Dem group launches ‘F*ck Tea’ campaign  —  Last summer, Democrats argued that the Tea Party movement was the astroturf creation of corporate groups.  Now that the grassroots conservative resurgence has emerged as a clear force on the right, the left is making a different case: That tea parties are simply the enemy.

GOP plan to extend tax cuts for rich adds $36 billion to deficit, panel finds  —  A Republican plan to extend tax cuts for the rich would add more than $36 billion to the federal deficit next year — and transfer the bulk of that cash into the pockets of the nation's millionaires …

But It's Awesome Broccoli for the Rich!  —  Matt Bai writes about the Paul Ryan's budget plan ... without writing about Paul Ryan's budget plan: … Unless, of course, you're wealthy, because the plan cuts upper-income tax brackets by 10 percent, so that “households with incomes …

Congressman Rangel's Party a Display of Defiance  —  It was a dramatic but fitting start to an evening that brimmed with political defiance.  About 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, as guests began strolling into the Plaza Hotel to celebrate Representative Charles B. Rangel's 80th birthday …

Durbin has cancerous tumor removed from stomach  —  WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin today underwent surgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center to have a small, cancerous mass removed from his stomach, aides said.  —  The mass was described as a gastro-intestinal stromal tumor, or GIST.

‘Ground Zero Mosque’ Imam Was A Bush-Era Partner For Mideast Peace  —  Tuesday, Reps. Peter King (R-NY) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) called Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf — best known for his work with multicultural Cordoba Initiative to build a mosque and community center in Lower Manhattan …

Opinion on Same-Sex Marriage Appears to Shift at Accelerated Pace  —  In April, 2009, when we last took a survey of gay marriage polls, we found that support for it had converged somewhere into the area of 41 or 42 percent of the country.  Now, it appears to have risen by several points …

Marco Rubio hedges on Fla. immigration bill  —  Marco Rubio declined to take a firm stance on a bill that would require immigrants to carry ID.  AP  —  Florida GOP Senate candidate Marco Rubio on Thursday declined to take a firm stance on a newly proposed bill in the state that would require immigrants …

Civil Unrest: The Death of Decorum in Washington?  —  Has Civility Reached an Historic Low in Congress?  —  There was an extraordinary moment during the final senate debate on Elena Kagan's Supreme Court confirmation.  While Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) delivered remarks, Senator Al Franken …

The vulgarity of liberal female “comedians”  —  Left-wing female comedians are proving that they can be as crude and stupid as their male counterparts.  Who knew that striving for gender equality meant pursuing the dream that one day, someday, liberal women would be able to mock …

Robert Gibbs keeps jabbing the left  —  “I am going to apologize in advance,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said at the start of his briefing Wednesday afternoon.  —  News alert!  Was he going to do a mea culpa for his amateurish decision to vent his frustration at the …

George W. Bush makes surprise visit to U.S. troops  —  Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, made a surprise visit to U.S. troops this afternoon.  —  They showed up at the USO in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.  There they mingled with the returning soldiers, thanked them …

Six essential questions about the deficit, Wall Street and Washington  —  Fiscal expert Stan Collender points out that the bond market is not demanding deficit reduction — in fact, quite the opposite.  So where is the Washington establishment's obsession with the deficit coming from?

Senate approves $600M border security bill  —  The Senate passed a $600 million border security bill during a rare recess session Thursday, sending it to President Obama for his signature.  —  Because Republicans and Democrats agreed to pass the legislation by unanimous consent …

Borrowers Refuse to Pay Billions in Home Equity Loans  —  PHOENIX — During the great housing boom, homeowners nationwide borrowed a trillion dollars from banks, using the soaring value of their houses as security.  Now the money has been spent and struggling borrowers are unable or unwilling to pay it back.

The stunning decline of Barack Obama: 10 key reasons why the Obama presidency is in meltdown  —  The last few weeks have been a nightmare for President Obama, in a summer of discontent in the United States which has deeply unsettled the ruling liberal elites, so much so that even the Left has begun to turn against the White House.

The First Wave of Weary Aides Heads for the Exits  —  WASHINGTON — Linda Douglass slept nearly 12 hours the day after she left her job as a communications aide at the White House.  And the day after that and the day after that.  It took two weeks until she finally felt rested.

Take Back the Sports Page?  —  The political wing of the women's sports movement is in trouble.  These activists are accustomed to challenging timid bureaucrats and university administrators.  But in taking on TV sports coverage, they are challenging the market itself.

Iraq army ‘not ready’ until 2020  —  Iraq's most senior military officer has said that his security forces will not be able to secure the country until 2020 and that the US should delay its planned withdrawal.  —  The US government plans to withdraw its combat troops by the end of August, and to remove all troops by the end of 2011.

Cringe-inducing typo outside N.C. school  —  Well, here's something to make your old English teacher gasp in horror: A road contractor hired to paint the word “school” on a freshly paved stretch of road near Southern Guilford High School in North Carolina rendered the traffic area in question a “shcool” zone.

Senate hopeful Dino Rossi sticks to economic message  —  SPOKANE — Dino Rossi has been a star of the state Republican Party for nearly a decade, but when his campaign for U.S. Senate stopped in Spokane last week, he got little star treatment.  —  At a breakfast hosted by the Spokane GOP …

Will its offbeat candidates hurt GOP?  —  A former professional wrestling executive, a libertarian ophthalmologist and a man who thinks bicycle use could empower the United Nations filed to run in elections.  That's not the start of a joke: that's a sampling of the deeply unusual pool of candidates running …

New claims for unemployment aid reach 484K  —  New applications for jobless benefits rise to highest since February as layoffs continue  —  Companies:  —  Related Quotes  —  SymbolPriceChange  —  CFN  —  22.70  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The employment picture is looking bleaker …