Minority leader Boehner to call for mass firing of Obama's economic team  —  CLEVELAND — House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) will call Tuesday for the mass firing of the Obama administration's economic team, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House adviser Larry Summers …

July Existing-Home Sales Fall as Expected but Prices Rise  —  Existing-home sales were sharply lower in July following expiration of the home buyer tax credit but home prices continued to gain, according to the National Association of Realtors®.  —  Existing-home sales1 …

The “Ground Zero mosque” debate is about tolerance—and a whole lot more. … - The Florida Congressman Showing Democrats How To Beat the Tea Party- So What if the Islamic Community Center's Location Is “Insensitive”?  - The NYT's Bogus Story About Technology Endangering National Park Visitors- What Ever Happened to Quicksand?

Shirley Sherrod declines USDA job  —  Ousted Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod said Tuesday that she will not return to the department in the new role.  —  “I need to take a break from some of all I've had to deal with in the last few weeks,” Sherrod said at a hastily arranged news conference at USDA headquarters.

Fed Split on Move to Bolster Sluggish Economy  —  WASHINGTON—The Aug. 10 meeting of top Federal Reserve officials was among the most contentious in Ben Bernanke's four-and-a-half year tenure as central bank chairman.  —  With the economic outlook unexpectedly darkening …

Rangel on the Hot Seat in Debate  —  It was a gentle but unmistakable nudge President Obama gave Representative Charles B. Rangel recently, suggesting in an interview three weeks ago that Mr. Rangel, 80, should retire to “end his career with dignity.”  —  At a tense and sometimes fiery …

Primary Day  —  Five states — Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma and Vermont — go to the polls today “but only three of them can point to primary elections that are being closely monitored by a national audience,” Politico reports.  —  “In Alaska and Arizona, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) …

Zombies scare Minneapolis into cash settlement  —  ​Seven zombies accused of carrying weapons of mass destruction will be staggering to the bank shortly with a bundle of cash, courtesy of a legal settlement with the City of Minneapolis.  —  The seven were arrested in 2006 during Aquatennial …

A 25-state midterm swing for Romney  —  Former governor positioned for '12  —  WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney, having met last weekend in New Hampshire with the staff of his 2008 presidential campaign, is preparing to embark on an aggressive schedule that will take him to more than 25 states …

A Case of Mental Courage  —  In 1811, the popular novelist Fanny Burney learned she had breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy without anesthesia.  She lay down on an old mattress, and a piece of thin linen was placed over her face, allowing her to make out the movements of the surgeons above her.

Pickens Laments That He Failed To Convince Bush And Obama To Take Iraq's Oil  —  Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens made headlines late last year as he openly advocated to members of Congress that the United States seize the oil fields of Iraq and use them for its own benefit, arguing that our country is “entitled” to the oil.

Rubio back on top  —  Democrats will get their stronger candidate if Kendrick Meek wins the Florida Senate primary tonight as expected- but the biggest winner coming out of the primary may be Marco Rubio.  PPP finds he would begin the general election in the lead at 40%, followed by Charlie Crist at 32%, and Meek at 17%.

48% Say Obama's Views Are Extreme; 51% Say Hillary Is Mainstream  —  Forty-eight percent (48%) of U.S. voters now regard President Obama's political views as extreme.  Forty-two percent (42%) place his views in the mainstream, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Is Obama ‘American Enough’?  —  Suddenly, it's not “racist” to criticize the president.  —  The good news for President Obama is that this week is likely to be better for him than last week was.  The bad news?  Last week!  A week so bad, as we observed Friday, that the president ended …

U.S. Judge Rules Against Obama's Stem Cell Policy  —  WASHINGTON — A federal district judge on Monday blocked President Obama's 2009 executive order that expanded embryonic stem cell research, saying it violated a ban on federal money being used to destroy embryos.

What Recovery?:  High Unemployment Persists Despite Stimulus  —  Republicans Poised to Hammer Democrats on Jobs Promises Ahead of November  —  After months of withering job losses and weak economic growth, summer was going to be the season of recovery, the Obama administration heralded in June.

Michael Steele Distances GOP From Arizona Immigration Law: It's Not ‘A Reflection Of An Entire Political Party’  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  In an interview Monday with Univision, the nation's largest Spanish-language network, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele distanced …