Democrats are betting that ending tax cuts for the rich will play in their favor  —  President Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress are setting the stage for a high-stakes battle over taxes in the final weeks before the November congressional elections, betting that their plan …

You'll Never Believe What This White House Is Missing  —  The Obama White House is too white.  —  It has Barack Obama, raised in the Hawaiian hood and Indonesia, and Valerie Jarrett, who spent her early years in Iran.  —  But unlike Bill Clinton, who never needed help fathoming Southern black culture …

Dean calls Fox News ‘absolutely racist’ for aiding Sherrod ouster  —  Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean accused Fox News of promoting racism, including in the recent fracus over the Obama administration's forced resignation of Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod.

A Very Partial Correction  —  We have been waiting for liberal media sources to correct their many misstatements about the events of March 20, when three Democratic Congressmen falsely claimed that protesters against Obamacare at the Capitol yelled racial epithets at them.

Court Under Roberts Is Most Conservative in Decades  —  WASHINGTON — When Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and his colleagues on the Supreme Court left for their summer break at the end of June, they marked a milestone: the Roberts court had just completed its fifth term.

Geithner: Private Investment Needed  —  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the economy has now recovered sufficiently for government to begin to make way for private business investment.  —  Mr. Geithner's comments on Sunday, which echo previous sentiments expressed by President Barack Obama …

The political genius of supply-side economics  —  The future of fiscal policy was intensely debated in the FT last week.  In this Exchange, I want to examine what is going on in the US and, in particular, what is going on inside the Republican party.  This matters for the US and …

Los Zetas drug cartel seizes 2 U.S. ranches in Texas  —  In what could be deemed an act of war against the sovereign borders of the United States, Mexican drug cartels have seized control of at least two American ranches inside the U.S. territory near Laredo, Texas.

Why Friends Don't Let Friends Cite The Atlantic's “Business and Economics Editor”: Further to the Megan McArdle is Always Wrong chronicles.  —  Update: Greetings to everyone coming here via TBogg, Susan of Texas, Eschaton and Brad DeLong — and my thanks to those good folks for the links.

Schakowsky: Want to cut the deficit?  Get with our new public option  —  LAS VEGAS - Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) said Saturday that serious deficit hawks ought to get behind a new “robust” public option bill that she and more than a hundred other members introduced days ago.

Political shipwreck  —  Boat builders: John Kerry could have created jobs in U.S.  —  New England boat builders say shame on Sen. John Kerry for buying a $7 million New Zealand-built luxury yacht while local ship makers struggle to find work.  —  “Darn, that would have been a wonderful job …

Franken warns that GOP Congress would bring ‘truly dangerous agenda’  —  Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), addressing a convention of liberal bloggers and activists Saturday evening, implored the left to fight to stay in power in the midterm elections.  —  “If Republicans take back Congress they'll implement …