One Nation, Two Deficits  —  The nation faces a nasty dual deficit problem: a painful jobs deficit in the near term and an unsustainable budget deficit over the medium and long term.  This month, the Senate will be debating an issue with significant implications for both …

Daley won't run for re-election: ‘I have done my best’  —  Mayor Richard Daley, with his wife and members of his family, speaks at a City Hall press conference to announce that he will not run for re-election in 2011.  (Antonio Dickey / Mayor's Press Office) |  MORE PHOTOS

Parties Tied at 46% in Generic Ballot  —  Latest weekly update shows more competitive contest  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans and Democrats are tied at 46% among registered voters in Gallup's weekly tracking of congressional voting preferences, marking a shift after five consecutive weeks in which the Republicans held the advantage.

Fidel to Ahmadinejad: ‘Stop Slandering the Jews’  —  (This is Part I of a report on my recent visit to Havana.  I hope to post Part II tomorrow.  And I also hope to be publishing a more comprehensive article about this subject in a forthcoming print edition of The Atlantic.)

Obama Left Largely Helpless As Judicial Vacancies Reach Crisis  —  What's Your Reaction: … The Obama administration is aware of the growing alarm over its inability to fill long-standing judicial vacancies.  White House officials frequently voice displeasure with the pace …

AP Exclusive: Murkowski says she's not a quitter  —  JUNEAU, Alaska — A week after conceding the GOP primary, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she's not a quitter and is “still in this game.”  —  Murkowski told The Associated Press on Tuesday that she's been inundated with calls and e-mails from supporters …

The Mind of America  —  A new Washington Post poll is out.  Selected questions are shown below.  Summary: Americans trust Democrats more to handle the country's problems, they think Democrats represent their values better, they think Democrats are more concerned with the needs of people like them …

State Gains Would Give Redistricting Edge to G.O.P.  —  The midterm elections are being closely watched for the answer to a high-stakes question: Will Republicans have a majority in Congress for the next two years?  But it is the outcome of a lower-profile battle over state legislatures …

KY-Sen: Rand Paul staffer caught posing as progressive at Daily Kos  —  As you probably know, there's a moneybomb underway to raise money for Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway's campaign challenging Rand Paul for U.S. Senate.  —  Well, it turns out that at least one member …

Rome is Burning  —  There is a critical point that I fear the commentariat is just not getting.  In my darker moments I fear that some of my fellow economists aren't getting it either but we aren't going to go there.  —  Look at these two graphs because they tell you the fundamental problem in America today:

The United States of Inequality  —  In 1915, a statistician at the University of Wisconsin named Willford I. King published The Wealth and Income of the People of the United States, the most comprehensive study of its kind to date.  The United States was displacing Great Britain …

Florida pastor weighs plan to burn Quran  —  Feeling passionate about this story?  Put your thoughts on video and share them with CNN iReport.  —  (CNN) — A Florida pastor told CNN on Tuesday that while his congregation still plans to burn Qurans to protest the September 11, 2001 …

The Slump Goes On: Why?  —  Paul Krugman and Robin Wells  —  Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy  —  Princeton University Press, 260 pp., $26.95  —  Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance  —  by Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Mihm Penguin, 353 pp., $27.95

Building on Faith  —  AS my flight approached America last weekend, my mind circled back to the furor that has broken out over plans to build Cordoba House, a community center in Lower Manhattan.I have been away from home for two months, speaking abroad about cooperation among people from different religions.

Scrubbing Santorum  —  Why Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum can't beat his Google problem.  —  Post Comment  —  Rick Santorum would very much like to be president.  For the past few years, he has been diligently appearing at the sorts of conservative events—the Values Voters Summit …