‘They talk about me like a dog’  —  MILWAUKEE - Two years after appearing here on Labor Day to kick off the final stretch of his historic campaign, President Obama returned Monday to speak to union members, in a starkly different political environment.  —  The Democrats, on the ascent at Obama's 2008 …

It Pays To Be Crazed  —  A church in Florida is planning to burn copies of the Koran on September 11.  That proposal has been widely condemned, and now General Petraeus has entered the fray, warning that such a protest by the church could endanger American servicemen: … This strikes me as troubling.

Clerks Highlight Supreme Court's Polarization  —  WASHINGTON — Each year, 36 young lawyers obtain the most coveted credential in American law: a Supreme Court clerkship.  Clerking for a justice is a glittering capstone on a résumé that almost always includes outstanding grades …

Obama to Propose Tax Write-Off for Capital Investments  —  WASHINGTON - As part of his emerging program to jolt the economic recovery from its stall, President Obama will call this week for allowing businesses to deduct from their taxes through 2011 the full value of qualified capital investments …

Republican Runs Street People on Green Ticket  —  TEMPE, Ariz. — Benjamin Pearcy, a candidate for statewide office in Arizona, lists his campaign office as a Starbucks.  The small business he refers to in his campaign statement is him strumming his guitar on the street.

A Forecast of the 2010 House Election Outcome  —  What's Your Reaction: … How many House seats will the Republicans gain in 2010?  To answer this question, we have run 1,000 simulations of the 2010 House elections.  The simulations are based on information from past elections going back to 1946.

Republicans making gains against Democrats ahead of midterm elections  —  Republicans are heading into the final weeks of the midterm campaign with the political climate highly in their favor, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.  Americans are increasingly frustrated by a lack …

Happy F**kin' Labor Day!  —  Dear Rahm Emanuel:  —  Happy F**kin' Labor Day!  I read this week that — according to a new book by Steven Rattner, your administration's former “Car Czar” — during White House meetings about how to save the tens of thousands of jobs that would be lost if GM …

For the Jews in Israel, Money Trumps All?  —  I know it's commonplace to read in the latest issue of Time or Newsweek that Obama is a god, that Islamophobic Americans are collectively prejudiced against Muslims, that the response after 9/11 was overblown and unnecessary (over 30 subsequent terrorist plots …

Get Ready for an Anti-Incumbent Wave  —  Poll Shows Republicans Benefit From Fears About Economy; Democrats Need to Persuade Unenthusiastic Backers to Vote  —  This is about the time when Democrats thought—or perhaps hoped—the political clouds that have hung over them all year would begin to lift.

Trumka: President, not Tea Partiers, can get country back to work  —  AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka pressed President Obama and the Democratic agenda heading into midterm elections, a day after steadfastly defending the administration's efforts in the face of stubbornly high unemployment.

GOP ATTACKS ON INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT ALREADY UNDERWAY.... I really wish I could understand the way John Boehner's mind works. … Now, I realize that Boehner's depth of policy knowledge is frighteningly limited, and that the poll-tested buzz words of his press releases might resonate …

Los Angeles school named after Al Gore  —  He's the first vice president to have an L.A. school named after him, sharing the honor with author Rachel Carson.  Fittingly, the campus will be devoted to environmental themes.  But there's a catch.  —  First-grade teacher Yolanda Alcala, left …