Filibuster reform is short of needed votes  —  Senate Democrats do not have the votes to lower the 60-vote threshold to cut off filibusters.  —  The lack of support among a handful of Senate Democratic incumbents is a major blow to the effort to change the upper chamber's rules.

50 Most Beautiful People 2010  —  Take a look at the most beautiful people on Capitol Hill.

WikiLeaks Reportedly Outs 100s of Afghan Informants  —  Hundreds of Afghan civilians who worked as informants for the U.S. military have been put at risk by WikiLeaks' publication of more than 90,000 classified intelligence reports which name and in many cases locate the individuals, The Times newspaper reported Wednesday.

In Speech to Turkey, PM David Cameron Goes Full Idiot  —  Cameron gives a begging, blubbering pander of a speech to the Islamist goons in Turkey.  (Also read Claudia Rosett: “Prime Minister, It's Not a ‘Prison Camp’”  —  British Prime Minister David Cameron's July 27 speech in Turkey will not live on in history.

Mass. Legislature approves plan to bypass Electoral College  —  The Massachusetts Legislature has approved a new law intended to bypass the Electoral College system and ensure that the winner of the presidential election is determined by the national popular vote.

Our Divisive President  —  Barack Obama promised a new era of post-partisanship.  In office, he's played racial politics and further split the country along class and party lines.  —  During the election campaign, Barack Obama sought to appeal to the best instincts of the electorate …

On the Surface, Gulf Oil Spill Is Vanishing Fast; Concerns Stay  —  The oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be dissolving far more rapidly than anyone expected, a piece of good news that raises tricky new questions about how fast the government should scale back its response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

L.A. union members, activists to caravan to Arizona to protest immigration law  —  More than 550 people representing 32 unions plan to travel in 11 buses for a rally at the state Capitol and a vigil with local groups on the day the law is set to take effect.

SEC Says New FinReg Law Exempts It From Public Disclosure  —  So much for transparency.  —  Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases …

In Study, 2 Economists Say Intervention Helped Avert a 2nd Depression  —  WASHINGTON — Like a mantra, officials from both the Bush and Obama administrations have trumpeted how the government's sweeping interventions to prop up the economy since 2008 helped avert a second Depression.

Lawyer: Blago's not ‘sharpest knife’  —  Rod Blagojevich's own lawyer said Tuesday that his client is “foolish” and not the “sharpest knife in the drawer,” but said that is no reason to convict the former Democratic governor of Illinois of corruption.  —  In his closing argument …

Image Boost: What Is The President Doing On Daytime Talk Show?  —  President Obama to Take in a Different ‘View’ With Talk Show Visit  —  Unlike most guests who come to ABC's “The View,” President Obama does not have a new movie, album or reality show to promote.

The Case for $320,000 Kindergarten Teachers  —  How much do your kindergarten teacher and classmates affect the rest of your life?  —  Economists have generally thought that the answer was not much.  Great teachers and early childhood programs can have a big short-term effect.  But the impact tends to fade.

House Democrats head for a thumping at the polls  —  Democratic spin doctors have set out how their side is going to hold onto a majority in the House.  They'll capture four at-risk Republican seats, hold half of the next 30 or so Democratic at-risk seats, and avoid significant losses on target seats lower on the list.

Feds demand diversity on Wall Street  —  A little-noticed section of the Wall Street reform law grants the federal government broad new powers to compel financial firms to hire more women and minorities — an effort at promoting diversity that's drawing fire from Republicans who say it could lead to de facto hiring quotas.

My Apology to Shirley Sherrod — Withdrawn  —  Last week, I jumped the gun (as did many others) in taking what was a complex story and boiling it down to an video clip without its proper context.  I apologized to my readers and to Shirley Sherrod.  —  I hereby withdraw the apology to Mrs. Sherrod.

New Calculator Shows How Much More Taxes Will You Pay Next Year  —  We are on the precipice of the largest tax increase in United States history.  On January 1, 2011, the 2001/2003 tax relief will expire.  All Americans who earn income will see their taxes go up as a result …

Journolist veers out of bounds  —  This may be the most embarrassing thing I have ever written — and looking back on my writing, there is a lot of competition for that dubious distinction — but when I became a reporter, it was almost a holy calling.  —  We really believed we were doing good.

GM Volt's price induces some sticker shock  —  The long-anticipated Chevrolet Volt, General Motors' electric car, will cost $41,000, the company announced Tuesday, leaving consumers to decide whether its environmental appeal is worth a price far above that of similarly sized conventional autos.

Democrats Confirm More House Seats in Play  —  Democrats added another 20 House seats to their list of targeted districts, officials confirmed Tuesday evening, raising the party's commitment in television advertising for the final weeks of the campaign to more than $49 million.

Rendell: Obama Could Face Primary Challenge Over Afghanistan (VIDEO)  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell predicted on Tuesday that if the president escalates America's military involvement in Afghanistan he could very well face a primary challenger in 2012.

Coal execs hope to spend big to defeat Conway and Chandler  —  Companies seek to pool funds to defeat chandler, Conway, and delay disclosure  —  Several major coal companies hope to use newly loosened campaign-finance laws to pool their money and defeat Democratic congressional candidates they consider …

Two women to face off in Oklahoma  —  Republican Rep. Mary Fallin and Democratic Lt. Gov. Jari Askins won their gubernatorial primaries Tuesday evening, ensuring that Oklahoma will elect its first female governor in November.  —  Fallin enters the fall campaign as the favorite …

Netroots Schizo  —  I had a good time in Vegas, so I didn't spend a huge amount of time at NN, but I did spend enough time to take in the mood, and it was schizophrenic.  About half the people there are some combination of angry, disappointed and bitter with Democrats in general and Obama in particular.

Why Some Republicans Want to ‘Restore’ the 13th Amendment  —  No, it's not about slavery; like so much of our politics these days, it's about Barack Obama.  —  If there is an aspect of the human condition that is unaddressed by the platform of the Republican Party of Iowa …