McConnell to Franken: This isn't ‘SNL’  —  When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell laid out his opposition to Elena Kagan's Supreme Court nomination, someone in the chamber appeared to be moving around in his chair, gasping and rolling his eyes.  —  It was Sen. Al Franken.

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.

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.”

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

Rep. Wamp loses gov. primary to Mayor Haslam  —  Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam (R) defeated Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey (R) to claim the GOP gubernatorial nod Thursday.  —  Boosted by his support during early voting, Haslam was declared the winner by the Associated Press close …

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 …

Obama admin skewers GOP attack on stimulus cocaine monkeys  —  Are your stimulus dollars really being wasted on getting monkeys high on crack and cocaine?  —  In recent days, select Republicans and conservatives have taken to bashing the Obama administration over this claim.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Conservatives Blame Loss In Prop 8 Case On Judge's Homosexuality  —  U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker  —  Last night, after U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that denying gays and lesbians the right to marry violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution …

International Beer Day  —  Today is International Beer Day (the site was down last I checked so here's the wiki article).  My favorite beer is Fat Tire.  I like New Belgium both as a company and because they make lots of good brews.  I also enjoy all the local breweries here, and going to local breweries when I'm on the road.

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 …

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.

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.