Senate Votes to Confirm Elena Kagan for U.S. Supreme Court  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Elena Kagan to a seat on the Supreme Court on Thursday, giving President Obama his second appointment to the high court in a year, and a political victory as the Senate neared the end of its business for the summer.

Axelrod: President remains opposed to same-sex marriage  —  President Obama remains opposed to same-sex marriage despite a federal judge's decision to strike down a ban on such marriages, a top White House adviser said Thursday.  —  Senior adviser David Axelrod said the president supports …

Ben Dimiero & Eric Hananoki: Meet Breitbart's Sherrod writer: Racist sexual “expert” and inventor (who cured cancer)  —  In two posts on Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment website, Dr. Kevin Pezzi smears Shirley Sherrod as a racist, claiming that “if someone deserves to be put on a pedestal for overcoming racism, it isn't Sherrod.”

Is the GOP shedding a birthright?  —  Rather than shout, I'll just ask the question in a civil way: Dear Republicans, do you really want to endanger your party's greatest political legacy by turning the 14th Amendment to our Constitution into an excuse for election-year ugliness?

An August Surprise from Obama?  —  Main Street may be about to get its own gigantic bailout.  Rumors are running wild from Washington to Wall Street that the Obama administration is about to order government-controlled lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to forgive a portion of the mortgage debt …

Material girl Michelle Obama is a modern-day Marie Antoinette on a glitzy Spanish vacation  —  Sacrifice is something that many Americans are becoming all too familiar with during this economic downturn.  It was a key theme in President Obama's inaugural address to the nation …

The Return of the $1,000 Down Mortgage  —  In Wisconsin and other states, home buyers might be eligible for 100 percent financing on mortgages.  (Creative Commons.)  —  “Buy new with $1,000 down,” the advertisement says, the words resting atop a trim green clapboard house offset by a bright blue sky.

Portland lemonade stand runs into health inspectors, needs $120 license to operate  —  It's hardly unusual to hear small-business owners gripe about licensing requirements or complain that heavy-handed regulations are driving them into the red.  —  So when Multnomah County shut down an enterprise …

Romer To Leave White House  —  Christina Romer, chairwoman of Pres. Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, has decided to resign, according to a source familiar with her plans.  —  Romer, an economics professor at the University of California (Berkeley) before taking the key admin post, did not respond to repeated calls to her office.

Source: Debt Commission Fights Over Freezing Military Pay, Slashing Benefits  —  Republicans would like you to think that Democrats have sinister plans for the post-election lame duck session of Congress, and Democrats are at pains to insist otherwise.  But the one winter initiative progressives fear …

The Record-Setting Midterm of 2010  —  Larry J. Sabato, Director, U.Va. Center for Politics  —  Everyone already knows the 2010 elections are significant and competitive.  Let's add record-setting to that description.  Why?  — 2010 features the most U.S. Senate seats on the November ballot (37) since 1962.

Russia Bans Grain Exports Amid Crippling Drought  —  MOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin banned all exports of grain on Thursday after millions of acres of Russian wheat withered in a severe drought, driving up prices around the world and pushing them to their highest level in two years in the United States.

Kristol's Hawkish Pro-Israel Group Launches New Ad Against Endangered Dem (VIDEO)  —  What's Your Reaction: … A hawkish, pro-Israel group that includes some of the most prominent neo-conservative and evangelical voices in the country is launching the second salvo in an ad campaign targeting primarily congressional Democrats.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) believes the November elections will likely weed out some of the “most difficult Democrats” that leadership lawmakers have dealt with this Congress.  —  In an interview with The Hill, the Energy and Commerce Committee chairman expressed confidence that Democrats …

ObamaCare: The sum of all fears  —  Today, we welcome a guest post from Mary Katharine Ham of the Weekly Standard and Townhall's political editor Guy Benson, bringing us up to date on the status of promises made in connection with ObamaCare.  —  Two years ago, Ed Morrissey and Allahpundit …

Briton held for wearing a bikini in Dubai shopping mall after fight with Arabic woman  —  A British holidaymaker has been charged with indecency in Dubai after walking through the world's largest shopping centre in a bikini.  —  The woman was buying clothes and gifts in the Dubai Mall …

A MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC:  —  Each year the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds report on the current and projected financial status of the two programs.  This message summarizes our 2010 Annual Reports.  —  The outlook for Medicare has improved substantially …

Boehner derides police officers and teachers as ‘special interests.’  —  Yesterday, the Senate finally overcame a Republican filibuster to approve $26 billion in funding to bolster state budgets, including $10 billion to prevent massive teacher layoffs.  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi …

Dems accused of tea party tampering  —  The charges of dirty tricks are being leveled in Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey and Florida.  AP Photo  —  Nationally, Democrats say they intend to campaign against the tea party movement.  But locally, Democratic officials and activists …

Massive Censorship Of Digg Uncovered  —  A group of influential conservative members of the behemoth social media site Digg.com have just been caught red-handed in a widespread campaign of censorship, having multiple accounts, upvote padding, and deliberately trying to ban progressives.