obama represents a Jimmy Carter-style case of naïve hope crushed by the inability to master Washington.

Congress Sends Financial Overhaul Bill to Obama  —  WASHINGTON — Congress on Thursday gave final approval to an overhaul of the nation's financial regulatory system, intended to address the causes of the 2008 economic crisis and rewrite the rules for a more complex — and mistrustful — era on Wall Street.

Oil leak stopped for first time since April  —  BP said Thursday that it has stopped oil from leaking out of its blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico.  The gusher has been throttled for the first time since the April 20 blowout on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon.

Goldman Settles With S.E.C. for $550 Million  —  Updated Updated with confirmation of The New York Times's report about Goldman's $550 million settlement.  —  Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay $550 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission, one of the largest penalties ever paid by a Wall Street firm …

“Tea partier” Mark Williams writes ‘letter to Abe Lincoln’ ... from the ‘coloreds’  —  If you're feeling pissy that the NAACP condemned your witch doctor signage and you're out to prove that your movement isn't racist, wouldn't it help not to actually say anything that might be construed as racist?

CARLSON LAUNCHES OLBERMANN SITE  —  You may (or may not) have noticed that there's been a bit of a feud taking place between MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and the Daily Caller, the website run by (former MSNBC'r) Tucker Carlson.  —  The Caller — via its Twitter account, especially …

Pretty Bad 2012 numbers for Obama  —  With his approval numbers hitting new lows it's no surprise that Barack Obama's numbers in our monthly look ahead to the 2012 Presidential race are their worst ever this month.  He trails Mitt Romney 46-43, Mike Huckabee 47-45, Newt Gingrich 46-45, and is even tied with Sarah Palin at 46.

18th-Century Ship Found at Trade Center Site  —  In the middle of tomorrow, a great ribbed ghost has emerged from a distant yesterday.  —  On Tuesday morning, workers excavating the site of the underground vehicle security center for the future World Trade Center hit a row of sturdy …

Breitbart to NAACP Chief: ‘Go to Hell!’  —  “Let me say something a tad newsworthy to the president of the NAACP.  You can go to hell. ...  I have tapes...tape of racism and it's an NAACP dinner.  You want to play with fire?  I have evidence of racism and it's coming from the NAACP.”

Byrd's successor to take oath Tuesday  —  The Senate will swear in the successor to the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) at 2:15 pm next Tuesday, even though the identity of the new senator remains unknown.  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told colleagues Thursday that Democrats …

Mr. Liberty, Alvin Greene, part of RiverDogs action figure promotion  —  CHARLESTON - The RiverDogs are going green: Alvin Greene that is.  —  With all the talk earlier this year of a “Mr. Liberty” statue at nearby Patriots Point, the RiverDogs already planned to give away miniature …

Handel: Gay parents “not in the best interest of the child”  —  Former Secretary of State Karen Handel wrote what she calls a “sponsorship” check to a gay Republican organization called Log Cabin Republicans.  She was running for Fulton County Commission chairman at the time.

Three Million Imaginary Jobs  —  The White House says the stimulus worked beyond even its hopes.  Seriously.  —  It may be that the last people in America who believe that the $862 billion economic stimulus of February 2009 created millions of net new jobs are Vice President Joe Biden and the staff economists in the White House.

The Google Algorithm  —  Google handles nearly two-thirds of Internet search queries worldwide.  Analysts reckon that most Web sites rely on the search engine for half of their traffic.  When Google engineers tweak its supersecret algorithm — as they do hundreds of times a year …

My Biggest Mistake in the White House  —  Failing to refute charges that Bush lied us into war has hurt our country.  —  Seven years ago today, in a speech on the Iraq war, Sen. Ted Kennedy fired the first shot in an all-out assault on President George W. Bush's integrity.

BP Faces Scrutiny in Lockerbie Case  —  LONDON — The oil giant BP faced a new furor on Thursday as it confirmed that it had lobbied the British government to conclude a prisoner-transfer agreement that the Libyan government wanted to secure the release of the only person ever convicted …

The Underrated FinReg Bill  —  The Dodd/Frank financial regulation bill that passed the U.S. Senate today isn't the greatest piece of legislation in human history, but with eighty percent of Americans saying they have little or no confidence in the bill I think it's fair to say that these measures have become substantially underrated.

Vatican: female ordination a crime  —  Revised Catholic rules put female ordination in same category of crime under church law as clerical sex abuse of minors  —  The Vatican today made the “attempted ordination” of women one of the gravest crimes under church law, putting it in the same category …

Fund-Raising Before House Vote Draws Scrutiny  —  WASHINGTON — Lawmakers take contributions every day from corporate executives and lobbyists hoping for their votes.  The question of whether that represents business as usual in Washington or an ethics breach is at the heart …

In Dodging a Budget Vote, Dems Take Reconciliation Off the Table  —  Decision Could Preclude a Jobs Bill Next Year … On Tuesday, the Treasury Department announced that the country's deficit had hit the $1 trillion mark just nine months into the fiscal year.