McMahon Campaign Hits Grimm For Taking “Jewish Money”  —  Mike Grimm, a G.O.P challenger for Mike McMahon's Congressional seat, took in over $200,000 in his last filing.  —  But in an effort to show that Grimm lacks support among voters in the district, which covers Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn …

Rangel Appears Nearly Certain to Face Trial on Ethics Charges  —  WASHINGTON — In laying out 13 charges of ethical violations committed by Representative Charles B. Rangel, the House ethics committee set the stage for a rare public trial of the Democratic Congressman this fall …

Crist On Top In 3-Way Florida Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Dem Sink Tied With Either Republican In Govenor's Race  —  Florida Gov. Charlie Crist leads the three-way race for the U.S. Senate seat with 37 percent, followed by 32 percent for Republican Marco Rubio and 17 percent …

Dems Call On GOPers To Renounce Phyllis Schlafly Over Remarks About ‘Unmarried Women’ (AUDIO)  —  Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly took aim at “unmarried women” at a recent fundraiser and in an interview with TPM, saying that they overwhelmingly support President Obama and are all on welfare.

S.E.C. Charges Brothers With $550 Million Fraud  —  WASHINGTON — Samuel and Charles Wyly, the billionaire brothers from Dallas who are large donors to philanthropies and to conservative causes, were charged Thursday with conducting an extensive securities fraud that the Securities …

Curbing Your Enthusiasm  —  Why does the Obama administration keep looking for love in all the wrong places?  Why does it go out of its way to alienate its friends, while wooing people who will never waver in their hatred?  —  These questions were inspired by the ongoing suspense …

U.S. SENATE RACE: Poll: Reid, Angle neck and neck  —  Sixty percent of Nevadans see nation on wrong track  —  Sen. Harry Reid and Sharron Angle are locked in a dead heat, says a new poll for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and KLAS-TV, Channel 8 that shows the GOP challenger regaining ground …

President Obama calls African-Americans a ‘mongrel people’  —  NEW YORK — President Obama waded into the national race debate in an unlikely setting and with an unusual choice of words: telling daytime talk show hosts that African-Americans are “sort of a mongrel people.”

Nobody is Helping Aisha  —  It's certainly true as Time's emotionally manipulative new cover image indicates that the Taliban are terrible for women and that the more of Afghanistan they rule the worse things will be for women.  That said, it's extremely disingenuous to act …

What would Republicans do for the economy?  An interview with Rep. Paul Ryan.  —  Paul Ryan is the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, and one of the party's most influential voices on the economy.  And with Republicans likely to pick up a lot of seats — and maybe even the House …

Banks won't take Fort Hood shooting suspect's paychecks  —  BELTON — As he sits in the Bell County Jail, accused of the Nov. 5 Fort Hood shooting that left 13 dead, Maj. Nidal Hasan continues to receive his monthly U.S. Army paycheck, which based on his rank and experience is probably more than $6,000.

Army private transferred to Virginia amid WikiLeaks probe  —  (CNN) — An Army private suspected of leaking classified material, including videos and other documents, has been transferred from Kuwait to a Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Virginia.  —  Pfc. Bradley Manning …

Fred Barnes not on a team?  Why did GOP pay him?  —  The Weekly Standard editor claimed political purity in bashing Journolist, but he's on the Republican payroll  —  In the pages of the Wall Street Journal, Fred Barnes has lately lamented the betrayal of “traditional journalism” …

Tea Party Jitters  —  Spencer Wilking Finds That New York's Tea Partiers Aren't The Bigoted White Guys You Fear.  —  “Liberty is on the march,” Dan Halloran yells as he clutches a microphone in front of a gathered crowd inside Webster Hall.  “Not only is it on the march …

Lawmakers' concerns about deficit slows passage of annual spending bills  —  Election-year deficit concerns are slowing the annual appropriations process as lawmakers wrestle with how much spending is palatable on everything from healthcare to homeland security.

Orszag leaves his mark  —  Peter Orszag may have had the shortest tenure of any member of the Obama Cabinet, but in an administration dominated by a powerful White House staff, he left as deep a mark as almost anyone in it.  —  The 41-year-old economist, whose last day is Friday …

Army suicides linked to risky behavior, lax discipline  —  WASHINGTON — After nine years of war, the Army attracts recruits ready for combat but inclined toward risky personal behavior — a volatile mix that led to more deaths from suicide, drug overdoses and drinking and driving than from warfare, an Army review concludes.

Hayward Defends Tenure, BP's Spill Response  —  LONDON—Tony Hayward, the departing chief executive of BP PLC, is unrepentant about how the energy giant responded to the U.S.'s largest offshore oil spill.  —  In his first interview after agreeing to step down from the top spot this week …

Republicans block small business lending bill  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's election-year jobs agenda suffered a new setback Thursday when Senate Republicans blocked a bill creating a $30 billion government fund to help open up lending for credit-starved small businesses.

Americans Look to Wealthy to Help Save Social Security  —  Favor expanding Social Security taxes, limiting benefits for high-income Americans  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Of six possible ways to address concerns with the Social Security system in a recent USA Today/Gallup poll, a majority of Americans favor two …

Taliban Exploit Openings in Neglected Province  —  PUL-I-KUMRI, Afghanistan — Almost unnoticed, this strategic northern province is slipping away from government control.  —  Baghlan Province contains two of the crucial north-south routes in Afghanistan.  As night falls on this provincial capital, the city turns dark and silent.

Ariz. Illegal Immigration Law Judge Threatened  —  Federal Judge Received Messages from People Against Ruling Who “Expressed Their Displeasure in a Perverted Way”  —  (AP) Authorities say a federal judge in Phoenix has been getting some threats since her ruling on Arizona's controversial immigration law.

Gibbs Takes on Rush Limbaugh  —  At a briefing today to discuss the administration's efforts to rescue the auto industry, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs took on conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh—and every other critic “sitting in the cheap seats” -for criticizing the rescue …