Newt Gingrich owed six figures to Tiffany's  —  Newt Gingrich, a fiscal conservative?  Not when it comes to Tiffany's.  —  In 2005 and 2006, the former House speaker turned presidential candidate carried as much as $500,000 in debt to the premier jewelry company, according …

Schwarzenegger fathered a child with longtime member of household staff  —  His wife, Maria Shriver, moved out of their Brentwood mansion earlier this year after the former governor acknowledged the child was his.  The staff member worked for the family for 20 years, retiring in January.

Rep. Paul Ryan Staying in House, Won't Run for U.S. Senate  —  Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is staying in the House, and won't run for the U.S. Senate, two well-placed GOP sources tell National Journal.  —  Ryan began informing close friends of his decision Tuesday and is expected to announce later in the day.

Nearly 20 percent of new Obamacare waivers are gourmet restaurants, nightclubs, fancy hotels in Nancy Pelosi's district  —  Of the 204 new Obamacare waivers President Barack Obama's administration approved in April, 38 are for fancy eateries, hip nightclubs and decadent hotels …

Santorum: What does McCain know about torture?  —  The presidential hopeful claims torture survivor John McCain simply doesn't understand how torture works  —  John McCain has been on something of a crusade this week on the question of how we found Osama bin Laden, giving speeches …

BHL: France's National Disgrace  —  French “philosopher” Bernard Henri-Levy, the non-politician perhaps most responsible for getting NATO into war with Libya, has long been one of the West's most scarequote-worthy intellectuals.  There was the quoting of a literary hoax to attack Immanuel Kant …

Shared Scarcity versus Renewed Prosperity  —  Thank you so much, Anne, for the kind introduction.  —  I want to thank you all for inviting me to speak.  It was especially gracious of you to host me, even though I'm a Packers fan and I assume most of you are Bears fans.  —  But that doesn't mean we can't work together.

Sources: Navy SEALs Knew Bin Laden Mission Was One-Shot Deal  —  WASHINGTON — Those who planned the secret mission to get Usama bin Laden in Pakistan knew it was a one-shot deal, and it nearly went terribly wrong.  —  The U.S. deliberately hid the operation from Pakistan …

The Real Social Security and Medicare Problem (and a Doable Fix)  —  Bruce Bartlett has served as an economic adviser in the White House, the Treasury Department and Congress.  —  On Friday, the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare systems issued their annual reports for 2011.

CBO: Budget Bill Actually Increases Spending  —  The Congressional Budget Office cast a new shadow on Republicans' claim to have made deep cuts in spending in the April law setting the final budget for fiscal 2011.  —  A new analysis released Monday found that the bill would actually produce …

The Long Overdue Palestinian State  —  SIXTY-THREE years ago, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy was forced to leave his home in the Galilean city of Safed and flee with his family to Syria.  He took up shelter in a canvas tent provided to all the arriving refugees.

Pakistan and NATO Trade Fire Near Afghan Border  —  ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistani ground troops opened fire on two NATO helicopters that crossed into Pakistan's airspace from Afghanistan early Tuesday morning, the Pakistani Army said in a statement.  In the firefight that followed, two Pakistani soldiers were wounded, it said.

Obama's Left Flank  —  In this Chris Hedges piece, Cornel West attacks Obama for betraying progressives, and then descends into some really personal, embittered invective: … There's a lot in there about Obama's inability to return phone-calls, ("I said a prayer on the phone for him, especially before a debate.

Ex-Sen. Feingold says Lieberman, McCaskill, Hoyer fit for ‘shame’  —  Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) has tabbed two Democrats and Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.) as fit for “shame” for being too beholden to corporate interests.  —  Feingold, the former liberal senator who leads …

LED bulbs hit 100 watts as federal ban looms  —  NEW YORK - Two leading makers of lighting products are showcasing LED bulbs that are bright enough to replace energy-guzzling 100-watt light bulbs set to disappear from stores in January.  —  Their demonstrations at the LightFair trade show …