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 …

U.S. Lost 54,000 Jobs in August; Rate Rose to 9.6%  —  With the American economic recovery showing clear signs of slowdown, private employers added 67,000 jobs in August, the Labor Department said on Friday.  The number was more than forecast.  —  Over all, the nation lost 54,000 jobs in August …

Few options for Barack Obama on 9/11  —  Every year it's a challenge for the White House: how to commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.  This year is especially awkward, given the controversy around President Barack Obama's remarks in support of an Islamic cultural center …

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 …

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

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

New York Poll Finds Wariness About Muslim Center  —  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 describe themselves as supporters of the project …

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.

Mosque Investor Was Terror Contributor  —  MYFOXNY.COM - Fox 5 News reported Thursday that one of the financial backers of the Islamic mosque and cultural center project in Lower Manhattan once contributed to a terror group, although the investor says the contribution was made because he thought …

BP Says Limits on Drilling Imperil Oil Spill Payouts  —  BP is warning Congress that if lawmakers pass legislation that bars the company from getting new offshore drilling permits, it may not have the money to pay for all the damages caused by its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

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 …

Court won't force state to defend Prop.  8  —  (09-02) 16:04 PDT SACRAMENTO — The outlook for the legal defense of Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage, grew cloudier Thursday as a state appellate court refused to order Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown …

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.

Chair of IPCC Review Panel Backs Climate Science Assessment Process, Despite Flaws  —  On Monday, Harold Shapiro, a former president of and current economics professor at Princeton University, formally presented the United Nations with a report assessing the procedures of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel …

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 …

The Alternate History  —  The Democrats could be heading toward a defeat of historic proportions in November, but it is possible to imagine a scenario in which things might have turned out differently:  —  On Dec. 16, 2008, President-elect Barack Obama and his senior aides gathered for a briefing on the state of the U.S. economy.

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 …

The Facebook photos Tom Emmer doesn't want you to see  —  Minnesota's Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer put his family front and center in his first television ad, his 20-year-old son Tripp making the pitch that his father is “always talking about cutting taxes and reforming government.”

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.

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.

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 …

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.