Reid calls Gillibrand the ‘hottest’ member at fundraiser  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had an unusual form of praise for New York's junior senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, this morning at the fundraiser Mayor Bloomberg hosted for him at his townhouse - referring to her as “the hottest member” …

Election 2010: Alaska Senate  —  Alaska Senate: Miller (R) Holds Double-Digit Lead Over McAdams (D), Murkowski  —  Republican Joe Miller attracts 42% of the vote in the first Rasmussen Reports poll of the Alaska Senate race since GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski announced her write-in campaign to try to keep her job.

Tea party picking up steam nationwide  —  Fresh off big primary wins in Delaware and Alaska, national “tea party” groups are redirecting the energy of the movement toward the November midterm elections, raising millions of dollars, expanding their advocacy into dozens of congressional races …

Watchdog: Christine O'Donnell “Clearly a Criminal”  —  Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, today filed a pair of complaints concerning Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell's use of more than $20,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses.

Major health insurers to stop offering new child-only policies  —  Some of the country's most prominent health insurance companies have decided to stop offering new child-only plans, rather than comply with rules in the new health-care law that will require such plans to start accepting children …

A Message from Israel  —  Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, spoke at three Washington, D.C. synagogues on Yom Kippur—at Adas Israel at Kol Nidrei services last Friday night, then at Washington Hebrew Congregation Saturday morning and at Kesher Israel in the afternoon.

Twitter Mouseover Security Flaw Affecting Thousands of Users [WARNING]  —  Update (10:00 a.m. ET): A spokesperson for Twitter tells us “This should now be fully patched and is no longer exploitable.”  —  A new Twitter security flaw has been widely exploited on thousands of Twitter accounts …

Mosque ally's vid shows ‘Hez’ true colors  —  Tweet  —  Among the Islamic clerics defending plans for a mosque near Ground Zero yesterday was an outspoken critic of Israel who enthusiastically signaled his support for terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah during a rally a decade ago.

Speaker Pelosi would take big pay cut if Republicans take back the House  —  Call it a redistribution of wealth, Washington-style.  —  If Republicans win the House this fall, House GOP leader John Boehner (Ohio) stands to get a pay raise and Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) salary would be cut.

Afghan Boys Are Prized, So Girls Live the Part  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — Six-year-old Mehran Rafaat is like many girls her age.  She likes to be the center of attention.  She is often frustrated when things do not go her way.  Like her three older sisters, she is eager to discover …

Aunt Zeituni: ‘The System Took Advantage Of Me’  —  President Obama's Aunt Speaks Exclusively With WBZ-TV  —  BOSTON (WBZ) ― “If I come as an immigrant, you have the obligation to make me a citizen.”  Those are the words from 58-year-old Zeituni Onyango of Kenya in a recent exclusive interview with WBZ-TV.

The Brothers Koch and AB 32  —  Four years ago, bipartisan majorities in the California Legislature approved a landmark clean energy bill that many hoped would serve as a template for a national effort to reduce dependence on foreign oil and mitigate the threat of climate change.

Winning in '10 Means Utilizing the Power of 10  —  Recovery Begins on Election Day 2010.  —  There is a rising political tide in the United States, a wave that could usher in the biggest realignment of the U.S. Congress in decades.  —  But in order for the American people to defeat the job killers …

NY-18: Lowey's challenger opposes interracial marriage and school integration; supports eugenics.  —  I wish that this were something out of the Onion, I really do.  —  Jim Russell, a right-wing activist running against Congresswoman Nita Lowey in the 18th district mid-state, has a rather interesting past.

Jimmy Carter clarifies - sort of  —  After catching flack for declaring that his post-presidency work is “superior” to his successors, former President Jimmy Carter offered a somewhat halfhearted clarification Monday.  —  “What I meant was, for 27 years the Carter Center has provided …

Corbett Has Big Lead In Pennsylvania Governor's Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Independent Voters Back Republican 2-1  —  Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett holds a 54 - 39 percent lead over Democrat Dan Onorato, the Allegheny County Executive, in the race to become Pennsylvania's next governor …

Housing Starts in August Flew Past Expectations  —  New home construction increased by 10.5% in August, according to the Census Bureau.  Housing starts were 598,000 — the highest since April.  This surprised economists, who expected starts to decline by about 1% to 535,000.  New permits also rose by 1.8%.

Spelling Murkowski  —  You misspelled the misspelling.  They wrote “Murkwski,” not “Murkuwski.”  —  Golly, I've never seen Murkie so animated and passionate, and driving so forcefully toward a goal.  Where was all this when she was on the Hill, acting like a mild-mannered middle-aged moderate Republican.

9 NATO troops killed in Afghan helicopter crash  —  KABUL, Afghanistan - A NATO helicopter crashed Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, killing nine international troops in a region where forces are ramping up pressure on Taliban insurgents.  It was the deadliest chopper crash for the coalition in four years.

Can I ‘call him an a—hole?’  Andrew Cuomo in tizzy after GOP foe Carl Paladino questions his manhood  —  ALBANY - Stung by Carl Paladino's below-the-belt attacks, an angry Andrew Cuomo summoned his war council on Monday to figure out how to fight back against his slash-and-burn GOP rival.

Fearing a soaring deficit, many analysts favor letting Bush tax cuts expire  —  The tax cuts at the heart of a fierce pre-election battle on Capitol Hill were designed when the economy was booming, the federal budget was in surplus and George W. Bush was campaigning for president on a promise to return the extra cash to taxpayers.