White House considering major tax breaks for businesses, sources say  —  With the recovery faltering less than two months before the November congressional elections, President Obama's economic team is considering another big dose of stimulus in the form of tax breaks for businesses …

Private Sector Adds 67,000 Jobs  —  U.S. Economy Lost 54,000 Jobs in August; Unemployment Rate Rises to 9.6%  —  Job seekers in Denver waited in line for a career fair to open Sept. 2, 2010.  —  WASHINGTON — Job losses continued to mount in the U.S. economy last month …

Fewer Young Voters See Themselves as Democrats  —  FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The college vote is up for grabs this year — to an extent that would have seemed unlikely two years ago, when a generation of young people seemed to swoon over Barack Obama.  —  Enlarge This Image

New evidence undermines feds' case against Arizona  —  You've heard a lot about the Justice Department's lawsuit to stop the new Arizona immigration law.  But that's just one part of the Obama administration's multi-front war on immigration enforcement in Arizona.

Meeting Mr. Palin  —  WASILLA, Alaska — The young lady at the desk of the Dorothy Page Museum and Visitor Center has blue hair — not the blue-silver of advanced age, but a punk-rock razor-cut style dyed cerulean blue.  She is friendly and helpful to out-of-towners who stop by the Main Street museum …

The Real Story  —  Next week, President Obama is scheduled to propose new measures to boost the economy.  I hope they're bold and substantive, since the Republicans will oppose him regardless — if he came out for motherhood, the G.O.P. would declare motherhood un-American.

KEY OBAMA ALLY WORKS WITH SOCIALISTS FOR GLOBAL TAX  —  “It is possible for us to get a financial tax around the world.”  —  FREELANCER  —  The New Mafia.... I'm sure that none of these people will take a cut of what they take from the evil capitalists.  We had better stop these thugs …

Anti-Democratic Sentiment Aids GOP Lead in 2010 Vote  —  Many Republican voters say they are voting “against the Democrat”  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The Republicans' lead in the congressional generic ballot over the past month may be due as much to voters' rejecting the Democrats as embracing the Republicans.

Our distracted commander in chief  —  Many have charged that President Obama's decision to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan 10 months from now is hampering our war effort.  But now it's official.  In a stunning statement last week, Marine Corps Commandant James Conway admitted that the July 2011 date is …

The Small Business The 97% Fallacy  —  The president's plan to raise top marginal rates is holding back the very people who should be leading the economic recovery.  —  When Congress returns from its summer recess, members will face a pivotal decision about the expiring Bush tax cuts.

Feingold to miss Obama Labor Day visit  —  Senator cites scheduling conflict  —  When President Barack Obama visits Milwaukee on Labor Day to talk to working families and members of dozens of labor unions, one prominent politician won't be there.  —  A Labor Day schedule released by the staff …

Former Car Czar Rattner Rats on Obama  —  Former Obama administration car czar Steven Rattner is coming out with a new book that depicts him swashbuckling through the financial crisis and also shows Obama as “out to get” the car companies and the administration making political decisions …

Stephen Hawking: God didn't create universe  —  LONDON, England (CNN) — God did not create the universe, world-famous physicist Stephen Hawking argues in a new book that aims to banish a divine creator from physics.  —  Hawking says in his book “The Grand Design” that, given the existence of gravity …

House Democrats To Obama: No Cuts To Social Security  —  Democrats led by Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Raul Grijalva are drawing a line in the sand before the White House's fiscal commission: If your report recommends cuts or other changes to Social Security, they will say, you'll lose our support.

CBS 5 Poll: Tight Fight For Senate, Governor  —  SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ― Carly Fiorina and Barbara Boxer are still in a tight fight for California's U.S. Senate seat, while Meg Whitman is narrowly atop Jerry Brown in the governor's race, according to a newly conducted KPIX-TV CBS 5 poll of California voters released Thursday.

New Yorkers Want Islamic Center Moved, Poll Finds  —  Two-thirds of New York City residents want a planned Muslim community center and mosque to be relocated to a less controversial site farther away from ground zero in Lower Manhattan, including many who say they favor the project, according to a New York Times poll.

The Purge at Cato  —  The summer's biggest inside-Washington story was the abrupt and simultaneous departure of co-authors Brink Lindsey and Will Wilkinson from the Cato Institute.  —  Lindsey was Cato's vice president for research; Wilkinson a Cato scholar.

Charlie Crist's strategy: Marginalize Kendrick Meek  —  With the three-way Senate field set in Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist's fall campaign appears to be increasingly dependent on peeling off Democratic voters and sidelining Rep. Kendrick Meek.  —  While he spent most of his career as a Republican …

What I Learned Behind the Lines of the Anti-Obama Backlash  —  What's Your Reaction: … Last March, the week that the health care reform was signed into law, I plopped down on a sofa and watched Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck for an hour with two of his biggest fans.

Employers Push Costs for Health on Workers  —  As health care costs continue their relentless climb, companies are increasingly passing on higher premium costs to workers.  —  The shift is occurring, policy analysts and others say, as employers feel more pressure from the weak economy …

Sestak: My Senate race is Bill Clinton's ‘top priority’  —  The Pennsylvania Senate race is now former President Clinton's top political priority this fall, Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) asserted Thursday.  —  Sestak, the Democratic candidate in the race, said that he'd spoken to Clinton's people the other day …

8.4 Million New Yorkers Suddenly Realize New York City A Horrible Place To Live  —  'We're Getting The Hell Out Of This Sewer,' Entire Populace Reports  —  NEW YORK—At 4:32 p.m. Tuesday, every single resident of New York City decided to evacuate the famed metropolis, having realizing …

Rick Scott picks lawmaker Jennifer Carroll as running mate  —  JACKSONVILLE — It's official.  —  GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott on Thursday morning announced that state Rep. Jennifer Carroll of Jacksonville will be his running mate as lieutenant governor.

Quantifying the Enthusiasm Gap  —  We hear about the enthusiasm gap all the time, usually in pretty abstract terms.  Here it is in black and white: in 10 key races for Senate and Governor in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida, North Carolina, and Missouri it's costing Democratic candidates …

Argument by Analogy, Cont.  —  Jamelle Bouie reviewing Markos Moulitsas new book, American Taliban, rejects the notion that Glenn Beck is like the Lich King: … Digby, in defense of Markos, claps back: … Yeah, with great respect for Digby, I just don't agree.